Refugee and Host Community Integration: Challenges and Opportunities in The Case of Kebribayah City Administration in Somali Region, Ethiopia.

The issue integrating of refugees with the host community in Ethiopia is under studied so far. So, this study aimed to assess refugees, and the host community integration: challenges and opportunities in the case of Kebribayah city administration Somali region, Ethiopia. Mixed methods research approach was used to conduct the study. The researcher used Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Design in this study. Both primary and secondary data were collected through questionnaire, interview guide, FGDs, participant observation and reviewing different documents. The numerical data were analyzed through the SPSS software (the version 2021). Qualitative data were analysed through narrative/thematic the finding of the study has showed that the refugee groups have positively interacting with host community, the host and refugee community would integrate due to different reasons, even though having various characteristics they immigrated from same place but sharing common language, religion and culture. At the same time there is often good interaction between refugees and host communities, including through commerce, sharing of basic services (water provision, roads, electrici-ty), as well as shared education and health services in many locations, but scarcity of resource, land use and land administration polices, unemployment and other burning issues may still create problem for this refugee-host community’s integration. The currently ratified Ethiopian refugee proclamation is one of the opportunities which refugees living in Ethiopia have for using integration as one of durable solution.