This thesis is a qualitative case study that explores the experiences of unaccompanied Afghan asylum seeking minors in Greece – a largely neglected area empirically, in migration-related social science research – despite the fact that migration has been an issue of mounting concern recently. The study sets out to bridge this gap hence, to provide insights of the paths of young people as individuals in their own right, and of the dynamics and processes of their forced migrations. The research contributes to contemporary debates about migration and childhood. The thesis takes a broader approach that highlights the connections across borders and covers the multiple facets of unaccompanied minors’ experiences and feelings; pre-exile, during journeys, and on arrival in Greece. The future plans and motivations of the young respondents are also discussed. Information in relation to young respondent’s experiences, emotions and thoughts was collected in a series of in-depth interviews, focus groups and participatory activities. Data was also gathered by professionals and public figures with the aim to identify how these young people are treated and perceived inside and outside of the reception centres in Greece. The data indicates that these young respondents are deeply and negatively affected by experiences of loss, separation, discrimination, abuse, and long-lasting hardships to be found throughout their histories of movement. Their accounts are renegotiated tales where notions of belonging and identity are shaped along the way, and the boundaries drawn around childhood and adulthood are often fragile and fluid. The events of young people’s movements are reported as having been poignant, rendering them in a continuous, transitional state of existence. This stage ‘in between’, it is argued to be intricately entangled with the prolonged political insecurity which in some instances, extents to the condition of statelessness. The analysis of young respondents’ experiences revealed an overt gap between entitlements which are theoretically attributed to unaccompanied minors, regarding their social, political and legal rights – irrespective of their legal status – and pragmatic barriers to be found on the ground; on the streets, at borders, in detention, in police stations, and in reception centres, these young people are imperilled to the process of dehumanization. This process is understood to be a product of social and political violence implicated in local and transnational contexts. A combination of structural factors and practices has been found to be compounded by inhuman actions such as; the commodification process, the classification process, poverty, stigmatization, institutional racism and the ambiguity of political status. The findings further indicated that young respondents had mixed and distinct feelings of their experiences and responded to the process of dehumanization in very different ways; some developed robust resilient mechanisms along the way and formed important social networks for their survival and others felt powerless, and incapable mentally to lead their lives. The data indicated that the type of care and support varied significantly among the reception centres. There was a spectrum of attitudes towards the presence of the young respondents, showing sympathy and welcoming responses but also prejudice, stereotypes and xenophobia. These appeared at professional, government and public levels. Implications are discussed in relation to the punitive policies and practices that demoralise the rights and needs of the young people, hence potential strategies are suggested for reforming aspects of the child welfare/asylum system. The thesis concludes that these young respondents have a uniquely strong claim to social and political rights that will give them back their lost ‘ordinariness’.

This thesis deals with the europeanisation of the German asylum policy. It gives overview of the field of studying europeanisation -- ist development, terminology and various attitudes towards this topic. The tesis tries to resolve the question, whether German asylum policy and its major changes in the 90s were affected by the EU, or if Germany actively tries to influence the common European asylum policy.

The diploma thesis is focused on the asylum policy of Germany after the reunification in early 1990s. Its aim is to analyse the development of the policy, defining of the main issues concerning the asylum nowadays and predict the possible future evolution. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first one concentrates on defining of the basic terms and asylum protection by international and European law, the second one describes the development after the Second World War until 1990s, which is necessary to include in order to analyse the further development after the reunification until today. The last chapter describes the current form of asylum policy in Germany, describes its challenges and predicts the possible development in the future.

This paper examines the intensified focus on ‘return’ in Danish asylum policy and the changed approach to the assessment of revocation of residence permits and asylum claims made by Syrian nationals. The aim of the study is to understand the interplay between Danish state actors and the Refugee Appeals Board and their tactics of legitimization in adopting this new approach and rejecting asylum protection to three Syrian nationals. The study concludes that discourses linking asylum protection to ‘international obligations’, refugee status to ‘return’ and ‘the refugee’ to an essentialist understanding of the term are fundamental in facilitating the decisions made in the cases. Furthermore, a governmental goal of ensuring ‘the security of society’, that is, the Danish population defined in national terms, underpins and works to sustain these discourses. The findings contribute to creating detailed knowledge about the Danish asylum system and the logic supporting the increased focus on ‘return’.

As immigration to Europe continuously increase, so does governments efforts to control and manage these moving populations, and their national borders. Today, returning migrants without a residence permit is often regarded as a natural measure within the immigration control apparatus, but the means to ensure return, the populations targeted and their legal rights have changed over time. This thesis aims to understand the developments of return policies in the case of Norway, from 1988-2010. By combining the analytical approach of governmentality with theorisations about deportations and migration policy development, I seek to understand how the return regime has been established and transformed. The analysis is based on policy documents as the main material, and the qualitative content analysis reveals that the return regime has developed from several measures initiated to achieve control over different challenging and unforeseen situations that arises throughout the period. Short term solutions create problems in the long run, and the solutions add on to create and establish the return regime.

