ABSTRACT
Following the outbreak of a civil war in Somalia in the early 1990s, a large number of Somalis have fled to neighboring countries or have been internally displaced within the failed state. However, some have sought refuge further afield, including in Thailand. In this chapter, George Kiarie presents case studies of two males and one female Somali who left the same part of Somalia fearing for their lives, but chose very distinct paths to come to Thailand. As a result, the protagonists of this chapter became an urban asylum seeker, a student, and a trader, respectively. Kiarie places his analysis within the theoretical concept of precarity. He conceptualizes precarity not only as an economic issue, but also looks at legal precarity and the survival strategies deployed to ensure both decent livelihoods and legal stability.
