Search results
Found 3351 matches for
The struggle for belonging: forming and reforming identities among 1.5-generation asylum seekers and refugees
Issues of identity can be tricky for refugees, asylum seekers and other immigrants in general. From an essentialist perspective, finding oneself dislocated from the place where one was born and grew up, from the community where one’s ancestors had deep connections and ties, and perhaps where one feels that one belongs, is difficult to deal with. The research question that is being investigated is as follows: in what ways do people of the 1.5-generation (particularly given to the Ethiopian 1.5-generation) in the diaspora represent themselves, and what are the ways in which they negotiate and construct their identities? As the first part of the question indicates, by asking ‘in what ways,’ it is evident that there is no single response. This paper argues that while the process of identity formation may in general be difficult, this process is intensified and becomes more complex in the case of the 1.5-generation of forced migrants, often leading to a painful ‘struggle for belonging.’
Tony Blair’s asylum policies: the narratives and conceptualisations at the heart of New Labour’s restrictionism
Over the last twenty years, there has been a radical shift in public perceptions of and political reactions to asylum seekers in democratic states across the world. As numbers of asylum seekers have risen, at times dramatically, governments of all political persuasions have implemented restrictionist policies designed to prevent and deter individuals from seeking asylum. This paper examines the development of this restrictionist trend by exploring the conceptual foundations of New Labour’s asylum policies through an analysis of the contributions made by Tony Blair in the House of Commons between 1992 and 2007. Blair’s attitude towards asylum shifted dramatically as he himself moved from the opposition to the government. I will examine the justifications offered for his increasing restrictionism in order to identify the way in which Blair articulates the tension inherent in all modern liberal democratic states between universal human rights and state sovereignty.
Flowing into the state: returning refugee youth and citizenship in Angola
This paper considers citizenship in its non-legal sense, using Angola as a case study and focusing primarily on returning refugee youth and the manner in which reintegration programs are designed and implemented in light of the transition to democratic governance. This paper suggests that outdated notions of childhood development still widely inform the manner in which youth are treated today. It explores education as a means through which this process is manifest, in both UN and Angolan domestic policy. It also questions the ability of education in and of itself to address the needs of young people in a post-conflict setting in which civil and social institutions have been widely ruptured. It calls for the engagement of refugee youth in the process of their repatriation at the earliest possible moment, and highlights the need for a reframing of young people such that their contributions to Angolan and international society are recognized and their ‘citizenship’ consequently validated at an experiential level.
Negotiating childhood: age assessment in the UK asylum system
Faced with rising numbers of undocumented asylum seekers claiming to be minors, age assessment is increasingly conceived as an integral part of asylum determination in Europe. Portrayed as a viable way to safeguard domestic asylum and welfare systems from adults posing as minors whilst concurrently ensuring that children are protected (Council of Europe 2005), age assessment has nonetheless been notoriously controversial in the UK. This paper therefore seeks to address the underlying issue of why age assessment is so politicised. This paper seeks to demonstrate how a range of domestic social, discursive, political and institutional factors impact and shape the seemingly technical process of assessing UASCs’ age. Importantly, these conditions of possibility do not necessarily relate directly to age assessment. Nonetheless, their intersection can open, exacerbate or close spaces for contestation around age assessment. Hence the politicised nature of age assessment might meaningfully be understood as a response to shifting issues of age and asylum resulting from a particular conflation of conditions in the UK.
Ending internal displacement: the long-term IDPs in Sri Lanka
This paper considers the end of internal displacement in Sri Lanka with particular emphasis on the northern Muslim internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the district of Puttalam. It highlights the dilemmas and challenges faced by the IDPs after a protracted displacement, where the end of a war presents two main options: a return to their origins or integration in the present area of displacement. As analyzed in this paper, these durable solutions need structures and conditions to support them, including effective IDP participation in the decision-making process. The central lesson drawn from the northern Muslim IDP experience is that while there is no single precise durable solution to end displacement, a holistic and integrated approach is needed. The right to return will require the recognition of many factors analyzed in this paper that should be set in place so that return is a sustainable durable solution.
