ABSTRACT
This chapter sensitizes the readers to the challenges and hurdles encountered in the investigation of conflict-induced displacements, exaggerated by the protracted nature of such crisis. An in-depth understanding of the challenges encountered in the investigation of the KP community brings an appreciation of the depth and breadth of the effort required to gain meaningful understanding of similarly sensitive communities across the globe. Specific hurdles encountered help unfold the political and community positions embraced by key actors in the interest of keeping the populations protected from further harm as well as to manage the anxiety of the larger population. However, those very interests and positions come to restrict the investigators’ as well as the humanitarian workers’ access to these communities, relegating them into hidden populations. Among the challenges identified in the investigation of the KP displacement are: i) access to the families given the distrust and suspicion of outsiders, ii) locating the families who remain hidden due to stigma of displacement, iii) local resistance that comes from unconcerned and uninformed members of host communities, iv) official positions that often dub the crisis and populations in secretive ways, and v) the demographics of the camp settings.
