Employability of the Refugees/IDP and their Resettlement among Local Communities in East Africa

Abstract

There are currently 70 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, with 41 million being internally displaced, 25 million being refugees and 3 million seeking asylum and their numbers are growing, with the majority of these people living in Africa and Asia. The Nairobi Declaration on Long-Term Solutions for Somali Refugees and Reintegration of Returnees in Somalia was adopted by East African communities on issues pertaining to refugees/IDPs. These enabled countries dealing with similar issues to collaborate in order to protect and find employability solutions for refugees/IDPs among the local community. This study thus investigated the job placement experiences of displaced people in their new communities. Triangulated reviews of qualitative results from countries across East Africa, including high-income countries peer-reviewed research on the employability rate of refugees/IDPs among local communities in East Africa were summarized. The findings revealed both commonalities in the employability experiences of refugees/IDPs within the local communities across East Africa. There are limited job opportunities for the refugees/IDPs. As occurred in Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania, deliberate intervention is required to increase the employability and resettlement of refugees/IDPs among members of the local community for menial and limited available jobs. Governments should capitalize on the people's shared identity and develop employable programs to help the region's economy recover. Local institutions should also develop intervention programs and strategies for dealing with refugees/IDPs' employability issues, as evidenced by the education collaboration (Ashesi university) initiative in Ghana, which has collaborated with more African universities to focus on the employability pillar, among others. Keywords: Refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), Forced displacement, Employability, Resettlement, local communities, East Africa