Enduring crisis : refugee problems in eastern Sudan

The Free University in Amsterdam has undertaken several research projects in the Sudan. One programme (1983-1986) was aimed at comparing spontaneous and organized settlement of refugees as roads towards integration; the locations studied were in the region of Gedaref, in the southern part of the Eastern Region. A second programme (1986-1987), undertaken jointly by the Free University and the University of Khartoum's Development Studies and Research Centre, studied the impact of refugees on the host region; Kassala and the surrounding rural area were chosen for this study. The present publication is a collection of articles written by some of those involved in these research programmes. They summarize the principal results of the various researches. The first chapter, by Henk Tieleman, introduces some of the prominent issues in refugee studies and discusses possible theoretical approaches. This is followed by a chapter, by Tom Kuhlman, on the root cause of the largest refugee flow: the Eritrean conflict. Chapter 3, by Jan Bouke Wijbrandi, evaluates the economic integration of refugees under conditions of organized and spontaneous settlement, and chapter 4, by Walter Kok, discusses the burden of refugees as assessed in the Kassala region. The last article, by Moniek Boerenkamp and Arjan Schuthof, is a condensation of the research undertaken by two anthropologists among Eritrean refugees belonging to the Baria ethnic group in a village near Kassala