In a new article published this week in the Journal of Refugee Studies, Dr Cory Rodgers calls for greater critical attention to the meaning of the term ‘host community’ and the ways in which it is applied. Rodgers looks in particular at the formation, transformation and politicization of the ‘host community’ label in the Kakuma refugee camp in north-western Kenya, applying a modified version of a framework developed by Roger Zetter regarding the ‘refugee’ label.
The article describes “the emergence of ‘host community’ as a policy category in the context of the security agenda at the Kakuma refugee camp, its contested formation as a label to determine access to host entitlements and opportunities, and the transformation of the label as refugees and hosts have become part of the socio-economic integration agenda at the Kalobeyei Settlement.”
Read the article here: The ‘host’ label: forming and transforming a community identity at the Kakuma Refugee Camp.