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ABSTRACT
Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the Somali population in Uganda. This spike reflects a new development in the history of Somali mobility in East Africa, shaped both by crises and by opportunities, from which sophisticated transnational and translocal strategies have emerged. In this article, we draw attention to these strategies to understand continuity and change in Somali migrant networks in Kampala, highlighting the dual significance of Uganda both as a safe haven and as a stepping stone for upward social mobility and business expansion across the region and beyond. By describing the entanglement of needs and aspirations driving the mobility and livelihood strategies of Somali refugees, students and entrepreneurs, we argue that the historical trajectory of the Somali community in Uganda over the past 30 years has been shaped by the interaction of pre-existing linkages and an institutional framework defined by a mix of donor-oriented policies and presidential patronage. We identify three moments in which Museveni’s ability to ‘manage donors’ perceptions’ has had implications for the economic, demographic and political configuration of the Somali diaspora in Uganda: the economic liberalisation of the 1990s; the 2006 Refugee Act; and the 2007 deployment of UPDF in Uganda.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Mark Bradbury, Neil Carrier, Tabea Scharrer and Laura Hammond for comments to earlier versions of this articles, as well as two JEAS anonymous reviewers.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 BBC. “‘Somali Link’ as 74 World Cup Fans Die in Uganda Blasts.” 12 July 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10593771.
2 CNN. “Somali Militants Claim Responsibility for Uganda Bombings.” 12 July 2010. http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/07/12/uganda.bombings/index.html.
3 N. Wesonga. “Uganda: Somalis Still Feel Safe in Country Even After Attacks.” The Daily Monitor, 11 July 2011. http://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/688342-1198690-9ov5ii/index.html.
4 B. H. Oluka. “Caught between Uganda and Al Shabaab.” The Daily Monitor, 21 July 2010. http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/688334-961650-bpd42qz/index.html.
5 UNHCR/Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
6 Fisher, “Managing Donor Perceptions.”
7 Bakewell and Bonfiglio, Moving Beyond Conflict.
8 Meagher, Culture, Agency and Power.
9 Ibid.
10 Bakewell, “In Search of the Diasporas.”
11 Landau and Freemantle, “Tactical Cosmopolitanism.”
12 Zinnah, “Making Home”; Landau, “Protection and Dignity”; Thompson, “Risky Business.”
13 Jónsson, “Malian Traders”; Ayimpam, “Informal Trade.”
14 Bakewell and Binaisa, “Tracing Diasporic Identifications.”
15 Weiss, “Explaining the Underground Economy,” 219.
16 Castañeda, “Living in Limbo”; Page et al., “Introduction: African Transnationalisms.”
17 De Haas, “Internal Dynamics,” 1590; Haug, “Migration Networks”; Little, Economic and Political Reform.
18 Bakewell, de Haas, and Kubal, Migration Systems, Pioneers.
19 Hammar, “Displacement Economies.”
20 Betts et al. “Refugee Economies”; Omata, Refugee Livelihoods.
21 Farah, Muchie, and Gundel, eds. From Mogadishu to Dixon.
22 Linde, “Mixed Migration”; Hammond, History, Overview, Trends; Martín and Bonfanti, Migration and Asylum Challenges; Flahaux and de Haas, African Migrations.
23 Carrier, Little Mogadishu.
24 Zinnah, “Making Home”; Thompson, “Risky Business.”
25 Anderson and McKnight. “Kenya at War.”
26 Horst, Transnational Nomads; Lindley, The Early Morning Phone Call.
27 Beckerleg, “Khat Chewing.”
28 Bakewell and Binaisa, “Tracing Diasporic Identifications.”
29 Mohamedali, “Negotiating the State”; Goodfellow and Titeca, “Presidential Intervention.”
30 Bakewell, “In Search of the Diasporas within Africa”; Carrier, Little Mogadishu.
31 Interview with Sheikh Mohamed Abdiweli, son of the previous imam and current imam of Kisenyi's mosque, Kampala, 12 October 2013.
