Life in a "closed camp": of contradicted "sanctuary", marginality and refugees’ agency

Akachi C. Odoemene, Federal University, Otuoke

When, in 2007, the Oru Refugee Camp (Nigeria), which hosted about 6,000 forced migrants, was declared “closed,” all its institutional humanitarian aid providers immediately completely withdrew their support, services and presence. Unfortunately, many of the refugees were ‘unsettled’, thus stranded in the ‘closed camp’ for more than five years, and exposed to dire vulnerable conditions, at both personal and group levels. Based on personal accounts of lived experiences in the closed camp, this paper explores the dynamics of varied ‘agencies’ faced by the abandoned and stranded refugees. It articulates the sociology of ‘living in a closed camp’ through case-studies of four refugee-inhabitants and shows how marginal refugees refused to acquiesce to their condition, but exercised agencies in finding alternative paths. It further interrogates the significance of refugees’ abandonment within the framework of “sanctuary”, arguing that its actuality was a vile contradiction and a perpetuation of severe violations.