Skip Navigation

Journal of Refugee Studies 2008 21(2):230-252; doi:10.1093/jrs/fen015
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Porter, G.
Right arrow Articles by Kilpatrick, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author [2008]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Linkages between Livelihood Opportunities and Refugee–Host Relations: Learning from the Experiences of Liberian Camp-based Refugees in Ghana

Gina Porter1, Kate Hampshire1, Peter Kyei2, Michael Adjaloo2, George Rapoo3 and Kate Kilpatrick*

1Department of Anthropology, Durham University, 43 Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HN r.e.porter{at}durham.ac.uk
2Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
3Youth Development Foundation, Kumasi, Ghana

This paper combines recent livelihoods approaches to refugee studies with a social resilience framework to explore the interlinkages between refugee–host relations and refugee coping strategies in the Buduburam camp in Ghana. The reported experiences of camp residents and of the people with whom they interact in their efforts to make a living (NGO staff, government officials, traders etc.) illustrate the complex interplay between personal networks, livelihoods and broader relations between refugee and host populations. We draw particular attention to language skills, diaspora linkages and the impact of illicit and/or innovative livelihood strategies of refugees. Despite the enormous emphasis refugees in the camp place on earning their own living, some groups are less able or less willing than others to build the social networks to the host population that might allow them access to regular employment. Other factors, including the massive size of the camp population, the deep poverty of Gomoa district where the camp is situated, and the mismatch between the urban character of the majority of the refugee population and local (agricultural) labour demand, contribute to less than optimal relations with the host population.

Key Words: refugee livelihoods • refugee–host relations • Liberians • Ghana

*Independent Researcher

MS received October 1, 2006 ; revised MS received September 1, 2007
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Journal of Refugee StudiesHome page
A. Hardgrove
Liberian Refugee Families in Ghana: The Implications of Family Demands and Capabilities for Return to Liberia
Journal of Refugee Studies, October 5, 2009; (2009) fep029v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.