My research is focused on the dynamics of refugee camps and their opportunities. Policymakers should encourage entrepreneurship in these camps to help break this cycle of despair and turn it into one of hope and dignity.
These initiatives could improve the lives of millions of people who have been displaced due to war, persecution, or other human-made events. There is a paralysis in the refugee camps that prevents entrepreneurs from launching new businesses. This needs to be addressed by governments, NGOs, and others.
Menace?
Refugee camps were founded on the assumption they would be temporary areas of protection. Camp rules reflect this assumption, but they haven’t been updated to take into account the long-term displacement that has occurred. Refugee crises can threaten the social stability in host countries. One in five people in Lebanon are now Syrian refugees. The majority of Syrians are Sunni Muslims. Their influx could threaten Lebanon’s fragile balance between Shias and Sunnis.
No wonder, then, that the host countries prefer to keep refugee camps in temporary locations. The legal status of refugees often prevents them from obtaining employment, owning property, or moving around freely. This strips them of their agency. An aid worker at Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan said to me that Syrian refugees in the camp were:
They were teachers, engineers, and doctors at home. All they can do now is to drink tea. It’s a very depressing sight.
Camp managers have found it difficult to come up with innovative programs, despite their growing awareness of the need to go beyond providing basic necessities for the displaced.
First, camps develop unpredictably. As a result, the priority is to provide for newcomers, who may arrive in a matter of hours. Second, because camps rely on donations of aid, planning is limited to the short-term. Camp managers must strike a delicate equilibrium between the semi-permanence de facto of many refugee camps and the host communities’ expectation for the camps to be temporary.
This last factor is important: even though there are cafes and barbershops in Zaatari camps, they remain a grey zone because such activities contradict the concept of transience that underlies the camp. This is a barrier to the wider entrepreneurship that such centers need.
This means that there is no functioning supply, which would otherwise develop in markets driven by demand. Inefficient political and legal systems regulate entrepreneurial activity, and the infrastructure that connects entrepreneurs with information, financial capital, and customers is inadequate.
Refugees in Sudan from Darfur pictured in 2011 at a barber shop in refugee camps. European Commission DG ECHO CC-BY-SA
Planning
The research I conducted on this topic with Helen Haugh has led us to suggest a few possible solutions. Cash-based assistance programs and partnerships with lending institutions would be a great way to help refugees start businesses. These were piloted cautiously in just a few camps. It is also important to have clearer policies regarding how refugee camp entrepreneurs interact with host communities. This will reduce the uncertainty for both parties.
In the meantime, host countries could delegate some tasks to refugees to create job opportunities in refugee camps. Urban planning strategies would also improve infrastructure to connect entrepreneurs, customers, and resources in these minicities. In Jordan’s Zaatari Camp, for example, refugees created an informal post system and rewired electricity infrastructure in order to run their businesses more efficiently. Urban designers are working with camp managers to formalize their initiatives.
A journalist interviews new arrivals in the Dadaab Camp, Kenya. Internews Europe, CC BY-NC-ND
Most camps are small. Although some large camps, such as Dadaab or Zaatari, are home to thousands of refugees in Jordan and Kenya, respectively, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees reports that the average population of camps in 2012 was 11,400. Projects such as improving the infrastructure are therefore manageable.
Empowerment
Incubation and acceleration centers in refugee camps could be used as safe places to test entrepreneurial ideas and for knowledge sharing. These innovation hubs have already been successful in in fostering technology-based enterprises in Nairobi, and other African cities.
Let refugees decide what their camp will look like. Although refugee delegates are elected to represent the camp population before camp managers, the decisions about how the camp should run are made far away. Entrepreneurial initiative by refugees shows their ability to improve conditions in camps. If refugees were given more voice, there may be more ideas and initiatives of this nature.
The attention paid to refugees is sure to fluctuate over the coming months and even years. It will spike when tragic or dramatic events occur. The daily lives of millions of refugees who have lived in refugee camps for decades deserve the attention of the world. It is worth it to help many of these refugees through entrepreneurship.