This paper aims to examine three IDP camps in Somaliland namely Malawle, Digaale, and Ajax 4. They are all three situated in the outskirts of the capital of Somaliland, Hargeisa. This paper focus on three elements; Firstly, definitions, how are IDPs defined in Somaliland and how is this possible when Somaliland is not a recognized state. If the state is not recognized how do the international humanitarian regime apply assistance and protection? Secondly, the camp. How is a camp defined? What kind of spatial and temporal elements are applicable in the case of the IDP camps in Somaliland. The camps become a paradoxical space of bare life where the IDPs are stripped of political identity and reduced to their stories and wounds as IDPs. However, at the same time the high implementation focus from the Somaliland government and the international humanitarian regime creates a hyper-politicized space where camp residents can exercise and formulate control. Thirdly, the moral economy of the camps in Hargeisa will be examined. The access to funds, controlled by NGOs, is managed by community-based organizations in the camps. These organizations are built on an understanding that visibility grants greater access to funds. The moral economy that plays out in the camps can be understood as individuals’ ability to remain socially and politically alive. The paper investigates how the IDP camps are governed by the camp residents themselves through local councils and how this form of self-governance plays out in cooperation with the local government and the international humanitarian regime. What kind of issues and advantages does the camps have? Why do they keep being classified by the local government as IDP camps?

This paper will focus on a participatory design. The IDPs that participates in the interviews will be involved in designing the structure of my paper as well as participate in the formulation of questions for the relevant government department, the NDRA. I have chosen this methodological approach in acknowledgement to my own limitations and as part of my ethical considerations of this paper. All the data for this paper is from my field research in the three months I spent in Somaliland. I spent time interviewing local council members in the Malawle, Digaale, and Ajax 4 IDP camp. Additionally, I met with the National Displaced and Refugee Agency in Hargeisa, as well as observing NGOs apply for funds and implement projects in the camps. In my time there I met with many locals who had knowledge of the IDP camps, the residents or maybe the family who used to own the land the camp was built on. This meant that I spent a great deal of time outside my structured interviews in order to gain a greater and more nuanced understanding of how the camps are governed, who lives there, and the cultural and political frameworks of the Somaliland nation and people.