Refugee hosting and conflict resolution: Opportunities for diplomatic interventions and buffeting regional hegemons

Abstract

The Horn of Africa remains one of the most unstable and conflict-prone regions of the continent (Williams 2011). This is partly due to colonial legacies and partly cold war rivalries which were consummated in African soil. The countries constituting the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) are perpetually in some form of conflict or the other for the last 30 years. Since 1990 the region has experienced about 200 violent conflicts (Mengistu 2015). Somalia is slowly recovering from conflict since 1992, South Sudan has moved from liberation war into intra-state conflict since 2013, and there are long standing and low intensity conflicts in Ethiopia, which hardly reach international attention. Such intrastate conflicts frequently spill-over to neighboring countries (Milner 2011: 5). In relation to displacement, conflicts in neighboring countries have the potential to undermine conflict management in the country of origin. The two important players in the regional dynamics therefore remain host countries and refugees (IPI 2011). However, this is compounded by foreign interest, especially by former imperial powers and the USA