Refugees come from diverse backgrounds and the issues they face depend on their particular circumstances. Some of the issues refugees face include cultural shock, language difficulties, lack of established networks and often discrimination. Christchurch has a growing refugee community with their own social needs. The survey detailed in this dissertation was undertaken in response to the Canterbury Refugee Council identifying the lack of comprehensive data available for refugee resettlement outcomes in Christchurch. The aim was to gain a better understanding of the living conditions experienced by the refugee community in Christchurch. The participants were from the four main refugee groups resettled over the past decade, namely people coming from Afghanistan, Kurdistan area, Ethiopian, Somalia and Eritrea. This survey was undertaken at a time when international literature concludes that refugees are one of the most vulnerable groups in society and emphasises the vital role that housing alongside other factors have on positive resettlement outcomes. A quantitative approach was adopted to gather information rather than test hypotheses; it was designed to investigate housing, neighbourhood and sources of income. It also included what, if any, social support is available from the wider community, and explored some of the main current problems faced by the refugee families. The survey concludes that despite good intentions and some successes, there are still many obstacles for refugees resettling into their new environment. Refugees continue to experience chronic unemployment and struggle to access suitable housing for their families. The issues raised in this survey highlight the importance of acknowledging and responding to refugee diversity.

Iraqi women living in Amman, Jordan view the city as a temporary residence, and their lives there are characterized by uncertainty and isolation. Iraqi social history, Jordanian policies on immigration and citizenship, and economic hardship all contribute to the production and maintenance of this uncertainty. These factors also prevent the formation of a cohesive Iraqi community in Amman, and thus the development of a shared understanding of the violence and displacement that this group has experienced. Given these circumstances, the manner in which Iraqi women articulate their relationship to their country of origin is highly idiosyncratic and responsive to the demands of their daily lives in Jordan as they prepare mentally either to return to Iraq or to resettle in a third country.

The purpose of this study was to investigate post-traumatic stress disorder among Guatemalan and Salvadoran refugees living in Tucson, Arizona. The questions that guided the study were: (1) Does post-traumatic stress disorder exist among Central American refugees living in Tucson? (2) If so, how does it manifest itself in this population? (3) What counseling or other therapeutic interventions may be helpful for Central Americans experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder? Six Guatemalan and Salvadoran refugees who had reportedly experienced major stressors participated in a semi-structured interview and responded to a health questionnaire based upon post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Findings indicate that five out of six participants were experiencing patterns of stress-induced symptoms which were consistent with a DSM III diagnosis of "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder". Recommendations for intervention with Central American individuals experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder are presented.

No description available.

Although the United Kingdom is committed to the protection of refugees and the integration of migrants into society, many aspects of the asylum system actually prevent access to refuge or create barriers to integration. Extant research on this topic has often paid little attention to the role of discourse in legitimising particular asylum policies and notions of integration or has otherwise neglected the social functions of asylum seeker and refugee discourse. This thesis addressed these gaps by exploring the discourse of majority group members and asylum seekers / refugees, paying attention to the relationship between place and identity and the ways that notions of intercultural contact were constructed. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with seventeen people who work to support asylum seekers and refugees, fifteen asylum seekers / refugees and thirteen Scottish locals who reside in the areas where asylum seekers are housed. The data were analysed using discourse analysis, focusing on the ways that particular narratives and descriptions function to justify or criticise certain policies or sets of social relations. The analysis illustrated that the presence of asylum seekers could be justified through portraying their countries of origin as dangerous and the host society as problem-free, whereas the presence of asylum seekers was resisted through portraying the host society as ‘full’. When discussing antagonism towards asylum seekers, interviewees constructed this as stemming from ‘ignorance’, which functioned to portray the behaviour as unwarranted while emphasising the potential for positive social change. Similarly, asylum seekers’ and refugees’ accounts of violence tended to deny or downplay racial motivation, or produce accusations of racism in a tentative or reluctant manner, implying that a ‘taboo’ on racial accusations exists even in cases of violence. The analysis also illustrated how constructions of ‘integration’ perform social actions, such as highlighting the responsibility of asylum seekers or the host society. The analysis showed how the refugee status determination process could be criticised through references to a ‘culture of disbelief’, claims that it was racist or portrayals of cultural differences that undermine the process. The right of asylum seekers to work was advocated through portraying it as consistent with the national interest. Aspects of the asylum system related to destitution, detention and deportation were criticised through portraying them as ‘tools’ that treated asylum seekers inhumanely and by constructing asylum seekers in humane ways such as ‘families’ or as ‘human’. Overall the results illustrated that, in the context of asylum seekers, notions of identity and place are linked so that constructions of place constitute identity, in the sense of portraying people as legitimately in need of refuge, and these constructions can work to justify or criticise asylum policies. Results also illustrated that victims of seemingly racist violence may construct their accounts in ways that deny or downplay racial motivations, making racist behaviour difficult to identify and challenge. The analyses suggested that ‘two-way’ constructions of integration may function to overcome the view that asylum seekers have ‘special privileges’ over other members of the community and emphasise the responsibilities of the host society. Portraying punitive asylum policies as ‘inhumane’, and constructing asylum seekers in humane ways, provides a potential strategy for reforming aspects of the asylum system.

