Burying Our Dead in Your City: Interpreting Refugees' Constructs of Belonging in the Context of Burial of Their Loved Ones in Exile

Forced to flee from a conflict-ridden eastern Congo, refugees make their way to Kenya and find themselves living in limbo: uncertain of ever returning home and legally unable to integrate in the country of asylum. In this setting, those who lose their loved ones while in the country of asylum come face to face with questions of belonging, in the wake of experiences that left them feeling isolated and alienated. This study presents an interpretation of their narratives in how they construct and reconstruct their sense of belonging, and how the experiences with death and burial of loved ones in a foreign country affects their views on physical location in its prominence in defining where they belong.