Socio-Economic integration of former Angolan refugees in Meheba integrated settlement area, Zambia: Achievement and Challenges

Abstract

This research titled “Socio-economic Integration of former Angolan refugees in Meheba Integrated resettlement area, Zambia: Achievements and Challenges” was aimed at evaluating the outcomes of the integration of former Angolan refugees in Meheba, Zambia. Local integration is one of the three established durable solutions to protracted refugee situations that is advocated for by the UN. Zambia is among the first few African countries to carry out local integration of former refugees whose refugee status had ceased and opted to remain in the country. The research was guided by two major objectives. The first objective was to present the institutional and policy instruments in place to govern the integration of former refugees in Zambia and the second was to evaluate the achievements made thus far in the socio-economic integration of the former Angolan refugees in Meheba. The integration framework and the capabilities-aspirations of migration theory were used to evaluate the outcomes of the socio-economic integration. A qualitative case study design approach was used in the research. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, researcher observations and document reviews. Respondents to the interviews were selected using snowball and purposive sampling methods. Thirty (30) former refugees and two (02) key informants were interviewed. Interview responses and researcher observations were analyzed using thematic and descriptive analysis. Information from document reviews was analyzed using document analysis. The study findings show that notable success has been achieved in socio-economic integration of the former Angolan refugees in Meheba integrated resettlement area. Success includes issuance of identity documents which recognize the former refugees as national residents, a status that entitles them access to all national rights and opportunities with the exception of political participation. However, despite the achievements, more efforts need to be put in ensuring that socio-economic integration achieves the intended purpose. These include issuing the former refugees with land titles to the farm plots allocated to them, supporting the establishment of informal economic activities and improving the physical infrastructure. Therefore, this study recommends that the government of Zambia must issue land titles to the former refugees and improve on the area physical infrastructure.