Security on the Move - Research Brief No.4. Long-term Legacies of Displacement and Urban Growth in Hargeisa

Abstract

This research brief summarises key findings from the 2017-2019 Security on the Move research project. Funded by DFID and ESRC, Security on the Move focused on the perspectives and experiences of displaced people who have settled in four Somali cities: Baidoa, Bosaaso, Hargeisa and Mogadishu. These four cities fall under different political administrations, but share two core characteristics: First, they are growing rapidly in terms of size and density, and second, an important driver of this growth is large scale in-migration caused by forced displacements. Although many issues relating to the economic and social precarity of displaced people are shared across the cities, there are important differences in regard to the historical experiences of ‘camp urbanisation’ and local and international efforts to manage camps and other settlements. This research brief focuses on the experience of displaced people in Hargeisa, capital of the independent (but unrecognised) Republic of Somaliland. A Somali version of this research brief is available: https://securityonthemove.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Research-brief-HARGEISA-SOM.pdf