The Depoliticisation of Diasporas from the Horn of Africa: From Refugees to Transnational Aid Workers

Abstract

The potential for productive collaboration between European relief and development actors, on the one hand, and refugee diasporas from the Horn of Africa, on the other, has been seriously undermined by misunderstandings about the apolitical role diasporas ought to have. This article, which is based on findings from multi-sited research on diasporas from the Horn of Africa in Europe, analyses how current diaspora discourse and practice depoliticises refugee diasporas by demanding that they adhere to the principles of impartiality, neutrality and unity. Instead of seeking to understand diaspora engagement in terms of the so-called migration-development nexus, I argue in favour of focusing on such engagement as a form of civic participation in the country of settlement: engaged European citizens from the Horn of Africa give voice to societal concerns and organise solidarity in their countries of origin. Through their actions, they take an active role in public (foreign) affairs in their countries of settlement.

Keywords:

• diaspora
• development
• humanitarianism
• refugees
• civic participation
• Horn of Africa

Acknowledgements

This article has been written on the basis of data collection, discussions and writing processes conducted for a sub-project within DIASPEACE. Research staff at Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) included Karin Fatimath Afeef, Rojan Ezzati and Cindy Horst. Staff members from European research partners were Antony Otieno, Giulia Sinatti (ADPC), Andrea Warnecke (BICC), Silvia Aprile, Matteo Guglielmo, Petra Mezzetti, Valeria Saggiomo (CeSPI), Liisa Laakso, Päivi Pirkkalainen (JYU) and Juan Reyes (IOM). Special thanks go to the guest editors of this Cluster, Nauja Kleist and Simon Turner, as well as to Marta Bivand Erdal, Rojan Ezzati, Ceri Oeppen and Giulia Sinatti for their invaluable suggestions to earlier versions.

Notes

Diasporas for Peace: Patterns, Trends and Potential of Long-Distance Diaspora Involvement in Conflict Settings – Case Studies from the Horn of Africa (DIASPEACE). The project was funded by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement No 217335. The project's fieldwork in Europe was carried out in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Finland. Fieldwork in the Horn of Africa was carried out in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. The data presented are largely from my own fieldwork in Norway and Kenya, though the analysis draws on findings from the project as a whole.

This debate was most dominant within development studies in the 1990s (Ferguson 1990, Escobar 1995), and in humanitarian studies in the 2000s (Chandler 2001, Slim 2002).

Data on this case were collected by the CeSPI team and written up by Petra Mezzetti.

Data on this case were collected by the JYI team and written up by Päivi Pirkkalainen.

Pseudonyms are used to protect the privacy of informants. As there are limited numbers of NGOs working in the Horn of Africa in a number of the European countries included in this research, I have chosen not to mention the country and have altered identifiable characteristics where I felt this was necessary and did not affect the content of the information provided.

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2009):70.