Digital Communication Practices around the Experience of Resettlement from Kakuma Refugee Camp to Germany

Abstract

Kakuma refugee camp, one of the biggest refugee camps in the world, lies very marginalized in Northwestern Kenya. People living there are restricted in mobility,access to resources and work. While Kakuma has become a vivid city and home, the majority of people just want to get out. Resettlement means the chance to start a new life in places like the USA, Canada or Europe, it is everybody’s dream. With the use social media and access to wider transnational networks and information, the perception of resettlement has undergone major transformations. Based on conversations with people resettled, field work and online ethnography, I want to analyse how the journey of resettlement is personally experienced vis a vis its presentation on social media. How resettlement is perceived through pictures and texts and what is shown and what is hidden of the journey to a new life abroad.

Keywords

• Kakuma refugee camp
• resettlement
• social media
• Kenya
• Germany