This thesis presents a study of the Bonpo in Dolanji, a Tibetan refugee settlement in North India. The Bonpo are a distinctive religious minority within the Tibetan refugee population. In the 1950s, Chinese Communist forces occupied Tibet and, in 1959, the fourteenth Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India. In 1960, the Tibetan Government-in-Exile was established in Dharamsala, and emphasised a ‘shared’ Buddhist heritage as being central to the Tibetan national identity. This discourse, which represents the Tibetans as being homogeneously Buddhist, effectively marginalised followers of non-Buddhist religions, including the Bonpo. As a result, the Bonpo have been compelled to adapt, whilst resisting the marginalisation of their religious identity and the constraints embedded in their refugee status. Based on twelve months of fieldwork carried out in 2007-2008 in Dolanji, this thesis explores the ways in which the Bonpo engage with their marginality and manipulate the constraints applied to their situation in order to empower themselves. It argues that on the margins, where the boundaries between inclusion and exclusion are contested and negotiable, the Bonpo are permitted some flexibility to create their identity with different ‘others,’ and to develop new affiliations in order to modify their situation. This thesis unpicks the ‘dialogues’ the Bonpo have established with the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, including their discourse on ‘the Bon traditions’, the participation of the Bonpo in the Tibetan national community, their relationship with foreign patrons and the Chinese Government, and the representation of the Bon religion in school textbooks. It is contended that the margins provide a consistent energy which feeds the dynamics of social relationships, informing cultural and social change. Today’s Bonpo remain situated on the margins of the Tibetan refugee population. However, this thesis demonstrates that in the past decades of exile, the Bonpo have utilised the marginalisation that was forced upon them by multiple ‘others’ to develop what they claim to be ‘Bon traditions’, in order to illustrate their distinctive, but equally important, status in contrast to Buddhism within the Tibetan ‘national’ identity.

Background: More people than ever before are now seeking refuge from war and terror in other countries (UNHCR, 2016). This has as a consequence that the health care in many Western countries faces new patient categories which don’t speak the language and are culturally different from what health professionals are familiar with. Ethical considerations are important, since being misunderstood and not met with dignity or respect can cause care-related suffering. This may increase the suffering already experienced due to loss of security, family and friends. Aim: To illustrate refugees’ experiences in the contact with health care. Method: This is a literature-based, qualitative study. 15 articles were selected to investigate refugees’ experiences of health care. The analysis resulted in 2 themes, each containing 3 subthemes. Results: The main themes that emerged were: Feeling acknowledged and respected, and Overcoming language and cultural barriers. The result mainly reveals that language barriers are common, and that refugees consider it important to be seen as individuals, which is not always the case in health care. Conclusion: The challenge in caring for refugees as a nurse consists in ensuring there is a common understanding. While being aware of a patient’s history, it is also important to see the individual in a person-centered approach. / Att bryta upp från familj och allt man känner sig trygg med försätter människan i en utsatt position. Den vilsenhet detta medför skapar ett lidande. Som sjuksköterska är det viktigt att vara medveten om detta. Författarna till detta litteraturbaserade arbete har studerat 15 vetenskapliga artiklar där flyktingars perspektiv av olika vårdmöten står i fokus. Resultatet visar att flyktingar upplever språket som det största problemet i mötet, men att även deras kultur och religion spelar in i vad de tycker är en bra vård. I många fall känner flyktingar sig förbisedda eller diskriminerade. Detta har i många fall att göra med att de inte blir bemötta som individer utan ses som en del av en annan kultur. För att undvika problem med språkförbistringar är det att föredra att anlita tolk. Detta är emellertid inte helt problemfritt. Tolkar påverkar mötet på olika sätt beroende på vem patienten är. Studiens resultat visar att många flyktingar föredrar en tolk av samma kön. Det bidrar till att de lättare kan öppna upp sig och att intima situationer, exempelvis avklädning, inte blir så svåra att hantera. Samma förhållanden råder när det gäller kön på vårdpersonal. Att undersökas av någon av motsatt kön kräver att detta upplevs som ofrånkomligt och väl förankrat. De upplevelser som har med kultur och religion att göra varierar mellan flyktinggrupper och enskilda personer. De berör hur man vill bli bemött och behandlad. Det visar sig att patienterna i många fall är ovana vid ett personcentrerat förhållningssätt. Att utveckla ett sådant förhållningssätt är dock viktigt, eftersom brister i detta gör att flyktingarna känner sig diskriminerade och förbisedda. Det kan även leda till att de går miste om viktig information om sin sjukdom och rekommenderade behandling. Om sjuksköterskor tillämpar personcentrerad vård där patientberättelsen och partnerskap ligger till grund kan vårdlidande undvikas.

