The In-Betweens of Space and Time in Transit : Spatial and temporal realities for urban refugees in Eastleigh, Nairobi

Abstract: This is a study on how Somali and Oromo refugees manage under uncertain circumstances in Eastleigh, Nairobi. Fleeing from war, persecution and violence, the refugees expected to find protection and a quick transfer to a third country, which was not the case. Instead, they ended up in being stuck, unsafe, and questioned. The refugees aimed for resettlement to a third country; a decision depending on approval from the hosting state, a receiving state, and UNHCR. This process normally included 8-10 years or more of waiting and a positive answer was not guaranteed. The spatial realities in displacement in Eastleigh included a status of illegitimacy, socioeconomic hardships, and unpredictability of an eventual resettlement in a third country. In the protracted waiting for resettlement they struggle to become part of the place but in the state of transit, and in an excluding context, they are in-between – in a liminal state in both space and time.