With children on the move at the forefront of policy-making and research in Europe in recent years, it has been argued that children’s rights are increasingly encroached upon through tighter immigration controls and inconsistent policy interventions. The European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC) is an institution that aims to address children’s rights violations at a regional level throughout Europe, meaning that it should in its promotion of core children’s rights ensure a balance is reached between provision, participation and protection in addressing policy problems relating to children on the move. Through a discourse analysis this thesis critically examines how problems are represented in ENOCs position statements, and how ENOC represent and construct children and childhood in relation to children on the move. Our analysis indicated that the statements were predominantly based within a rights-based approach, especially where longer-term strategies were promoted. This reveals that ENOCs emphasis on the need for children’s rights to take precedence over state sovereignty, that children’s rights to participation and non- discrimination is accentuated over child protection perspectives, and that the recognition of the heterogeneity of the experiences of children on the move is endorsed. However, whilst ENOC seeks to move away from stereotypical notions of the migrant child, by promoting their agency and heterogeneity, children on the move are also represented in isolation in the position papers. Disassociated from family and adult migrants, children on the move are constructed as victims, vulnerable, dependent and in need of special care and assistance. In this light, their construction conveys a notion of complexity, however, it is also evident that their vulnerability is fostered in order to receive the protection and support they are entitled to, whether at a regional, European or international level.

Syfte – Avsikten med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur den katolska kyrkan och Equmeniakyrkan i Jönköping ser på integrationsarbete. Studien görs på två kyrkor i Jönköping, dels på den lokala katolska församlingen, dels på Andreasförsamlingen, som tillhör Equmeniakyrkan. Därför kommer dessa två församlingarna att jämföras. För att uppnå detta så ställs följande frågeställning: Hur ser katolska kyrkan och Andreasförsamlingen i Jönköping på frågor om integration och migration? Vilka är likheterna och skillnaderna mellan katolska kyrkan och andra kyrkor inom Sveriges Kristna Råd i synen på integration och migration? Metod – Studien kommer att få svar på frågorna i frågeställningen genom en serie semi-strukturerade intervjuer med diakoner, pastorer och representanter från två församlingar i Jönköping och två organisationer som är relaterade till församlingen (en via mejl och en via telefon). De fyra intervjuade i studien var: Sankt Franciskus Katolska Församling i Jönköping, med diakonen Göran Fäldt. Equmeniakyrkans församling Andreasförsamlingen i Fjällstugan, Jönköping, där pastor Lennart Johansson är verksam. Sveriges Kristna Råd (SKR), där Björn Cedersjö är direktor för Ekumenisk diakoni/kyrka-samhälle. Caritas Sverige, där George Joseph är ansvarig för migrations- och flyktingfrågor. Från början skulle både SKR och Caritas intervjuas via mejl men på grund av omständigheter så kunde Caritas representant bara intervjuas via telefon. Dessa intervjuer kommer att jämföras för att få svar på frågorna som ställdes i uppsatsen. Diskussion och slutsatser – Katolska kyrkan via Caritas och Andreasförsamlingen hjälper migranterna med arbetssökandet, såsom att kontakta arbetsgivare och företag, samt hjälper dem att skriva sina CV:n. En annan likhet mellan Anderasförsamlingen och Sankt Franciskus Katolska Församling är att de hjälper migranterna att kontakta myndigheter, dock med några skillnader. Enligt resultatet anordnar samtliga intervjuade aktörer språkcaféer och språkhjälp till migranterna i sina samfund. För samtliga som var med i studien var språket och delaktigheten i samhället viktiga för integration av migranter.  Begränsningar – Denna studie är begränsad till två församlingar i Jönköping och två organisationer i Sverige: Caritas och Sveriges Kristna råd.

With the conflict ongoing in Syria since 2011, many Syrian Kurds have been forced to leave their homes to seek safety and security in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Their displacement to KRI is a distinctive experience of migration as it has happened within an intra-ethnic setting of Syrian Kurds, as refugees, encountering Iraqi Kurds, as hosts. Sharing ethnic identification and imagination of a historical homeland but holding different nationalities, has turned identity and belonging into sites of contestation between the refugees and the hosts. Within this intra-ethnic setting of displacement, the study has investigated the construction of home and politics of identity and belonging among the refugees in relation to protection regimes and forms of inclusion and exclusion. This has been done through a content analysis of relevant policy and regulations for refugees in KRI and Iraq and a thematic analysis of individual narrative interviews with the refugees themselves. Research results from the policy analysis have indicated the lack of a comprehensive protection regime in Iraq and KRI, and the deployment of the ‘guests’ rhetoric towards the refugees as a responsibility evasion mechanism. Results from the interviews have revealed that home for the participants is plural, and it connects to Syria and Kurdistan to varying degrees. Their identity as Kurds is contested when their Syrianness is evoked with boundaries limiting their recognition to be both Syrian and Kurdish. Similarly, their belonging is challenged with their social position as refugees and their legal belonging to Syria. With this, they get involved into a continuum of politics of identity and belonging ranging between the situational demonstration of their Syrian identity and the role of ‘the successful Syrian refugee’, and the accentuation of their attachment to Kurdishness through belonging to Rojava. These politics have been discussed as reflecting a process of reconstructing Syrian Kurdish identity in the light of the experience of displacement and the intra-ethnic encounter. Contextualizing the research results in a wider perspective, it is argued that they carry further implications related to the Kurdish struggle with identity and belonging, not only in KRI, but in all the other parts of Kurdistan.

