How do refugees affect social life in host communities? The case of Congolese refugees in Rwanda
Open accessAbstract
This paper investigates how social dimensions of life in local communities are affected by the long-term presence of Congolese refugees in Rwanda, paying particular attention to feelings of safety, social networks and trust. To gauge whether increased probability of interaction with refugees reduces cohesion, these outcomes are compared across local households at varying distances from a refugee camp. This paper is based on mixed methods approach including new data originating from a household survey conducted in host communities surrounding three refugee camps, as well as information from focus group discussions. The quantitative analysis shows no statistically significant differences between host communities with the exception of informal social networks, which are higher in communities closer to refugee camps. However, qualitative evidence illustrates how greater (economic) interaction between the two populations helps increase trust between refugees and host communities over time. Moreover, locals argue that economic and social support given to refugees plays a key role in reducing and preventing conflict between the two groups. These findings map the experiences and give voice to host communities’ perspectives on social life in their community.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Studies indicate that incorporating refugees' resilience and community involvement into humanitarian organizations' programs may produce a more effective mental health treatment modality within these low-threshold support systems.
“Studies indicate that incorporating refugees' resilience and community involvement into humanitarian organizations' programs may produce a more effective mental health treatment modality within these lowthreshold support systems (Fajth 2019).”
From Exploring trauma and resilience of Urban South Sudanese refugees in Sudan (2024) · cites this paper as Fajth 2019
The Conclusion (page unavailable) recommends greater social interaction between refugees and local communities and continued organizational support. It does not discuss refugees’ resilience, mental health treatment, or whether community involvement improves treatment in low-threshold support systems. (LLM, conf=0.79)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
(1954) · Cited by 15,935 · see citing works
Greed and grievance in civil war
Collier, P. (2004) · Oxford Economic Papers · doi:10.1093/oep/gpf064 · Cited by 6,107 · see citing works
Pettigrew, T. F. (1998) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.49.1.65 · Cited by 6,001 · see citing works
Putnam, R. D. (2007) · Scandinavian Political Studies · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9477.2007.00176.x · Cited by 4,027 · see citing works
Predicting Cross-National Levels of Social Trust: Global Pattern or Nordic Exceptionalism?
Delhey, J., & Newton, K. (2005) · European Sociological Review · doi:10.1093/esr/jci022 · Cited by 1,267 · see citing works
Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2015
Landau, L., & Achiume, E. T. (2017) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 938 · see citing works
Transnational Rebels: Neighboring States as Sanctuary for Rebel Groups
Salehyan, I. (2007) · World Politics · doi:10.1353/wp.2007.0024 · Cited by 425 · see citing works
Ethnic Diversity and Generalized Trust in Europe
Hooghe, M., Reeskens, T., Stolle, D., & Trappers, A. (2008) · Comparative Political Studies · doi:10.1177/0010414008325286 · Cited by 364 · see citing works
Kesler, C., & Bloemraad, I. (2010) · Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique · doi:10.1017/s0008423910000077 · Cited by 261 · see citing works
Winners and Losers among a Refugee-Hosting Population
Maystadt, J.-F., & Verwimp, P. (2014) · Economic Development and Cultural Change · doi:10.1086/676458 · Cited by 226 · see citing works
Ethnic Diversity and Social Capital in Europe: Tests of Putnam's Thesis in European Countries
Gesthuizen, M., van der Meer, T., & Scheepers, P. L. H. (2008) · Scandinavian Political Studies · doi:10.1111/j.1467-9477.2008.00217.x · Cited by 214 · see citing works
Jacobsen, K. (2002) · International Migration · doi:10.1111/1468-2435.00213 · Cited by 193 · see citing works
Stanley, D. (2003) · Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie · doi:10.2307/3341872 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Perspectives on Global Development 2012
OECD (2011) · Perspectives on global development ... · doi:10.1787/persp_glob_dev-2012-en · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Economic Life in Refugee Camps
Alloush, M., Taylor, J. E., Gupta, A., et al. (2017) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.02.030 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Their Suffering, Our Burden? How Congolese Refugees Affect the Ugandan Population
Kreibaum, M. (2015) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.10.019 · Cited by 129 · see citing works
Laurence, J., Schmid, K., & Hewstone, M. (2018) · Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies · doi:10.1080/1369183x.2018.1490638 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
The labour market consequences of hosting refugees
Ruiz, I., & Vargas‐Silva, C. (2015) · Journal of Economic Geography · doi:10.1093/jeg/lbv019 · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Laurence, J., & Bentley, L. (2017) · Social Science Research · doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2017.09.007 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Ethnic Diversity and Social Capital in Indonesia
Mavridis, D. A. (2014) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.10.028 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
(Human) security dilemmas: Long-term implications of the Afghan refugee crisis
Schmeidl, S. (2002) · Third World Quarterly · doi:10.1080/01436590120114328 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Refugee Admissions and Public Safety: Are Refugee Settlement Areas More Prone to Crime?
Amuedo‐Dorantes, C., Bansak, C., & Pozo, S. (2020) · International Migration Review · doi:10.1177/0197918320920192 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Feldmeyer, B., Madero‐Hernandez, A., Rojas‐Gaona, C. E., et al. (2017) · Race and Justice · doi:10.1177/2153368717690563 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Harb, C. (2014) · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Goldschmidt, T. (2017) · DiVA (Stockholm University) · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Impact of refugees in North- Western Tanzania
Kamanga, B. (2003) · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Refugees and host communities in the Rwandan labour market
Bilgili, Ö., & Loschmann, C. (2018) · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citationRepatriation: the politics of (re)-constructing and contesting Rwandan citizenship
O'Connor, K. A. (2013) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Benos, N., & Kammas, P. (2018) · Munich Personal RePEc Archive (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Easton-Calabria, E., & Lindsay, A. (2013). Towards durable solutions for protracted Congolese refugees in Rwanda. Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration, 3(2), 58-66.
- Whitaker, E. (1999). Changing opportunities: refugees and host communities in western Tanzania (Working Paper No. 11), (pp. 1- 17). UNHCR. Retrieved from http://www.unhcr.org/3ae6a0c70.pdf.
- Whitaker, E. (2002). New issues in refugee research. UNHCR, (pp. 1-17). Washington, DC: United Nations.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Exploring trauma and resilience of Urban South Sudanese refugees in Sudan
Bashir, S., Eltayeb, S., & Badri, A. (2024) · Comparative Migration Studies · doi:10.1186/s40878-024-00415-x · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“Studies indicate that incorporating refugees’ resilience and community involvement into humanitarian organizations’ programs may produce a more effective mental health treatment modality within these low-threshold support systems (Fajth 2019).”
- Authors
- Fajth, V., Bilgili, Ö., Loschmann, C., & Siegel, M.
- Affiliations
- Utrecht University (NL)
- United Nations University – Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Bilgili, Özge
- Venue
- Comparative Migration Studies
- Published
- 2019-08-06
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 2214-594X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2966029048
- Cited by
- 79
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 16.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Comparative Migration Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Noda Institute for Scientific Research
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology, United Nations University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Refugees, and Integration
- Social Sciences › Education › Education and experiences of immigrants and refugees
- Social Sciences › Health › Migration, Racism, and Human Rights
- Keywords
- Congolese refugees, refugee camps, host communities, social networks, trust, sense of security, community cohesion, intergroup relations, economic interaction, social support, conflict prevention, Rwanda
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