Deportation, non-deportability and ideas of membership
The purpose of this paper is to bridge the scholarships on deportation and citizenship and account for the “soft line” between aliens and citizens (Ngai, 2004) epitomised in the current dilemma on deportation enforcement. In particular, this paper explores the extent to which, and why, states are unable to enforce deportation orders and the concurrent creation of new forms of quasi-members of the polity. Building upon the emerging literature on the so-called ‘deportation turn’, whereby countries are seeking to deport an increasingly high number of undocumented migrants to their alleged countries of origin (De Genova and Peutz, 2010), this paper focuses on the constraints that states face in fully implementing deportation and the manner in which they respond to them. This paper suggests that the limited capacity of states to exercise efficaciously their power of coercion, such as deportation, can be understood as a function of the predicament of liberal democratic society.
No refuge: Palestinians in Lebanon
Suleiman’s paper sets out the restricted legal, political, economic and social conditions within which Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are forced to live. More than any of the other four populations under the UNRWA mandate, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are deprived of basic civil and human rights. In the aftermath of the Nahr el-Bared debates regarding its rebuilding and the possible association with tawteen, Suleiman maintains that Palestinians in Lebanon do not wish to be naturalised or integrated; they do not wish to give up their claims to Palestine but simply seek to “mitigate their destitution and alleviate their day-to-day suffering.” The paper by Mansour and Yassin places the rebuilding of the Nahr el-Bared camp within the current concerns on the ‘global war on terror’ and the securitisation debates which link refugees to threats to national security. The paper asks whether post-conflict reconstruction is designed to restore refugee protection - as the state claims - or to implement greater control, confinement and exclusion. Using Foucault’s framework of governmentality, it analyses the Lebanese state’s protection and reconstruction policy and practice over Nahr el-Bared camp. It concludes that, while the reconstruction plan for the camp in strictly technical terms is a model of innovation, it has serious implications for the rights and protection of refugees.
The African Union, the United Nations and civilian protection challenges in Darfur
This paper examines the relationship between the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) in the protection of civilians in armed conflicts. The paper proposes that we can best understand the AU-UN collaboration for civilian protection from a perspective that takes seriously the value of legitimacy for state actors. The benefits of such an approach are illustrated by reference to the AU’s lead role in the Darfur conflict and its African Mission in Sudan. It concludes that since the AU-UN relationship for civilian protection appears to be ‘the only game in town’, and this state of affairs is becoming more institutionalised, it isnecessary that scholars comment on its political effects in terms of the quality of protection provided. The paper draws on a particular understanding of international legitimacy to increase our understanding of how UNSC has executed its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security in Africa.
Livelihoods under protracted conflict: a case study of Sri Lanka
Populations affected by violent conflicts often withstand threats to their security and livelihoods. Their response to the former threat affects their response to the latter, and vice versa. This paper identifies and assesses the effectiveness of certain responses used in a protracted conflict setting by households in Medawachchiya DSD of the Anuradhapura district in Sri Lanka. The field work for this study involved a sample of 82 households and was conducted during January-April 2008. It finds evidence that the protection and livelihood strategies of households affected by protracted conflict are often interlaced. It also finds that Sinhalese and Muslim households had largely responded to the protracted conflict in ways that were unique to their ethnic groups. This is evident as certain vulnerabilities that impinge upon protection and livelihood opportunities are ethnically biased. The differences in responses meant that the final outcome of these responses, mainly the income, also tended to differ across ethnicities.
