Title: The role of stability in the reception of refugees in Zambia

Authors: Nicholas Maple

Addresses: Refugee Law Initiative, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London, UK

Abstract: Despite the utility of securitisation theory in developing understandings of state behaviour towards refugee movement, a small body of work has questioned some of the broader assumptions that underpin it. This paper builds on these critiques, by interrogating the assumption that states frame all movement of refugees (cross-border and within the territory of the host state) as entirely negative. Using the case study of Zambia, the paper shows how the reality is more complex, with several contradictions existing at the heart of responses to refugee movement. The paper proposes the connected concept of 'stability' to better understand the relationship between refugee movement and refugee reception policies. This is because the 'problem' of refugees can be understood conceptually as one of instability. Stopping all refugee movement is rarely the overarching aim of a reception policy on the continent. Rather, viewed through a stability lens, reception policies are focused on managing movement.

Keywords: refugees; Southern Africa; mobility; security; Zambia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMBS.2024.145461

International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 2024 Vol.8 No.3/4, pp.261 - 279

Received: 07 Dec 2023
Accepted: 25 Sep 2024
Published online: 01 Apr 2025 *

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