Hunger or Procreation-Related Benefits? The Growing Population and Strain on Resources Among Refugees in The Ugandan Nakivale Refugee Settlement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61841/revf7j38Abstract
The increasing number of refugee settlements necessitates increased resources from national and international organizations to support the well-being of refugees. The Nakivale Refugee Settlement's Base camp has developed strategies to diversify income sources, such as having a large number of children to receive payments from aid organizations. This has led to population pressure within the camp, impacting the host community and national and international budgeting. A qualitative study using snowball sampling and focus group discussions found indirect factors like resource shortages, gender dynamics, and remittances from INGOs contributing to population pressure. Direct factors include rape, prostitution, malnutrition, poor access to reproductive health care, and integration with host communities. Failing to resolve the issue of giving birth for aid collection could worsen the suffering of refugees. Recommendations include educating refugees on the negative effects of large populations, providing family planning instructions, and providing adequate training to reduce unemployment rates.
References
Amara, A. H., & Aljunid, S. M. (2014). Noncommunicable diseases among urban refugees and asylum-seekers
in developing countries: a neglected health care need. Globalization and health, 10, 1-15.
Bagenda, E., Naggaga, A., & Smith, E. (2003). Land problems in Nakivale settlement and the implications for
refugee protection in Uganda.
Bjørkhaug, I. (2020). Revisiting the refugee–host relationship in Nakivale Refugee Settlement: A dialogue with
the Oxford Refugee Studies Centre. Journal on migration and human security, 8(3), 266-281.
Browne, P. (2006). The longest journey: Resettling refugees from Africa. UNSW Press.
Corbin, J., & Strauss, A. (2015). Basics of qualitative research (Vol. 14). sage.
Crisp, J. (2003). No solutions in sight: the problem of protracted refugee situations in Africa. Refugee Survey
Quarterly, 22(4), 114-150.
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1996). Handbook of qualitative research. Journal of Leisure Research, 28(2),
Dijk, D. v. (2022). Working toward aspirations: How higher education learning-working trajectories for refugees
in the Netherlands support work-related capabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 14(2),
-929.
Hopgood, S. (2010). DIGNITY AND ENNUI: Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2009: The
State of the World's Human Rights, London: Amnesty International Publications. Journal of Human Rights
Practice, 2(1), 151-165.
Horn, R., Puffer, E. S., Roesch, E., & Lehmann, H. (2014). Women’s perceptions of effects of war on intimate
partner violence and gender roles in two post-conflict West African Countries: consequences and unexpected
opportunities. Conflict and health, 8, 1-13.
Hovil, L. (2007). Self-settled refugees in Uganda: an alternative approach to displacement? Journal of Refugee
Studies, 20(4), 599-620.
Ingram, K., Roncoli, M., & Kirshen, P. (2002). Reading the Rains: Local Knowledge and Rainfall Forecasting
among Farmers of Burkina Faso. Society and Natural Resources, 15, 411-430.
Kaiser, T. (2006). Between a camp and a hard place: rights, livelihood and experiences of the local settlement
system for long-term refugees in Uganda. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 44(4), 597-621.
Kigozi, D. (2017). The reality behind Uganda’s refugee model. News Deeply, 30.
Kouni, M. (2018). Impact of refugee population on development: A comparative analysis for the case of host
economies. Review of Economic Perspectives, 18(1), 77-96.
Larsson, J. (2019). Access to justice for young refugee women in Nakivale refugee settlement: A human rightsbased approach. In.
Liebling, H., Barrett, H., & Artz, L. (2020). South Sudanese refugee survivors of sexual and gender-based
violence and torture: health and justice service responses in northern Uganda. International journal of
environmental research and public health, 17(5), 1685.
Myers, N. (2002). Environmental refugees: a growing phenomenon of the 21st century. Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 357(1420), 609-613.
Popay, J., Rogers, A., & Williams, G. (1998). Rationale and standards for the systematic review of qualitative
literature in health services research. Qualitative health research, 8(3), 341-351.
Rice, P. L., & Ezzy, D. (1999). Qualitative research methods: A health focus. Melbourne, Australia, 275.
Sultani, G., Heinsch, M., Wilson, J., Pallas, P., Tickner, C., & Kay-Lambkin, F. (2024). ‘Now I have dreams in
place of the nightmares’: an updated systematic review of post-traumatic growth among refugee populations.
Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 25(1), 795-812.
Svedberg, E. (2014). Refugee self-reliance in Nakivale refugee settlement, Uganda.
Tulibaleka, P. O., Tumwesigye, K., & Nakayima, L. S. (2021). Urbanization in Africa: Integrating
multiculturalism in urban development in Uganda. Journal of African Studies and Development, 13(4), 74-80.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 International Journal of Advance Research in Education & Literature (ISSN 2208-2441)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