Making states, displacing peoples: a comparative perspective of Xinjiang and Tibet in the People’s Republic of China
Starting from the observation of a change in the dynamics of human displacement in Xinjiang since the 1990s, this paper’s aim is to identify and understand the impacts of Chinese state- and nation-building with human displacement. Referring to Zolberg’s work, this paper shows that ethnic conflict and separatism in Xinjiang are the result of the emergence of the PRC as a new state in 1949. The subsequent forced incorporation of borderlands, such as Xinjiang and Tibet, into the Chinese state has created “populations in between,” caught into the Chinese nation without belonging to it. Although Chinese authorities have a policy aimed at assimilating ethnic minorities, it has strengthened the Uyghur identity and sense of distinctiveness. In this way, state- and nation-building in the PRC not only triggered human displacement, but also shaped the Uyghur community in exile. If this community in exile has emerged in reaction to the process of the Chinese nation-state building, it continues to be shaped by Beijing’s policy, whose hardening has triggered the homogenisation, unification, and publicisation of the Uyghur diaspora.
Refugee advocacy and the biopolitics of asylum in Britain: the precarious position of young male asylum seekers and refugees
Young male asylum seekers and refugees are situated in a precarious position at the intersection of several powerful discursive fields. This dissertation proposes to scrutinise some of the lenses through which we look at displaced young men in contemporary Britain. This paper will critically engage with pro-refugee discourse, including the question of whether its reliance on the discourse of children’s rights and its ‘solutions’ may have effects that place certain asylum seekers and refugees in the UK in challenging positions due to their age and gender.
From ethnic insiders to refugee outsiders: a community level ethnography of Greek Cypriot identity formation and transference since displacement
This paper investigates the hypothesis that coethnicity is predictive of successful integration. It will look at where there are gaps vis à vis facilitating variables and why such gaps may exist. The case of Cyprus offers an ideal laboratory for studying the extent to which co-ethnicity serves as a pre-condition for successful integration. Greek Cypriot refugees seem to continually resist integration through self-description, social affiliation, and through their persistent preoccupation with return, even as they enjoy full legal, economic, and cultural integration. This paper will explore how and why Greek Cypriot integration is resisted on the discursive level even as it exists in the formal sense. I will argue that problematic assumptions about what integration entails, the significance of co-ethnicity for integration, the impact of the displacement experience, as well as the failure to connect a discussion of solutions to causes of displacement may all underlie the apparent paradox we see in Cyprus and elsewhere.
Civilian protection in Sri Lanka under threat
The papers by Benson and Fonseka are based on presentations given at the September 2009 conference hosted by the RSC on Protecting People in Conflict and Crisis: Responding to the Challenges of a Changing World. The paper by Satkunanathan was presented in a follow-up roundtable discussion on Post War Future in Sri Lanka hosted by the RSC and the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity. These papers contribute to the debate on humanitarianism and civilian protection. They discuss the contradictions, tensions, ambiguities and dilemmas of UN and international organisations in protecting civilians in times of conflict. Benson describes UNHCR's work on both needs and rights in Sri Lanka during the peace process, particularly with regards to IDPs, at a time when the organisation's mandate was expanding to cover more rights-based protection. Satkunanathan's paper describes the tension faced by the agencies between addressing protection and assistance needs of the displaced population. Finally, Fonseka's paper is a useful summary of the dilemmas and constraints faced by humanitarian workers and NGOs within the post-war situation, and highlights many of the problems faced by activists who are working inside Sri Lanka.
The securitization of asylum: protecting UK residents
This paper examines the concept of the securitization of asylum and its potential effects on the human security of the resident population of the United Kingdom. By focusing on the effects of securitization on members of the host community rather than refugees, this paper represents a perspective that has not received a great deal of attention in the existing body of literature. While it is often assumed that security measures are undertaken for the good of the resident population, it is important to note that fear is also a risk that must be taken into account. This paper argues that the association of asylum seekers with terrorism in public discourse in the UK could potentially lead to a decrease, rather than an increase, in the human security of the resident population by exacerbating their fears of both asylum seekers and terrorism.
