Livelihood and diasporic identity constructions of Somali refugees in Cairo

This working paper is based on eight-months of research conducted from September
1, 2002 to April 30, 2003 under the auspices of and with the funding from the Forced
Migration and Refugee Studies Program at the American University in Cairo and
examines two interlinked processes in the lives of Somali refugees in Cairo, namely:
(1) securing livelihood by using a set of shared strategies, and (2) the ways in which
these daily strategies involve the refugees’ reconstruction of traditional collective
identity constructs such as clan affiliation and Somali nationalism, and the creation of
new and significant identity constructs based on shared diasporic experiences. In the
Somali refugee population in Cairo, these two processes are interconnected precisely
because the question of sharing identity is part and parcel of individual and collective
efforts of securing livelihood and maximizing resources.