There is international concern over the refugee increase in many parts of the world and the international community is bearing the responsibility of assisting refugees with relief, rehabilitation, integration and possible repatriation programs. This has created unprecedented challenges for the international community since the amount of assistance has had to increase and resources have had to be diverted from development programs in countries with serious economic and social problems. The current study addressed important issues related to refugees with disabilities living in the Dadaab Refugee Camp Complexes in Kenya. After a pilot study to investigate the feasibility of the major study, 200 individuals with a disability were interviewed, and focus group discussions were held with individuals and groups supporting people with disabilities. The study was guided by the following research objectives: 1. To determine the prevalence of disability among Somali refugees and clarify the concept of disability as it relates to the Somali community; 2. To identify and discuss the nature and the causes of disability among the Somali refugees in Kenya; 3. To gain a picture of the basic needs, aspirations, and challenges of Somali refugees with a disability; 4. To examine and evaluate the prevailing educational and rehabilitation approaches to disability in the context of Somali refugees in Kenya; and 5. To develop a framework for a comprehensive approach to community rehabilitation relevant to refugees with a disability in Kenya. The research found that, while war in Somalia and related factors have contributed significantly to disability amongst members of the Somali community, cultural mindsets perpetuate disability and undermine the existing efforts to alleviate the conditions that people experience. Education and rehabilitation, which would be viable means of addressing the issues associated with disability, are inadequate in the refugee camps. The study acknowledges the efforts made by international agencies to help and support people with disabilities. However, it notes that more needs to be done if the Somali refugees with disability are to live dignified and functional human lives. This study draws the following conclusions: • Although war in Somalia is, reportedly, the main actual cause of disability among the Somali refugees in the Dadaab camps in Kenya, culturally, curses are considered to have led to disabilities by major sections of the Somali community. • The concept of disability as culturally and socially constructed is inadequate. Consequently, in order to address disability effectively, these cultural constructions need to be carefully evaluated and transformed. • The current efforts aimed at assisting refugees with disability are commendable but there is a need to improve the educational and rehabilitation approaches used to provide services to refugees with disability. The community rehabilitation approach would seem to offer the best opportunities for assisting to engage and support the empowerment and acceptance of refugees with disabilities.

Submitted by Irene Nascimento (irene.kessia@ufpe.br) on 2016-10-06T20:07:59Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃO FINAL DANIELA FLORÊNCIO DA SILVA GEOGRAFIA.compressed (1).pdf: 12397908 bytes, checksum: 6b3055fa006076837fe9ef09302e6b56 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-06T20:07:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) DISSERTAÇÃO FINAL DANIELA FLORÊNCIO DA SILVA GEOGRAFIA.compressed (1).pdf: 12397908 bytes, checksum: 6b3055fa006076837fe9ef09302e6b56 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-06 / Capes / A seguinte pesquisa tem como objetivo a compreensão dos fatores estruturantes da dinâmica territorial do campo de refugiados de Dadaab no Quênia. Formado em 1991 pela migração forçada do povo somali, em virtude da eclosão da guerra civil em seu país, esse campo de refugiados, hoje, abriga 348 mil pessoas de diferentes nacionalidades e contextos de deslocamento forçado. A dimensão desse fenômeno, não é só percebida por ser o maior campo de refugiados no mundo, mas pela complexidade de fatores envolvidos em sua formação. A sua origem é aqui relacionada, desde o processo de migração forçada. A suspensão da vida dessas pessoas, que ao ultrapassarem a fronteira política de seus países, tornam-se refugiadas, não se refere apenas à perda de seus direitos políticos ou de sua cidadania, mas a uma suspensão de “sentidos” e de continuidade ocasionada pela sua contenção territorial nesse campo de refugiados. A sua jornada ou movimento em busca de um refúgio temporário é paralisada e transformada em espera e contenção. O campo de refugiados de Dadaab, formado em um contexto de “emergência”, transformou-se em um território de exceção, através de uma prática de contenção territorial informal adotada pelo governo queniano. A persistência de suas vidas no campo, em meio a muitas proibições, desenvolveu um processo de reterritorialização precário, mas confrontado por resistências, contornos e permeado por transterritorialidades e encontros. / The following research aims to understand the structural factors of territorial dynamics of the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. Formed in 1991 by the forced migration of the Somali people, because of the outbreak of civil war in their country, this refugee camp, today, houses 348,000 people of different nationalities and forced displacement contexts. The scale of this phenomenon is not only perceived to be the largest refugee camp in the world, but by complexity of factors involved in their formation. Its origin is related here, from the forced migration process. The suspension of their lives, that to overcome the political borders of their countries, they become refugees, refers not only to the loss of political rights, or their citizenship, but a suspension of "senses" and continuity occasioned by their territorial containment in this refugee camp. Your journey or movement, seeking temporary refuge, is paralyzed and transformed in waiting and containment. The Dadaab refugee camp, formed in a context of "emergency", turned into a territory of exception, through an informal practice of territorial containment adopted by the Kenyan government. The persistence of their lives in this camp, among many bans, developed a process of precarious reterritorialization, but confronted by resistance, contours and permeated by transterritorialities and encounters.

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This thesis examines, empirically, the securitization of aid delivery at the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya. Through a series of semi-structured interviews with aid workers, it documents their security concerns, organizatinonal responses to security risks, and discusses the impacts of these concerns and responses on the delivery of aid to the camps. Armed with a biopolitical conceptualization of sovereignty, articulated in the human security paradigm, the humanitarian aid industry has increasingly reached beyond national borders to touch ‘bare life.’ By now, it is widely recognized that humanitarian principles such as neutrality have often failed to protect aid workers from violent attack as they increasingly venture into the world inhabited by “surplus populations.” Drawing on existing research, this study demonstrates how humanitarian aid delivery in high-risk environments, like refugee camps, is essential to the broader task of using aid to securitize and contain high-risk populations and political instability. Paradoxically, without the securitization of aid at the operational level, humanitarian workers are left exposed to the same enduring elements of insecurity that persistently threaten the lives of those they endeavor to help.