Refugee-Inspired Ethical Guidelines from Kakuma: Moving Toward Decolonising Research Practice

Neil Bilotta () and Hadijah Mwenyango
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Neil Bilotta: Department of Social Work, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, USA
Hadijah Mwenyango: School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9LD, UK

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Scholarship addressing research ethics with forcibly displaced communities has gained heightened attention in the recent past. While critical, this scholarship has remained largely theoretical and has not included the voices of those who face forced displacement. This manuscript contributes to a more comprehensive discussion on ethical research with refugees and forcibly displaced populations by providing recommendations from refugees in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. Based on focus group discussions in the Kakuma Refugee Camp, this article offers practical refugee-inspired research recommendations when working in the contexts of forced displacement. The paper categorizes these recommendations into three categories: (a) pre-research, (b) data-collection, and (c) post-research. By framing the analysis in and advocating for a decolonising research ethics prism, we illustrate the broad implications for maintaining the holistic well-being of research participants in forcibly displaced contexts.

Keywords: forced displacement; research ethics; decolonisation; refugee research (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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