Policy brief #4: Social integration of internally displaced people in urban settings

This is an output from a project that was part of the fifth Applied Research Fund (ARF) on mixed migration flows. The ARF is executed by NWO-WOTRO in close collaboration with the Platform. The call aims to strengthen the evidence-base for security and rule of law policies and programming, addressing the root causes, and the dynamics and consequences of mixed migration flows within and from fragile and conflict-affected settings.

People who flee from protracted conflict sometimes have to stay in displacement for years on end. The longer displacement takes, the more important it is to become socially integrated in the host community; not only because it enables people to regain their lives and to achieve some empowerment, but also because social integration reduces the risk of tensions between displaced people and members of the host community. This policy brief describes different ways in which internally displaced people (IDPs) integrate in the social settings of an urban host community in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Paradoxically, social connections that existed prior to displacement, i.e. connections with relatives and other people with a shared origin, are the connections that are most pertinent in building up one’s social capital in the new place of residence. Once IDPs feel well connected in the new setting, they are also able to take more actively part in the social life of the city and will feel more accepted.