Integration inequality among compact IDP settlements of Georgia: Settlement design and its impact on sustainable income generation

Abstract: Georgia, the Post-Soviet, transition country with struggling economy and territorial disputes has been dealing with forced migration since 1990s. In 2008, the country experienced another internal displacement wave and about 30,000 people were forced to flee from their homes. The state constructed compact IDP settlements and provided housing to affected households. After more than a decade, there is a significant gap in economic livelihoods of the IDP households in those settlements. The location and the size of the IDP settlements has had impact on the economics of IDP population and acted as main drivers of inequalities in integration across the settlements of forcibly displaced persons. The thesis will explore how the settlement facilitates or hampers employment and income-generation process for IDPs.  The conceptual framework utilized will be the combination of asset-based approach and cumulative disadvantage theory, push and pull factors theory of migration and the three key framework dimensions of camp design. The methodology used will include primary data collection through semi-structured interviews, secondary data collection through scholarly articles and reports, and the analysis and discussion of both.