Book
City of Thorns (2016) by Ben Rawlence: nine lives in the Dadaab camps
City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp is a 2016 book by the British writer Ben Rawlence about Dadaab in north-east Kenya, set up in 1992 for Somalis fleeing the civil war. It follows nine residents, among them Guled from Mogadishu, Nisho, born in 1991 as his parents fled, and Muna, a student. It argues that the typical refugee experience is being stuck rather than moving.
City of Thorns
- Author
- Ben Rawlence
- Year
- 2016
- Publisher
- Picador
- Language
- English
- Sources
- 3 sources
The book
City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World's Largest Refugee Camp is a non-fiction book by the British writer and former researcher Ben Rawlence, published by Picador in the UK in 2016 (City of Thorns, Wikipedia).
The place
The book is about Dadaab, a group of refugee camps in north-east Kenya near the Somali border. Dadaab was set up in 1992 for about 90,000 refugees from the Somali civil war; the book describes a population of hundreds of thousands, though the exact number has always been disputed (Wikipedia). Life in the camps is covered on Refugee camps.
The people it follows
Rawlence tells the story of the camp through nine residents. Among them (Wikipedia):
- Guled, who grew up in Mogadishu during the war, was taken by al-Shabaab and escaped.
- Nisho, born in 1991 as his parents fled Somalia, who grew up in the camp.
- Muna, a student who used the camp's free schools and pushed against the limits set for her.
Its argument
The book's main claim is that "the quintessential refugee experience is not so much of movement as [of] being stuck": most refugees spend years or decades in camps near home rather than travelling on to Europe (Wikipedia).
How it was received
- The Guardian called it a "timely reminder that the vast majority of the world's refugee population will never see European shores" (Wikipedia, citing The Guardian).
- In the New York Times, Caroline Moorehead described it as "a deeply disturbing and depressing portrait of the violence, destitution, fear, sense of hopelessness and neglect" in the camps (Wikipedia, citing the New York Times).
- The Foreign Policy Association chose it for its 2019 "Great Decisions" programme on refugees and migration (Wikipedia).
Other books on Dadaab include Cindy Horst's study Transnational Nomads (2006), listed on Books about Somalis, 1991 to 2005.
Where to read it
- Lending copy: Internet Archive
- In a library: WorldCat
Related pages
Sources
- City of Thorns, Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- Internet Archive · archive.org
- WorldCat · search.worldcat.org
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Where this matters
- Garbahaarrey (Garbaharey) and GedoGedo is the south-western region on the borders with Kenya and Ethiopia, with Garbahaarrey as its capital and about 1 million people.
- Kismaayo (Kismayo) and Lower JubaLower Juba is the far southern region on the border with Kenya, with the port city of Kismayo (Kismaayo) as its capital and about 1.2 million people.
Same era
- Australia18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia lived in Australia at the 2021 Census, more than half in Victoria. History, work, issues.
- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
- Calgary, Alberta, Canada2,845 people of Somali origin lived in Calgary at the 2021 Census, plus 890 in Brooks. How they came, who serves them and what they face.
- Denmark (Somali diaspora)21,885 people of Somali origin lived in Denmark in 2026, half born there. Numbers, history, work, permit reviews, and ties home.
- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
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- Infidel (2006) by Ayaan Hirsi Ali: the memoir, its story and its receptionAyaan Hirsi Ali's memoir Infidel (Mijn Vrijheid, 2006): what it covers from Somalia to the Dutch parliament, sales, praise, criticism and later books.
- Keeping Hope Alive (2013) by Hawa Abdi: a doctor's memoir of the war yearsHawa Abdi's memoir Keeping Hope Alive (2013): her training, the clinic and camp on her family's land, the attack of 2010, and how reviewers received it.
- A House in the Sky (2013) by Amanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett: a memoir of captivity in SomaliaAmanda Lindhout and Sara Corbett's A House in the Sky (2013): the 2008-2009 kidnapping it describes, its reception and the debate around it, and where to read it.
- This Is What America Looks Like (2020) by Ilhan Omar: from refugee to CongressIlhan Omar's memoir This Is What America Looks Like (2020): her childhood in Mogadishu, the refugee years, life in the US and politics, and how reviewers from different sides received it.
- A Man of Good Hope (2015) by Jonny Steinberg: one Somali refugee's journey to South AfricaJonny Steinberg's A Man of Good Hope (2015): Asad Abdullahi's journey from Mogadishu through Kenya and Ethiopia to South Africa, how the book was made, and how reviewers received it.