The refugee trap: the economics of displacement

Book

Refugee movements are one of the defining issues of the Twenty-First Century. But what difference does it actually make to be a refugee? To what extent are refugees economically distinctive compared to citizens or other groups of migrants? Drawing upon original data collected in camps and cities across East Africa, The Refugee Trap shows that becoming a refugee changes the economic constraints people face in important ways; they confront a series of poverty traps that make them systematically worse off compared to citizens. These relate to trauma, dispossession, uprootedness, and rights. By understanding the mechanisms underlying these traps, we can in turn identify the policy interventions needed to support restoration, and thereby address the sources of economic disadvantage that result from forced displacement. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Authors: Betts, A; Omata, N; Siu, J; Sterck, O

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Series: Elements in Global Development Studies
• Place of publication: Cambridge, United Kingdom
• Publication date: 2026-07-13
• Edition: 1
• EISSN: 2634-0313
• ISSN: 2634-0305
• EISBN: 9781009765756
• Language: English
• Keywords: refugees; forced displacement; development; migration; poverty