Livelihoods in Conflict: The Pursuit of Livelihoods by Refugees and the Impact on the Human Security of Host Communities
| Date | 11 February 2003 |
| Published date | 11 February 2003 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2435.00213 |
| Author | Karen Jacobsen |
Published by Blackwell Publishers Ltd.,
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© 2002 IOM
International Migration Vol. 40 (5) SI 2/2002
ISSN 0020-7985
* Feinstein International Famine Center, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA.
Livelihoods in Conflict
The Pursuit of Livelihoods by Refugees and the
Impact on the Human Security of Host Communities
Karen Jacobsen*
ABSTRACT
This paper explores how long-term refugees pursue livelihoods, the impact
this pursuit has on the human security of conflict-affected communities,
and the ways in which international assistance can help. Refugees’ pursuit
of livelihoods can increase human security because economic activities
help to recreate social and economic interdependence within and between
communities, and can restore social networks based on the exchange of
labour, assets and food. When refugees are allowed to gain access to
resources and freedom of movement, and can work alongside their hosts to
pursue productive lives, they would be less dependent on aid and better
able to overcome the sources of tension and conflict in their host
communities.
The paper identifies how humanitarian programmes working with national
governments can increase economic security and shore up the respective
rights of both refugees and their host communities. Today, relief inter-
ventions are no longer expected solely to save lives in the short term, but
also to lay the foundation for future development and to promote conflict
resolution.
INTRODUCTION
In those regions of the world mired in conflict, displaced people face deep and
chronic problems of poverty and insecurity. In most cases, the forcibly displaced
do not have the resources to move beyond the region, and they remain internally
displaced or move across borders to neighbouring countries, many of which are
96 Jacobsen
facing their own conflicts.1 In these neighbourhoods, displaced people face
challenging environments and often impose economic, environmental, and
security burdens on their hosts. But viewing refugees as passive victims, who
wait for relief handouts and bring only trouble to host countries, fails to see the
multiple ways they pursue livelihoods for themselves, and in so doing can
contribute to the economic vitality of host areas.
This paper explores how long-term refugees pursue livelihoods, the impact this
pursuit has on the human security of conflict-affected host communities, and the
ways in which international assistance can enable a positive impact. “Human
security” here refers to economic, civil, and political security – a situation in
which people can pursue livelihoods without violent conflict. The paper is
premised on the belief that refugees’ pursuit of livelihoods can lead to increased
human security in conflict-affected communities. Livelihood activities help
recreate and maintain social and economic interdependence within and between
communities, and can thus restore functioning social networks, based on
mutually beneficial exchange of labour, assets, and food (FIFC, 2002). When
refugees are allowed to gain access to resources, have freedom of movement,
and can work beside their hosts to pursue productive lives, they will be less
dependent on aid and better able to overcome the sources of tension and conflict
in their host communities. They will help mend the fraying economic fabric that
binds communities and strengthen what Mary Anderson (1999) calls peace
economies in contrast to war economies.
A key theme of the paper is to identify how humanitarian assistance can
increase economic security in the refugee hosting area (RHA) by supporting
livelihoods and shoring up the rights of both refugees and their host communities.
Today, relief interventions are expected to save lives in the short term, and to lay
the foundation for future development and promote conflict resolution (FIFC,
2002). As the governments of wealthy countries reduce their engagement with
the world’s poor and conflict affected, disaster relief has become the
predominant mode of crisis response. If relief is the only source of international
assistance for conflict-affected areas, it is imperative that relief resources be
used both to save lives and to support and enable the livelihoods of those
living there.
Crisis situations can lead to the re-making of roles and opportunities for affected
communities. For women in particular, their efforts to survive mean they engage
in trade and other economic activities that give them more control, autonomy, and
status at both the household and community level. Refugees (like locals) also
engage in livelihood activities that are illegal, like prostitution or smuggling, and
the aid community is faced with the task of finding ways to encourage and enable
legitimate activities, while eliminating the need for illicit activities, which can
harm both the refugees and their host communities and increase insecurity in
the region. Aid agencies must also find ways to enhance and protect the
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