Integration And Identity Among Refugee Children In Ethiopia Dilemmas Of Eritrean And Somali Students In Selected Primary Schools Of Addis Ababa

The purpose of this study was to analyze the practices and dilemmas of integration and preservation ofrnidentity of urban refugee children in Ethiopia. In this study, comparative case study design was employed.rnTwo refugee communities in Addis Ababa, namely, Eritrean and Somali refugees, were selected as cases.rnSix primary schools in Addis Ababa accommodating Eritrean and Somali refugee students were selectedrnas research sites. The major sources of data were refugee students, primary schools principals, primaryrnschools teachers, refugee parents, urban refugee central committee members, host communityrnrepresentatives, and experts from ARRA, UNHCR, DICAC-RRAD, and JRS, and documents. Sample fromrntarget population was drawn purposefully using criteria for each target population. A total of 98 individualsrnwere drawn as sample in this study. In addition, six classroom observations and six observations of refugeernstudents in and around the six primary schools compounds were undertaken. Instruments of data collectionrnused include interview, focus group discussion, observation and document analysis. Findings of this studyrnrevealed that refugee policy in Ethiopia has mixed characteristics of openness and restriction, and as arnresult, in Ethiopia, while quantity of asylum is acclaimed, quality of asylum can be criticized on grounds ofrnlegal reservations to and restrictions on the basic rights of refugees including movement, employment, andrneducation. All letters, directives, and guidelines from MoE on refugee education in Ethiopia are mainlyrnpreoccupied with provisions for the recognition of prior learning of refugee students. Provisions regardingrnthe processes of integration and the practices to preserve the identity of refugee students are totally missingrnin the letters, directives and guidelines. The actual roles that MoE and AACGBE are playing in urbanrnrefugee education in Addis Ababa are, at best, peripheral. ARRA is playing the major role in the provisionrnof education to refugees. As the result of the interplay among various factors, in Addis Ababa, whilernEritrean refugees and the host community have established positive relationship, the relationship betweenrnSomali refugees and the host community is fraught due to various misunderstandings. There are strongrncontroversies between Eritrean and Somali refugees on the one hand, and UNHCR, ARRA and other NGOsrnworking on urban refugee program in Addis Ababa on the adequacy of subsistence allowance and thernphased transfer of refugee students to government schools. The overall experiences of integrating Eritreanrnand Somali refugee students in the primary schools of Addis Ababa suggest that integration, from the pointrnof view of agencies and school authorities, is degenerated to just physical placement of refugee studentsrninto the schools together with local students, particularly through the phased transfer to governmentrnschools. There are no formal school based approaches to facilitate celebration and promotion of Eritreanrnand Somali refugee students’ identity in the primary schools of Addis Ababa. Primary schools are strivingrnto make refugees identify themselves with their Ethiopian co-ethnic groups. Hence, primary schools, duernto lack of awareness and resources, are striving to form a contrived identity to refugee students. Due torntheir dispersed settlement, the preference for disguised existence, positive relationship and better degree ofrnintegration with host community due to cultural compatibility, Eritrean refugee parents are struggling tornjustify to their children how Eritrean identity is distinct, particularly, from that of Ethiopian ethnicrnTigreans. The concentrated settlement of Somali refugees in visible communities in Addis Ababa and thernpractical utility of Somali religion, culture and language for their day-to-day life, left Somali refugees inrnAddis Ababa to be less integrated with the host community. In order to learn, maintain, and transmit theirrndistinct identity, Somali refugees in Addis Ababa rely on the family, media, religious organizations (i.e.,rnKoranic schools and Mosques), and private language schools, which are competing in many terms with thernprimary schools accommodating Somali refugee students. From the findings of this study severalrnimplications for policy and practice were suggested. Initiating comprehensive and explicit refugee policyrnin Ethiopia; designing arrangements that can facilitate synergy between the MoE’s expertise in educationrnand ARRA’s expertise on refugee issues; facilitating forums and resources that can promote properrninformation flow among all stakeholders in urban refugee education; developing clear guidelines on thernintegration and preservation of identity of refugee children in Addis Ababa schools; developing capacityrnof agency personnel, refugee communities, school authorities, and teachers on the implementation ofrnrefugee students integration and identity; designing programs for the inclusion of refugee education in thernteacher training programs and developing degree program on education in emergencies are the majorrnimplications of the findings

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