Becoming a migrant: The refugee-migrant nexus in onward trajectories of displaced Burundians towards South Africa

ABSTRACT This article examines how categorical distinctions between refugees and migrants shift as displaced Burundians move across multiple contexts in Eastern and Southern Africa. While scholars have criticised rigid voluntary-forced dichotomies for failing to capture complex realities, few studies explore how these categories are experienced and navigated by displaced individuals themselves as their journeys progress. Drawing on interviews and migration trajectory histories with Burundians who moved towards South Africa, the empirical analysis shows that for displaced individuals, categorical ambiguity persists and intensifies through onward mobility. The findings identify three interconnected dimensions through which this ambiguity functions: analytical, administrative, and discursive. The article emphasises that states of liminality are extended in the lived realities of displaced individuals as their migration trajectories evolve in the region. It further argues that rethinking long-term mobility in forced/voluntary conceptualisations is essential for understanding the complexity of displacement trajectories where refugees ‘become’ migrants.