The Impact of Refugee Experiences on Education: Evidence from Burundi: Working Paper No. 16

Returning refugees are 6% points more likely to have finished primary school than their contemporaries who never left the country

• From: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
• Published: 1 February 2017

• Country: Burundi
• Document Type: Working Paper
• Theme: Education, Governance and Conflict
• Authors: Fransen, S, Siegel, M, Vargas-Silva, C

Abstract

Previous studies suggest that displacement is one of the channels through which conflict impacts schooling outcomes. However, there is scarce evidence on this impact for those who are displaced internationally (i.e. refugees). Using data from Burundi, a country which experienced large scale conflict-led emigration and substantial post-war refugee return, we show that returning refugees are six percentage points more likely to have finished primary school than their contemporaries who never left the country. We conduct several placebo tests to demonstrate that this result is not driven by pre-conflict differences. There is no substantial effect of internal displacement on schooling outcomes.

This research is part of the Gender, Growth and Labour Markets in Low-Income Countries programme

Citation

Fransen, S., Siegel, M. & Vargas-Silva, C. (2017). The Impact of Refugee Experiences on Education: Evidence from Burundi. GLMLIC Working Paper No. 16. Available at: https://g2lm-lic.iza.org/publications/wp/wp16/

Link

The Impact of Refugee Experiences on Education: Evidence from Burundi

Published 1 February 2017