The research area was the Buduburam refugee camp in Ghana. The seventeen sample size for this qualitative research were drawn from Liberians who fled to Ghana during the Liberian civil war, which occurred from 1989 to 2003. They lived in Ghana for nine to twenty years. At the time of this research in 2019 and 2020, they had voluntarily repatriated to Liberia but had re-emigrated to Ghana after at least three months in Liberia.

The research asked two main questions: what are the livelihood strategies of former Librarian refugees prior to the Liberian War, while refugees in Ghana, in Liberia after voluntary repatriation, and their current livelihood in Ghana after re-emigration? What are the barriers they face in the pursuit of their livelihoods? What help have they received from institutions like UNHCR and the Ghana Refugee Board to help them navigate these barriers? Thus, the analysis of their livelihood was done across the four phases of their status. (Prior to the war in Liberia, as refugees, returnees, and return repatriates.)

When you look at how they made a living in all four stages of their lives—before the war, while they were refugees in Ghana, after they returned home to Liberia, and now, after re-emigrating to Ghana—the data shows that the only real way for the participants to make a living was in the informal sector. livelihoods during all these phases were informal in nature, particularly characterised by selling, construction, hair dressing/plaiting, and painting. The various livelihood forms of respondents and the barriers they have navigated underscore the diverse strategies often adopted by refugees to earn a living and cope with their situation after the shock of forced migration.

Using Ager and Strang (2008) integration framework indicators, the dissertation found that, apart from education, integration of respondents in Ghana, including employment, had not been successful.

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