Since 2001, Australia’s increasingly securitised and exclusionary asylum policy has been legitimated through a damaging discourse surrounding people who seek asylum. This discourse, reinforced by successive Australian Prime Ministers, has been instrumental in shaping policies which have a devastating human impact. While political elites across the West are distancing themselves from a discourse of inclusive multiculturalism, Australia continues to celebrate its multicultural success despite the ongoing tension between a rhetoric of inclusion and one justifying exclusion. Since discourse is both productive and reflective of the social world, shaping discourse can be understood as a means to shape reality. This thesis explores how discourse is constructed and reproduced through framing; a discursive practice that influences how certain issues are understood. The texts analysed are those in which Australian Prime Ministers and senior political figures defend policies of exclusion against people who seek asylum by boat as part of a broader policy vision for a Safe, Secure & Free Australia. In order to contrast the frames, narratives and discourses associated with exclusion, communications promoting the policy vision of an inclusive Multicultural Australia have also been analysed. The frames identified in the material reproduce particular narratives which help to maintain the hegemonic position of discourses which present Australia as a humanitarian, welcoming and inclusive multicultural society and situate people who seek asylum by boat as illegal, seeking an unfair advantage, and as a threat to national security. By identifying frames that consistently appear in the messaging of Australian political elites, we can understand how certain narratives have come to be accepted as truth.

Turkey has been one of the few countries that signed the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees with the provision of maintaining geographical limitation to that of offering protection only to European nationals. This is, however, expected to change as Turkey heads towards EU membership. Since 1999, Turkey has been declared as a candidate country to the European Union (EU), in the Helsinki Summit. It is expected to adopt EU Asylum Acquis into its legislation and to lift the geographical limitation of the 1951 Geneva Convention. This study aims to analyze EU&rsquo / s Common Asylum Policy in order to present a comprehensive overview to EU Asylum Acquis and practices that are expected to be adopted by Turkey during the pre-accession process. The aim of this thesis is to analyze deficiencies of European Common Asylum Policy and its potential positive and negative effects on Turkey&rsquo / s asylum policy.

Italian immigration policy is a sensitive topic on the Italian as well as on the European political scene. Due to its geographical location Italy is exposed to an enormous influx of immigrants coming to the country mainly from North Africa. Being a country that faces the immigration issue in the last decades and and has a relatively young legislation in this area Italy is often criticized for its awkward anti-immigration measures. Italian society has generally a negative attitude concerning the immigration issue that is often supported by the opinions of Italian politicians and the strict legislation. My thesis analyzes the development and the current situation of the Italian immigration and asylum policy and the weightiest problems that Italy faces. The thesis describes the situation of immigrants in Italy, development of legislation in the area and the most controversial point of the last law on immigration. Next the treating of immigrants by the state authorities and the integration policy is discussed. The last chapter focuses on the Italian policy connected with the European immigration policy, analyses their relation and possibilities for a better cooperation in the future.

This diploma thesis deals with the topic of the French and EU asylum policies and their reciprocal influence. The main goal of this thesis consists in demonstrating (if applicable) France's success in enforcing its legislation at the European level, or if it is rather the opposite phenomenon that prevails: the necessity of the implementation of asylum rules (that have been approved in the EU) to the French regulations. The whole thesis is grounded on the concept of Europeanization which determines a theoretical framework that serves as a basis for the empirical part, consisting of an analysis of the development of French and common European asylum legislation first. The crucial part of this thesis is the fourth chapter where the interconnection between the theoretical and empirical part takes place as well as the discovery of the link between the French and European asylum legislation and drawing of consequences that respond to initial propositions.

There is a crisis of asylum in Africa. In response to large and protracted refugee populations, declining donor assistance and a range of related security concerns, a significant number of African states have limited the asylum they offer to refugees. Some states have closed their borders to new arrivals and pursued early repatriations. Many other states have contained refugees in isolated and insecure camps. Given the scale of this crisis, the global pressures on asylum, and the disproportionate share of the global refugee burden borne by Africa, understanding the responses of African states poses an important challenge. A critical examination of the factors influencing the refugee policies of African states is, however, strikingly absent from the scholarly literature. The objective of this thesis is to address this gap by examining the responses of Kenya, Tanzania and Guinea to the arrival and prolonged presence of significant refugee populations. Drawing on field research, this thesis argues that the asylum policies of the three cases are the result of factors both related to the presence of refugees, such as burden sharing and security concerns, and unrelated to the presence of refugees, such as foreign policy priorities, democratization, economic liberalization and the sense of vulnerability experienced by many regimes in Africa. Drawing on a political history of the post-colonial African state, this thesis argues for an approach that recognizes the politics of asylum in Africa. Such an approach highlights the importance of incorporating the host state into any examination of asylum in Africa and the predominant role that broader political factors play in the formulation of asylum policies. This is not to suggest that factors such as the protracted nature of refugee populations, levels of burden sharing and security concerns are irrelevant to the study of asylum in Africa. Instead, the thesis argues that such factors are very relevant, but need to be understood in a more critical way, mindful of the political context within which asylum policies are formulated. This approach leads to important lessons not only for the study of asylum in Africa, but also for the future of the refugee protection regime in Africa.