Coping with protracted displacement: how Afghans secure their livelihood in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan

Abstract

This Working Paper addresses the situation of Afghans before, during and after their displacements in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. Its aim is: (1) to understand how internally displaced lower-class Afghans, refugees who have returned and Afghan refugees staying in Pakistan and Iran perceive their current living conditions and what activities they pursue towards securing their families' livelihood; (2) to establish the influence of socio-economic class dispositions on the displaced persons' abilities and agency and on the strategic forging of networks in translocal space as a way of securing their livelihood, and (3) to contribute towards elaborating an analytical livelihood approach that can explain agency in protracted displacement situations caused by violent conflict - thereby going beyond established assumptions of migration and conventional refugee studies. The authors Elke Grawert and Katja Mielke elaborate on the significance of translocal networks for Afghans as a livelihood pillar and consider 'established-outsider relations' as enabling condition. The empirical data highlight the difference in livelihood options between lower-and middle-class Afghans.