The U.S. government has utilized exiles for decades, the latest example being the use of Iraqi exiles starting after the Gulf War. For close to thirteen years America supported Iraqi opposition groups, overtly after the signing of the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998. DoD's role until months before the invasion of Iraq was minimal, but then increased dramatically. Iraqi opposition groups provided names of volunteers willing to work with the U.S. military. Most were turned away for a number of reasons, but those selected were trained in civil affairs operations and embedded with great success in small teams into U.S. civil affairs units. Another program, even more ad hoc, involved Ahmad Chalabi's fighting forces. Not receiving the welcome from Iraqis that intelligence experts told them to expect, U.S. military commanders were eager to put an "Iraqi face" on operations and build the core of the new Iraqi army. Chalabi's fighters, escorted by Army Special Forces A-Teams, provided a number of useful services to the war effort, but with minimal logistical support and hindered by Chalabi's political ambitions, they were quickly disbanded. Exiles have many of the skills necessary in conventional and asymmetric warfare: language skills, familial ties, and cultural proficiency. But this unique segment of our society needs to be better utilized by DoD. After analyzing each of the Iraqi exile programs in detail, suggestions on how to harness needed skills in the future are offered.

Issues concerning immigration and asylum have attracted considerable news media coverage in countries of the Global North such as the United Kingdom during recent decades. The UK national press famous for its longevity, mass appeal and partisanship has been uniquely placed to report on and provide commentary about issues of social change such as these, especially as they have become more prominent in UK party politics. This thesis therefore analyses the press coverage of immigration issues in seven national newspapers during the final week of general election campaigns between 1918 and 2010 in order to provide a historical context to these recent developments. Using content analysis and critical discourse analysis methods, the study assesses several aspects of the representational pattern of immigration coverage and offers a perspective which emphasises continuities and contrasts across time and across the press. Over two empirical chapters, the content analysis provides a thorough profile of the coverage in terms of its volume, the news presence and access of social actors, the balance of supportive and critical voices in coverage, the lexicon used to describe immigrants and immigration processes and the themes of debate. The findings suggest that immigration has become a low-threshold political issue within recent campaigns, for which there is a core element of detailed discussion but an unprecedented expansion in superficial reference to such issues. The prominence, politicisation and problematisation of immigration have combined to frequently provide critical voices with a prominent platform. Meanwhile, supportive voices and those of immigrants were mostly marginalised. There was relatively little variation in the thematic dimension of coverage over time and to some extent across the press. A third empirical chapter offers a critical discourse analysis of the headlines in three main areas of coverage: precarious routes comprising forced and irregular migration, numbers and immigrants as voters and candidates. These aspects of the debate are examined in terms of our and their rights and responsibilities to reveal how the press has constructed the ethics and politics of immigration qualitatively.

MA, Dissertation in Development Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011 / This research was encouraged by the recent developments in migration patterns in the world. Though immigration is not new to South Africa, with people migrating to the country from as early as the 1600s, there has been a notable increase post – 1994 at the fall of apartheid. The profile of migrants has also changed considerably to include refugees, asylum seekers and other forced migrants (Landau 2007; Jacobsen 2006). It is the emergence of a new group of immigrants in the form of asylum seekers and their relationship with the state, economy and society which makes for interesting analysis. This thesis argues that the continual framing of migration as a security issue, in relation to crime and unemployment overlooks the positive brain gain for the recipient countries (Mawadza 2007). Framing forced migration in this manner disregards the important question of why people migrate and what service they (can) provide to their countries of asylum and in the process violates their rights.