No Refuge: The Crisis of Refugee Militarization in Africa (review)

No Refuge: The Crisis of Refugee Militarization in Africa is written explicitly from the perspective of international relations, emphasizing the role of states, international organizations, and donors in the militarization of refugee camps. The book is a well-coordinated collection that includes an introductory essay, four case studies written by different authors about the militarization of refugee populations (in Guinea, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda), and a concluding chapter. The data derive from the late 1990s and early 2000s, with similar questions addressed in each case and due attention given to historical context. Four themes are explored in each essay: the manner that refugees become pawns of warfare; the extent to which refugees become active agents in militarization; refugee militarization and the humanitarian community; and the relationship between refugee militarization and small arms availability. What emerges is an image of refugee populations buffeted by the political interests of host, home, and donor states, and a simultaneous plea for humanitarian neutrality.

It is clear from No Refuge that refugee militarization has increased in recent years. Small arms are more widely available, and refugee camps are routinely used (or misused) by liberation movements, host countries seeking political advantage in neighboring countries, and big power politics. These are not uniquely African problems—after all, refugee militarization was a major issue for Afghan refugees. But Africa has seen an increase in the flow of arms and an acceleration in host government attempts to militarize refugee camps. In all four cases, the interests of the refugees were shaped by issues that went well beyond the humanitarian neutrality subscribed to in international treaties. The proliferation of small arms during the wars of the late 1990s and early 2000s also meant that organized banditry became a common and unwelcome by-product of such militarization. Host and home countries predictably demonize refugee populations for contributing to political instability and banditry, as they each seek to extend self-serving regional political interests.

In the end the authors' hard-hitting approach left me wondering who were the humanitarian good guys and who were the militarized bad guys. Refugee hosts, the refugees themselves, refugee source states, and even the donor countries hypocritically seek political advantage at the expense of humanitarian ideals. Host countries inevitably blame refugees themselves for the instability, only grudgingly providing asylum. International humanitarian organizations are actors, too, but irrespective of their financial resources, their effectiveness is often tempered by violence on the ground by the political and economic interests of donor countries.

The strength of No Refuge is the authors' roots in the discipline of international relations. The authors assume that refugees exist in a world where political interests are the driving force for home country, host country, and refugee communities. The result is an in-depth examination of this subfield of refugee studies. But this approach is also a weakness because it neglects the insights of other disciplines on refugee communities. Anthropology, in particular, is more likely to point out that most refugee communities have a large proportion of women and children concerned primarily with the mundane routines of reestablishing fractured households and communities, and with the food distribution policies imposed by international donor agencies. Also consistent with the field of international relations, the authors assume the legitimacy of the preexisting state and the international community's abstract mandate to assist refugee victims. But this approach overlooks the fact that by their very nature refugees are a challenge to the legitimacy of the state, and are rarely as apolitical as their very real victim-hood (and international treaties) imply. This point aside, No Refuge is a valuable contribution to the literature about refugee camp administration and politics in the context of Africa's wars. The historical background to the crises in Guinea, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda (and neighboring countries) is particularly interesting for people interested in these countries. This book is a good reminder that, focused as they are on mundane day-to-day tasks...