32 Kleist, “Nomads, Sailors and Refugees.”
33 Iazzolino, A Safe Haven.
34 Interview with Sheikh Mohamed Abdiweli, Kampala, 12 October 2013.
35 Meagher, “The Hidden Economy,” 73.
36 J. Omollo. “Tororo mourns Gateway Buses Proprietor.” The Daily Monitor, 3 July 2014. http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Tororo-mourns-Gateway-buses-proprietor/688334-2370018-7yghre/index.html.
37 Lochery, “Rendering Differences Visible”; interview with Gateway Bus representative, Kampala, 16 October 2016.
38 Milner, Refugees, the State.
39 Horst, Transnational Nomads.
40 Lindley and Hammond, “Histories and Contemporary Challenges,” 48.
41 Bagenda, Naggaga, and Smith, “Land Problems.”
42 Interview with Sheikh Mohamed Abdiweli, Kampala, 12 October 2013.
43 Carrier, Little Mogadishu.
44 Mwenda and Tangri, “Patronage Politics”; Mohamedali, “Negotiating the State.”
45 Tangri and Mwenda, “Corruption and Cronyism.”
46 RLP, “Critique of the Refugees Act 2006.”
47 Sharpe and Namusobya, “Refugee Status Determination.”
48 Crisp, Africa's Refugees.
49 Dryden-Peterson, “I Find Myself.”
50 Betts, “Survival Migration.”
51 Williams, “Joining AMISOM”; Hesse, “Why Deploy to Somalia?”
52 Fisher, “Managing Donor Perceptions,” 405.
53 Williams, “Joining AMISOM.”
54 Uganda Radio Network, “Kisenyi Explosion Kills 2.”
55 Kajoda, “Somali Commend Peacekeepers.”
56 I. Imaka, “Ugandan Somalis Distance Themselves from Al Shabaab.” The Daily Monitor, 26 October 2009. https://hiiraan.com/news4/2009/Oct/12575/ugandan_somalis_distance_themselves_from_al_shabaab.aspx.
57 Interview with Hussein Hassan Hariire, chairperson of the Somali Community Association in Uganda (SCAU), Kampala, 11 May 2014.
58 Betts et al., “Refugee Economies.”
59 Not her real name, Kampala, 2 October 2013.
60 Wassajja, “Rift Emerges.”
61 New Vision, “Somali Chairman clarifies on ID registration for Somalis.” 12 March 2015. https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1322214/somali-chairman-clarifies-id-registration-somalis.
62 Interview with Hussein Hassan Hariire, Kampala, 11 May 2014.
63 Rwonthungeyo, “Air Uganda.”
64 S. Makabila, “Somalia-Bound Airlines Complain of Undercutting by Rivals.” Standard Digital, 26 April 2014. https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2000110267/somalia-bound-airlines-complain-of-undercutting-by-rivals.
65 Hammond, “Somalia Rising.”
66 Not his real name, Kampala, 23 May 2014.
67 Teff and Yarnell, “Somali Refugees.”
68 BBC. “Kenyan Nairobi Blasts: Police Arrest 627 in Eastleigh.” 1 April 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26838638.
69 Not his real name, Kampala, 23 May 2014.
70 Tiilikainen, “Failed Diaspora.”
71 FGD with young Somali refugees, Kampala, 11 May 2014.
72 Bakewell and Biniaisa, “Tracing Diasporic Identifications.”
73 Lewis, A Modern History of the Somali.
74 FGD with Somali (Kenyan and refugee) students, Kampala, 15 October 2013.
75 Author's observation, Kampala, 20 May 2014.
76 Schmoll and Semi, “Shadow Circuits.”
77 Not her real name, Kampala, 25 May 2014.
78 Not his real name, Kampala, 21 May 2014.
79 Not his real name, Kampala, 25 May 2014.
80 Interview with a Somali businessman, Kampala, 25 May 2014.
81 The 446 Km WKPE was opened in 1994 to expand the existing Mombasa to Nairobi pipeline and connect it to Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu.
82 Dalsan Radio. “Third Flight Carrying 200 Somali Citizens Arrive Mogadishu [sic] from South Sudan.” 15 January 2014.