Newsletter

From Displacement to Integration

A digital immersion into the research and findings of The Journeys Project, examining every stage of migrant and refugees’ journey and a discussion of refugees in Kenya coping during Covid-19

In this issue of Fresh FINDings we are excited to launch our multimedia story map—The 3-Part Displacement Series. We also feature a policy brief discussing how refugee communities in Kenya have been impacted and coped with Covid-19.

Please visit the Journeys Project at Tufts University for previous studies, ongoing research, videos, maps, and artwork on refugees and migrants in the Middle East and Mediterranean, Latin America, and Africa.

This month…

The Journeys Project’s Displacement Series

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our completed  Displacement Series! This series uses multimedia storytelling to examine the costs of survival for refugees as they traverse the planet and re-identify home. This three-part project takes a deep dive into lessons learned at different steps of the journey from the people displaced around the world through a dynamic story map featuring video, images, interactive maps, and refugee stories.

Part 1: Preparing for the Journey

Part I of the Displacement Series introduces displacement and covers the processes of refugees gathering funds and paying smugglers for their journeys.

Part 2: On the Journey

Part II of the Displacement Series explores the people and services refugees engage with while on their journey from hoteliers, locals, good Samaritans, and law enforcement.

Part 3: Integration

Part III examines the multiple “wheels” that must be turning for refugees to move from surviving to living like governmental and non-governmental policies, income growth and diversification, financial services, and investment in skills and development.

Dive into the Displacement Series for an immersive experience in refugee journeys shared through the work of the Journeys Project and our partners.


Coping in the Crisis? Lessons Learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic in marginalized refugee communities in Kenya

This briefing note aims to offer deeper insights into the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic in urban refugee communities in Kenya over 2020–2021, drawing on both recent research and an online symposium organized in July 2021 (sponsored by Tufts University).

Click here for the full Policy Brief: Coping in the Crisis?

Key Messages:

Urban refugee communities in Kenya have been hit extremely hard by the fall out of the pandemic, exposing existing refugee vulnerabilities and exacerbating refugee fragility in a hostile context.

Technology has played a key role in refugee support both for continuity of NGO assistance, with remote coordination, virtual training/learning and psychosocial support, but also within communities, with refugees’ own (evolving) use of smartphones and apps for information, security and protection. Digital divide issues access and usage require consideration though, particularly related to gender and age.

Technology could not replace in-person interaction which has been vital in providing face-to-face psychological and social support as well as in the delivery of local assistance.

Local community-based and refugee-led organizations have proved instrumental at a grassroots level in physically stepping in to support vulnerable refugee households, daily needs and food security, but they suffer a lack of recognition and access to funds. The crisis accelerated the development of refugee umbrella bodies to better coordinate with aid actors and donors.

See the full Policy Brief on Refugee Communities in Kenya Coping here.


Fresh FINDings is made possible through a partnership among Tufts University, the Katholische Universität Eichstätt – Ingolstadt (Catholic University or KU), the International Rescue Committee and GIZ. Fresh FINDings also features work sponsored by Catholic Relief Services, Mercy Corps, and the International Organization for Migration.

Contact: Kimberley.Wilson@tufts.edu

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