Did 9/11 matter? Securitisation of asylum and migration in the European Union from 1992 to 2008
This paper analyses the effect of 9/11 on securitization of asylum and immigration in the EU from 1992 to 2008 at the supranational level. It explores the assumption that 9/11 did in fact change asylum and immigration policies. Additionally, it offers an interpretation of how asylum and migration in the EU have been securitized, thereby contributing to a better understanding of the process of securitization. Briefly, this paper finds that the escalated securitization manifested both qualitative and quantitative change. For instance, quantitative change is found in political discourse and qualitative change is identified in the establishment of a permanent state of emergency. Finally, given its regional focus, this paper aids the understanding of the integration and supranationalization of asylum and immigration policies within the EU.
Prima facie determination of refugee legal status: an overview of its legal foundation
The objective of this paper is to clarify the use of PFRSD in practice and explore its legal foundation. It argues that the term ‘prima facie’ should be understood in refugee law as a shorthand reference to the general law relating to injunctions. That is, ‘prima facie’ is shorthand for a lower standard of proof, rather than a shifted burden of proof. PFRS can therefore be conceived as a quia timet injunction granted, in haste and ex parte, at the discretion of the host State with both prohibitory and mandatory elements. The injunction persists until, but is without prejudice to, RSD that considers exclusion and non-inclusion from Convention protection. The paper finds that this injunctive conception is founded in the Convention, accords with State and UNHCR practice, and clarifies the rights attached to PFRS. The paper ends by suggesting that PFRSD practice beclarified by way of an Executive Committee conclusion.
How long is too long? Questioning the legality of long-term encampment through a human rights lens
While encampment has become one of the most common methods of dealing with large scale refugee flows, the reality is that the word “camp” is not mentioned in the 1951 Convention, and it appears as though the framers did not envision encampment to become a common response to displacement. This paper will question the legality of LTE on the grounds that it denies refugees’ basic human rights in an arbitrary and discriminatory way, and is therefore inconsistent with international human rights law. Additionally, it will explore an argument for placing time limits on rights restrictions in camp settings, following the three-year limit set out in Article 17 of the Convention as a point of departure. It will argue that not only would time limits on rights restrictions enable a closer adherence to international law, but that they may also improve conditions for refugees, host states and regional actors.
Displaced adolescent girls’ protection: could casuistry be a methodology for humanitarians?
This paper analyses the practice of marrying displaced adolescent girls and critically explores the application of casuistry to this protection issue. It illustrates how the dominant conceptualization of early marriages has failed to embed ethical and livelihoods dimensions. When considered alongside the lack of agency of displaced adolescent girls, the gaps in this conceptualization have contributed to inefficient protection interventions. This paper demonstrates how group casuistry may address such gaps by emphasizing the values of stakeholders as well as the circumstances in which early marriages occur. This methodology allows displaced adolescent girls to exert more influence in decision-making. Finally, this paper discusses how group casuistry might facilitate various linkages and contribute to, for instance, connecting universality and contextuality in interventions.
Understanding and addressing the phenomenon of 'child soldiers'
This paper investigates how the well-intentioned global humanitarian discourse on child soldiers may be disregarding the complex local understandings and experiences of military recruitment. It seeks to present a compelling case for a wholesale re-conceptualisation of the phenomenon of ‘child soldiers’ so as to devise aid programmes that can better reflect and respond to local understandings, priorities, and needs. This paper takes on both global and local levels of analysis and draw from a wide array of literature, including those from the fields of human rights, child development, political economy, anthropology, and various policy documents and reports of humanitarian and human rights organisations.
Family reunification: a right for forced migrants?
This paper attempts to shed light on some of the core issues surrounding family reunification. In doing so, it examines the family in a forced migration context and engages in a discussion of the nature of the family to identify who is being reunified. Additionally, it looks at family reunification from an international law perspective and asks: Is there an international legal right to family reunification? On what basis does such a right rely? How expansive is it? To explain the reluctance of states to acknowledge reunification rights, this paper also discusses the political aspects of reunification and situates in within the wider context of immigration. Finally, this paper examines alternative approaches to family reunification, to re-centre it within a rights optic.