Navigating conflicting integration perspectives: refugee commodification and vulnerability in urban primary schools in Uganda

Based on a comparative case study of three primary schools in Kampala, this article examines how international and local refugee institutions and policies shape schools’ efforts to strategize INGO and community resources when integrating refugee pupils. On the one hand, refugees and their children are considered vulnerable by international organizations and given targeted aid and attention, but on the other hand, the Ugandan government expects and discursively describes urban refugees as self-reliant and independent. Within the Ugandan urban context, rigid policy categories of self-reliance and vulnerability fail to capture the real-life dimensions that educators encounter in the schools and challenge correlations between deservingness and vulnerability. The school staff strategically deploys the vulnerability category and utilize refugee presence as a commodity or as clients, accentuating or eliminating their vulnerability to help address the school community’s needs. However, in increasingly challenging conditions, the nominal vulnerability of refugees in urban contexts does not provide a sustainable integration model, and alternative regulatory frameworks of vulnerability should be considered.