"Forgotten," "Hidden": Predicaments of the Urban Refugee

Urban refugees are widely viewed as anomalous—people
who stand outside a refugee regime which, in Africa, Asia,
and Latin America, is based upon rural encampment.
This article considers why states and humanitarian agencies
view urban refugees in this way. It examines the history
of the refugee as an urban person and the recent
change in perspective which has enforced a rural norm. It
considers the extreme pressures placed upon displaced people
in the city and the consequences for communities
which contest their marginal status.