‘Self-reliant’ Refugees as ‘Development Actors’: Dignity or Disavowal of Responsibility? The Case of Eritrean Refugees in Ethiopia

Abstract

In this article which is based on anthropological fieldworks among Eritrean refugees in Hitsats and Adi Harush camps in North-Ethiopia and out of camp in the capital city Addis Ababa between 2019 and 2022, I report on how the new Ethiopian policy/law environment for refugee response has affected access to formal employment and own business licenses for this third largest refugee group in the country. This policy/law change in Ethiopia was linked to the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants and the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) it included, which marked a global shift in handling protracted displacement. A move from refugees’ dependency on humanitarian aid to dignified self-reliance through economic inclusion, which in turn would contribute to development in host communities, was envisioned. Ethiopia followed up with ‘Nine Pledges’ that went far in promising economic inclusion for refugees. The revision of the country’s refugee proclamation sought to provide the juridical backing for this new refugee response which, initially, seemed to secure their right to work. However, my findings show that access to formal employment and business licenses is still denied refugees unless they are selected for a joint national-international project with external funding. I therefore argue that, rather than securing self-reliance and with it, refugees’ contribution to development, this new policy/law environment for refugee response in Ethiopia represents – in line with neoliberal governmentality – a disavowal of responsibility for their livelihoods. This study thus counters the general opinion that the law/policy shift in Ethiopia was ‘progressive’.