In their new publication Spaces of Interaction Between Protracted Refugees in Nyarugusu Camp and the Surrounding Hosting Communities at the Journal of the Geographical Association of Tanzania, our PhD student Rosemary Msoka and South Team Leader Opportuna Kweka outline the spaces of interaction that are formed between refugees in the Nyarugusu camp and the surrounding host communities in western parts of Tanzania, studying their everyday interactions and exchange.
Drawing from literature on space and how spaces are constructed and function over time, particularly on how humanitarian spaces are constructed, the paper argues that encamped refugees’ interaction with host communities has led to the expansion of humanitarian space of support. The expansion of space by the mobility of refugees out of the camp to the host communities’ areas symbolizes power and control of space by refugees, hence proving that the power of space construction does not only end with those in planning authorities and decision-makers, but to different users of space. Despite challenging the formal support to refugees in camps, which is mainly North to South support, and which is increasingly being minimised due to protracted situations, the paper shows that this support is useful to encamped refugees as it helps them interact with host communities by giving refugees something to bargain with.
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