The Social Impact of Congolese Refugees on Host Communities in Uganda: A glimpse of Kamwenge District, South Western Uganda

Abstract

For decades, Uganda has hosted refugees from different countries and it is currently hosting around 1.6 million refugees (UNHCR, 2024), mainly from its neighbouring countries including Congolese refugees However, the social adaptation process is an important component of the refugee crisis given that Congolese migrants are not temporary but permanent. Since Uganda has the largest number of refugees compared to any other East African country despite its poor economic performance, this study aimed at finding out how Congolese refugees have socially affected the host communities in Kamwenge district, South Western Uganda. This study adopted a descriptive research design and employed a mixed research approach. The population of the study composed of refugees who were residents of Rwamwanja Refugee settlement, Kamwenge district, Southwestern Uganda. Both purposive and simple random sampling techniques were be employed to obtain the study sample size of 210 respondents. Both interviews and self-administered questionnaires were used as tools for data collection. Among the respondents, 73.9% were female, while 26.1% were male of whom (98.0%) had resided in Rwamwanja refugee settlement for over two years. Whereas 51.7% of respondents identified as household heads, while 48.3% were not. Additionally, most households (55.9%) had 6-10 members, with 35.4% consisting of 1-5 members, indicating large family sizes common in refugee and host communities. Overall, these findings illustrate both positive and negative social effects of refugees to the hosting community. Positively, harmonious living within the community was identified and helping one other. Equally, marriage and cohabitation, suggests a social structure conducive to household stability and resource sharing, which in turn can strengthen community resilience. While negative contributions included there seems an overgeneralization of tensions between the refugees and the host communities in Kamwenge. Conclusively, though findings highlight competition for resources and other negative effects, refugees can also contribute socially to the local community.