◆Speaker：Isao Murahashi

◆Date of presentation：3 February, 2022

◆Venue/Organizer：The University of Bayreuth, Africa Multiple project, Talk on Mobility Session (Zoom online)

◆Title：Refugee Mobility and Uncertain Lives: Challenges and Agency of South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda

◆Abstract

Mobility is essential to improve the standard of living and enhance food security, particularly for displaced people.For those living in the conflict-ridden areas of Africa, border crossings and onward movement are commonplace, which complicates simplistic ideas about displacement and return. This presentation scrutinises the mobility of the South Sudanese people who have crossed the South Sudan-Uganda border, highlighting historical cross-border mobility and the current situation of refugees in Uganda. Since the mid-1950s, when the first South Sudanese took refuge in Uganda, both Ugandan and South Sudanese repeatedly crossed the shared border to escape civil wars. Currently, most of the South Sudanese, who fled the recent conflict in South Sudan, remain in Uganda despite the peace agreement of 2018, looking at an opportunity to return. South Sudanese in exile have continuously been exposed to uncertain futures, while Uganda, which now hosts the largest number of refugees in Africa, prioritises the repatriation of refugees. Here, we present a case study of the mid-western Uganda. I reveal refugees' experiences of multiple displacements and discuss the agency of refugees, revealing how they employ mobility for a secure life and when they decide to settle among the local population in Uganda or return home.