Naohiko Omata
Naohiko Omata is Associate Professor and Senior Researcher at the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC). Prior to joining the RSC, Naohiko was Senior Teaching Fellow in Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. Previously, he worked as a practitioner and consultant for UNDP, UNHCR, and international and local NGOs in various Sub-Saharan African countries.
Based on extensive research in West Africa, Naohiko has published widely on refugee livelihoods, rights and repatriation including articles in the Journal of Refugee Studies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies and Community Development Journal. Before starting his career in forced migration and international development, he worked in the private sector in Japan and the United States.
Naohiko received his PhD in Development Studies at SOAS, University of London; he also holds an MA in Forced Migration and Humanitarian Aid from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a BA in Law from the University of Tokyo.
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Books and monographs( ) The Myth of Self-Reliance: Economic Lives Inside a Liberian Refugee Camp . , Oxford: Berghahn Books( ) Refugee Economies: Forced Displacement and Development . , Oxford: Oxford University Press
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Journal articles and special issues( ) Refugees Welcome? The Role of Refugee-Host Interaction in Host Community Attitude Formation . World Development( ) The role of developmental ‘buzzwords’ in the international refugee regime: Self-reliance, resilience, and economic inclusion . World Development 167 106248( ) Refugee mobilities in East Africa: understanding secondary movements . Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies( ) Humanitarian Assistance as Performance? Expectations and Mismatches Between Aid Agencies and Refugee Beneficiaries . Journal of Anthropology( ) Rethinking self-reliance and economic inclusion of refugees through a distributive lens: A case study from Uganda . African Affairs 121 (485) 649–74( ) Transnational blindness: International institutions and refugees’ cross-border activities . Review of International Studies( ) "Over-researched" and "Under-researched" refugee groups: Exploring the phenomena, causes and consequences . Journal of Human Rights Practice 12 (3) 681-95( ) The Kalobeyei Settlement: A Self-Reliance Model for Refugees? . Journal of Refugee Studies 33 (1) 189–223( ) Self-Reliance and Social Networks: Explaining Refugees’ Reluctance to Relocate from Kakuma to Kalobeyei . Journal of Refugee Studies 62-85 33 (1)( ) Panacea for the refugee crisis? Rethinking the promotion of ‘self-reliance’ for refugees . Third World Quarterly( ) Unwelcome Participation, Undesirable Agency? Paradoxes of De-Politicisation in a Refugee Camp . Refugee Survey Quarterly( ) Who takes advantage of mobility? Exploring the nexus between refugees’ movement, livelihoods and socioeconomic status in West Africa . African Geographical Review( ) Thrive or Survive: Explaining Variation in Economic Outcome for Refugees . Journal of Migration and Human Security 5:4 716-743( ) The Complexity of Refugees' Return Decision-making in a Protracted Exile: Beyond the Home-coming Model and Durable Solutions . Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies( ) Repatriation and Integration of Liberian Refugees from Ghana: the Importance of Personal Networks in the Country of Origin . Journal of Refugee Studies( ) Who Receives Remittances? A Case Study of the Distributional Impact on Liberian Refugees in Ghana . Development Viewpoint (Centre for Development Policy and Research, SOAS) 61( ) Forgotten or Neglected? Non-registered Liberian Refugees in Ghana: Their Rights and Protection . Oxford Monitoring of Forced Migration 1 (2)( ) Online Connections for Remittances . Forced Migration Review 38
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Chapters( ) Humanitarian Innovation and Refugee Assistance . In K Brennan Making Global Institutions Work: Power, Accountability, and Change , Routledge( ) The Significance and Limitations of Remittances from the West for a Liberian Refugee Population and the Local Host Community in Buduburam Village, Ghana . In T Aoyama Migration, Mobility and Globalization , Tokyo: Office for International Academic Strategy, University of Foreign Studies
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Reports( ) Refugee Economies: Rethinking Popular Assumptions . , Oxford: Humanitarian Innovation Project( ) Empowering Rural Women through Strengthening Shea Butter Industry . , The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Ghana( ) Alchemy Field Report on FCC Micro Credit Programs to Refugees in Mozambique. . , Feinstein International Famine Center, Tufts University
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Working papers( ) Micro-finance in Refugee Contexts: current scholarship and research gaps . Refugee Studies Centre Working Paper No 116 , Oxford: University of Oxford( ) Struggling to Find Solutions: Liberian Refugees in Ghana . UNHCR Research Paper 234( ) 'Repatriation Is Not for Everyone': The Life and Livelihoods of Former Refugees in Liberia . UNHCR Research Paper 213
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Other publications( ) Social Cohesion and Refugee-Host Interaction: Evidence from East Africa . World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 9917 , World Bank( ) Refugee Economies in Dollo Ado: Development Opportunities in a Border Region of Ethiopia . , Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford( ) Doing Business in Kakuma: Refugees, Entrepreneurship, and the Food Sector . , Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford( ) Refugee Economies in Addis Ababa: Towards Sustainable Opportunities for Urban Communities? . , Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford( ) Refugee Economies in Uganda: What Difference Does the Self-Reliance Model Make? . , Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford( ) Self-Reliance in Kalobeyei? Socio-Economic Outcomes for Refugees in North-West Kenya . , Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford( ) Refugee Economies in Kenya . , Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford( ) Refugee Economies . RSC Research Brief No. 2 , Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford( ) Refugee Economies: Rethinking Popular Assumptions . , Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford