{"title":"‘On the Border, I Learned How to Advocate’: Borderlands as Political Spaces for Burmese Women’s Activism","authors":"Elisabeth Olivius, Jenny Hedström","doi":"10.1093/jrs/fead030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fead030","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article explores the political space of the border through the experiences of women activists from Myanmar, for whom the borderlands in Thailand have provided refuge as well as a conducive environment for political mobilization. At the same time, the border renders refugee activists insecure and precarious. Drawing on life history interviews, our analysis expands conceptualizations of the border as a dynamic political space by illustrating its dual capacity to both facilitate and constrain the political agency of refugee women from Myanmar. In particular, the spatial and temporal fluidity and in-betweenness of the border is shown to foster both repression and resistance. Exploring the character and salience of the border as a space for activism over time, we demonstrate how the political space of the border is relational, constituted in interaction with other political spaces, such as politics and governance in Myanmar, transnational activist networks, and the politics of international aid.","PeriodicalId":51464,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Refugee Studies","volume":"71 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134981941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘Doing’ Legal History in Refugee Law: A Snapshot of Bangladesh’s Engagement with <i>Non-Refoulement</i>","authors":"M Sanjeeb Hossain","doi":"10.1093/jrs/fead025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fead025","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article advocates for the adoption of legal history in the study of refugee law and associated legal scholarship. It begins by illustrating the meaning and value of legal history by sifting through the texts introducing the inaugural issues of some of the world’s most reputed legal history journals. It asks what makes a good legal historian and highlights the impossibility of attaining total objectivity when producing historical work. The article then sheds light on archival research and oral history as essential tools for doing legal history but cautions against being swayed by arrogant claims that the application of such empiricist and contextualist methods produces impartial legal history. Finally, the article demonstrates the value of doing legal history in refugee law by offering a snapshot of Bangladesh’s engagement with non-refoulement in the late 1970s when mass displacements of the Rohingya people from Myanmar and Indian Muslims from India took place.","PeriodicalId":51464,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Refugee Studies","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135915102","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Darwiche, Nahema El Ghaziri, Jeremie Blaser, D. Spini, J. Suris, J. Antonietti, J. Sanchis Zozaya, R. Marion-Veyron, P. Bodenmann
{"title":"Importance of Asylum Status, Support Programmes, and Family Unit Functioning on the Mental Health of Syrian Forced Migrants in Switzerland: A Longitudinal Study","authors":"J. Darwiche, Nahema El Ghaziri, Jeremie Blaser, D. Spini, J. Suris, J. Antonietti, J. Sanchis Zozaya, R. Marion-Veyron, P. Bodenmann","doi":"10.1093/jrs/fead032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fead032","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Due to the Syrian civil war, millions of Syrians have fled the country since 2011. Several issues have inhibited their successful resettlement, but few studies have examined the development of the healthcare needs of Syrian forced migrants in Europe. This study examined Syrian forced migrants’ healthcare needs in Switzerland, and whether migration type and family functioning affect their mental health. Our sample included 108 individuals from 14 families from the usual asylum process and 19 from the Swiss Resettlement Program (SRP). Each family member was surveyed thrice in 1 year. Several participants reported symptoms of major depressive and post-traumatic stress disorder. However, their general mental health was similar to that of the Western populations. Swiss Resettlement Program participants reported higher overall mental health scores than non-SRP participants, while the two groups showed different progression over time. Children and fathers reported similar levels of mental health, whereas mothers’ mental health scores worsened over time. Family functioning was important for mental health in both groups. Overall, considering the structural and family contexts is important when studying forced migrants’ mental health.","PeriodicalId":51464,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Refugee Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43487148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"(Non-)deport to Discipline: The Daily Life of Afghans in Turkey","authors":"Sibel Karadağ, Deniz Ş. Sert","doi":"10.1093/jrs/fead029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fead029","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 This study contributes to discussions on the politics of (non-)deportability by focusing on the case of Afghans, the largest migrant community without a right to protection in Turkey, itself the country hosting the most refugees. This article examines how the politics of (non-)deportation is shaped and practiced for Afghans and the types of everyday strategies they employ to deal with deportability. We first argue that the politics of deportation in Turkey is predominantly shaped by the needs of the informal labour market, which accounts for one-third of the total labour force. Our findings suggest that forced labour and the hypermobility of Afghans is both tolerated and hidden by the state, while Afghans’ fear of deportability operates as a disciplining apparatus. Second, we argue that, when spectacles of deportation are performed, three crucial factors help Afghans avoid deportation, namely their qawm-based (ethnic or kinship) background, the involvement of Afghan associations, and street-level negotiations with the authorities.","PeriodicalId":51464,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Refugee Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49278808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Curriculum Choices for Refugees: What UNRWA’s History Can Tell Us about the Potential of UN Education Programs to Address Refugees’ ‘Unknowable Futures’","authors":"Jo Kelcey","doi":"10.1093/jrs/fead034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fead034","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Quality education can help refugees navigate their ‘unknowable futures’. Yet, the potential of many education programs to fulfil this promise is shaped by the varied and at times, conflicting interests inherent in aid policy and practice. This article explores these tensions through a historical examination of UNRWA’s education program in the wake of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. I show how an embedded state-centric approach to policy limited the UN’s influence over the education it provided to Palestine refugees. This manifested through a narrow focus on access to education, and refugees’ ability to get jobs, at the expense of education’s social and political roles. I argue that this case has wider resonance for understanding the institutional dynamics of global refugee education policies and points to the need for a more nuanced understanding of claims by aid agencies that education necessarily helps refugees navigate their unknowable futures.","PeriodicalId":51464,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Refugee Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44668484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Drivers of Loneliness among Older Refugees","authors":"Vincent Horn, T. Fokkema","doi":"10.1093/jrs/fead027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fead027","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Although older refugees can be seen as particularly vulnerable to social isolation and loneliness, they are often overlooked by ageing and migration scholars. This article addresses this research gap by identifying and examining potential drivers of loneliness among older refugees. The study analysed data from the first two waves of the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees, focusing on 958 individuals aged 45 and older who arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2016. Nearly half of the participants reported symptoms of loneliness. The major contributing factors included poor health, financial strain, lack of family ties in Germany, limited contact with Germans, insecure residence status, and perceived hostility towards them. The study highlights the need for a range of interventions at multiple levels targeting not only the older refugees themselves but also institutional arrangements and the people of the host country.","PeriodicalId":51464,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Refugee Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49259362","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"National Inclusion Policy Openings/Barriers for Refugee Teachers: Critical Reflections from Kenya","authors":"Mary Mendenhall, Danielle Falk","doi":"10.1093/jrs/fead026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fead026","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Many refugee teachers toil for years with little support, inadequate working conditions, and unliveable wages, all while facing ‘unknowable futures’ (Dryden-Peterson 2017) about their ability to continue working as teachers. The current push for inclusion of refugees into national education systems has created policy openings for the inclusion of refugee teachers. Drawing on interviews with refugee teachers in Kakuma refugee camp and critical policy analysis of refugee education policies across global, regional, and national levels, our study examines what refugee teachers identify as policy barriers influencing their work and how policies that purport to include refugees into national systems address the needs of refugee teachers. We argue that policies that recognize refugee teachers either fail to address their specific professional needs for recognized teaching certification, adequate teacher compensation, and future career pathways or are inadequately implemented, leaving teachers and the countries hosting them without adequate support to improve teacher management.","PeriodicalId":51464,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Refugee Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47810152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. J. Alpes, Kwamou Eva Feukeu, Marieke van Houte, Shahed Kseibi, Belal Shukair
{"title":"Who Owns the Future of Syrians in Lebanon? Intimate Family Explorations of Refugees’ Own Search for Durable Solutions","authors":"M. J. Alpes, Kwamou Eva Feukeu, Marieke van Houte, Shahed Kseibi, Belal Shukair","doi":"10.1093/jrs/fead020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fead020","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 For both political and ideological reasons, return is the most favoured future imagined for refugees by policy makers and protection actors. This article analyses how humanitarian migrants in a context of limited durable solutions can be supported to reclaim ownership of their futures, as well as how this can result in deeper insights for social scientists and policy makers. For the case of Syrians, this study deploys futures literacy labs as a participatory and capability-based research methodology that allows participants to become researchers of their own lives. Based on two futures literacy labs with two Syrian families in Lebanon in 2020 and 2021, the article demonstrates that a futures capability-based approach provides humanitarian migrants with the cognitive space and agency needed to go beyond foreclosed decision-making processes. The research methodology allows researchers to become witnesses to intimate reappropriation and learning processes by humanitarian migrants themselves. As a result, we are able to argue that ‘returns’ as a durable solution are essentially about a return to a state of well-being and possibilities, which may or not entail a spatial return.","PeriodicalId":51464,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Refugee Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45741818","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Academics in Exile: Networks, Knowledge Exchange, and New Forms of Internationalization. By Vera Axyonova, Florian Kohstall, and Carola Richter","authors":"Ahmad Akkad","doi":"10.1093/jrs/fead028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fead028","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51464,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Refugee Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42914573","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"‘The Great and Miserable Flight’: The Experiences of Refugees in Newsprint during the Thirty Years’ War","authors":"T. Pert","doi":"10.1093/jrs/fead022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fead022","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 As the Thirty Years’ War was the greatest demographic crisis in Europe between the Black Death and the two World Wars, it is unsurprising that the conflict created the greatest number of refugees in the continent’s history prior to the twentieth century. However, the limited scholarship on displaced persons between 1618 and 1648 has been exclusively based on micro-level eyewitness accounts, diaries, and memoirs. This article broadens the scope of studies on refugees during the Thirty Years’ War beyond such individualistic sources through an examination of their treatment in newsprint, a source base which has hitherto been entirely overlooked. A case study based on over 200 newspaper reports allows this article to examine how the frequency of appearances of refugees in newsprint, as well as the language and vocabulary used to describe them, can provide a valuable insight into the experiences of displaced persons and the attitudes of contemporaries in mid-seventeenth century Europe.","PeriodicalId":51464,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Refugee Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2023-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43757095","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}