Somali refugees in Kenya and social resilience: Resettlement imaginings and the longing for Minnesota

Abstract

Refugee camps are often perceived as unproductive places that waste people’s potential. What is left unremarked in many refugee accounts, however, is the positive side of camps. Highlighting suffering alone raises academic curiosity as to what keeps camps in protracted situations going for so long. Drawing on the notion of social resilience, this article highlights the multidimensionality of camps as social worlds by showing how the attachment through kin-based networks between Somalis at Dagahaley refugee camp in Kenya and their relatives in diaspora animated collective imaginaries about better futures in Minnesota. The article contributes to migration and humanitarian debates by arguing that refugee longings for onward migration is linked to places with a potential for kin-based support as opposed to random Western destinations, as is often highlighted in the media.