The Invisible Refugee Camp: Durable Solutions for Boreah 'Residuals' in Guinea

What happens when refugees do not repatriate post-conflict? For those who remain in refugee camps, the remaining, durable solutions of resettlement and local integration may be neither feasible nor desirable. This study of Boreah camp in Guinea illustrates how refugees and refugee camps become invisible from the perspective of the host government and non-governmental organizations once assistance is rescinded and refugees refuse to avail themselves of the durable solutions offered. While refugees may cease to exist at the institutional level, ethnographic research reveals that those who continue to reside in defunct camps and/or continue to claim refugee status have eminently visible challenges. This article examines durable solutions-local integration in particular-from the perspective of refugees as well as the perspective of humanitarian actors.