A Burden or a Resource? Conditions for Returnee (Re)integration in Juba, South Sudan

Abstract

This thesis focuses on returnees' potential to contribute to reconstruction and development in post-conflict societies. Do returnees bring with them resources of any kind? If yes, how can these resources be utilized in order to contribute to reconstruction and development in the return areas? Through analyzing the experiences of South Sudanese returnees in Juba, these are the main questions this study seeks to answer. By drawing on the theoretical concepts of returnee (re)integration and returnee capital, the study seeks to explore returnees' (potential) contributions to their return areas. The results suggest that returnees possess various forms of capital (material, human, social, cultural) acquired either pre-flight or during exile. The case study shows a particularly high level of education and work experience among the returnees, as well as social changes in lifestyles, attitudes and values. However, the utilization of the returnee capital depends on the prevailing conditions of the return areas. This study shows that there are several aspects of the South Sudanese context that hinder an efficient utilization of returnee capital, with lack of employment opportunities, limited access to land, poor service delivery, and social discrimination being the most prominent. As a result, this study concludes that return migration theoretically represents a transfer of resources to the returnees' countries and/or areas of origin, however, the returnees are often unable to translate their capital into either micro or macro contributions.