Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Urban Areas: A Livelihoods Perspective

People displaced by violent conflict and the ensuing destruction of livelihoods are increasingly likely to end up in urban areas rather than camps. As urbanization rates increase globally, so do the number and proportion of refugees and IDPs. UNHCR estimates that about 18 per cent of refugees live in urban areas, compared with about 26 per cent in camps or centres, and the remainder ‘dispersed’ in rural areas or other locations. Refugees living in urban areas face a myriad of protection and livelihood problems not generally encountered in camps. How they confront these challenges, and the ways in which aid agencies and host governments support or obstruct their efforts, is the focus of this Special Issue. We seek to understand the experience of urban refugees both by examining their own actions, and by understanding the social, economic and policy context in which they forge livelihoods. How do urban refugees negotiate xenophobia and harassment by local authorities? What impact do they have on their host communities? What difference, if any, do legal status and the refugee policy of host governments make for urban refugees? And how has UNHCR confronted these problems in their efforts to support refugees when host governments want them to remain in camps?