This paper investigates the relationship between the level of implementation of peace agreement provisions regarding forced displacement and the durability of peace in a country. Based on the assumption that implementation creates durable solutions for refugees and internally displaced persons, I argue that the attainment of durable solutions enables displaced populations to contribute to peacebuilding in different ways, for example by encouraging economic activity or promoting transitional justice. These engagements with peacebuilding, in turn, make durable peace more likely. To test this theory, I estimate several logistic models, making use of implementation data from the Peace Accord Matrix and a replication dataset. I find tentative support for my hypothesis that higher levels of implementation of said category of provisions increase the chance of durable peace, but concede that more research must follow to verify and solidify my results.

One purpose of this study is to examine how predominant patriarchal practices can affect the experiences of women refugees. This study also examines how the gender roles and patriarchal practices may change during a conflict. A theoretical framework was constructed to examine the patriarchal practices through radical feminism approach. Also, possible ways of social change within a conflict is examined. Empirically, the Syrian conflict is selected for the case study. In order to answer the research questions, 26 semi-structured interviews were conducted to track any possible social change in the patriarchal practices in Syria during the conflict in comparison to before the conflict. The main two findings of this study are that a change did occur in the patriarchal practices in which women did achieve more freedom and more independence during the conflict in Syria. However, there were increased patriarchal practices when women became refugees outside Syria, in which there was less freedom and less independence for Syrian women, especially the less educated women.

The term integration became a buzzword and is omnipresent in the current European discourses. Despite its broad definitions, there is a tendency in migration studies and the political narrative to focus exclusively on migrants and their descendants while upholding the vision of  a fixed “host society”, with an established national culture, in which migrants should integrate. The present study aims to reframe the concept of integration by adopting a postmigrant approach and by analyzing the contribution of art projects in this regard. To do so, the study draws on two current theoretical approaches to integration in the social sciences, Stuart Hall’s conceptualization of national culture, the postmigration concept and the societal impact of art as theoretical framework. First, the notion of integration has been positioned theoretically in current postmigrant debates. The content analysis demonstrates that the conceptualization of postmigrant integration takes distance from the notion of assimilation and looks beyond the topic of migration. Second, eight semi-structured interviews have been conducted with project team members and project participants of the art projects “Newcomers”, “Leben, Erzählen, Schreiben”, “Hela Bilden”, and the organization “Alter &amp; Ego”. The thematic analysis of the interviews showed the necessity to address the “host population”, i.e. individuals without experience of forced migration, to overcome monolingualism and to concentrate on societal diversity which contributes to the theorization of postmigrant integration. The present thesis indicates the importance of the arts regarding their societal impact and agency to provide alternative narratives on migration and integration. It also stresses the necessity of integration policies and the European migration regime to take part in the reframing of current migration discourses by directly addressing the “host population” and acknowledging today’s context of plural societies in which everyone should integrate. / <p>This thesis has been written as part of the EuMIGS double degree programme in the field of Migration Studies. </p>

Since the fate of the Syrian/Assyrian minority that has fled Turkey has not received much attention in research, this thesis is made to recognize the group and their experiences as refugees, Christians, and citizens in their old and new countries of Turkey and Sweden. When talking about dual citizenship, in terms of previous research, researchers often argue about how migrants prefer to keep their former citizenship when moving to another country. According to scholars and policymakers, dual citizenship is a benefit since it, for instance, helps immigrants to naturalize into their country of settlement. However, this is not always the case. By interviewing nine Syrians/Assyrians from Turkey, who either hold dual citizenship (Swedish and Turkish citizenship) or only Swedish citizenship (former Turkish citizens), this thesis will focus on how the minority thinks, feels, reasons, and argues about dual citizenship. Because of a history filled with oppression, discrimination, violence, and death (the Syrian/Assyrian genocide in 1915) in Turkey, many Syrians/Assyrians did not want to keep the bond to their country of origin when migrating to Sweden. In the sense of security and safety, belonging, naturalization and integration, and loyalty, this study will focus on what dual citizenship means for the Syrian/Assyrian participants who came to Sweden in the 1970s and if they make use of the possibility to hold more than one citizenship. The main finding is that the minority feels safe and at home in Sweden and not in Turkey. Because of their lack of protection and rights as Christians in their country of origin, Sweden is, as they call it, their new home. Even if some of them hold dual citizenship, while others only have Swedish citizenship, the majority of the Syrian/Assyrian people do not feel any sense of attachment, feeling, or loyalty toward Turkey today. However, there are exceptions. By holding dual citizenship, those Syrians/Assyrians who misses the food, the climate, or the culture can visit their country of origin, whenever they want to, as citizens.

No description available.

This research aims to gain a detailed understanding of the push and pull factors that lead many Syrians in Turkey to migrate to Europe. Syrians are pushed to migrate for various reasons, including socio-economic difficulties in Turkey. It explores the Syrians’ experiences in Turkey and the elements that have deterred them from gaining the fundamental rights of accommodation, access to the labor market, and refugee status. The pull factors refer to the gains that the Syrians might achieve when migrating to Europe. These gains are socio-economic gains that assure a better future for them in Europe in comparison to their presence in Turkey. In this case, this research also explores how the Syrians plan to migrate to Europe by employing the influence of their social networks to conduct their secondary migration. This qualitative study uses seven semi-structured interviews and analyzes the experiences of the interviewees in order to reach concrete conclusions. The results of this study, according to the interviewees’ experiences, show that restrictive Turkish policies and procedures have pushed many Syrians to migrate. At the same time, the Syrians are attracted to migrating to Europe for better protection for them and their children. The findings also demonstrate that social ties influenced Syrians in their decision to migrate to Europe and avoid being deported to Syria.

The so-called refugee crisis was among the most significant events affecting European political and social structures during the previous decade. Previous research proves that the questions regarding refugee reception had instigated a rise of ethno-nationalistic and exclusionary sentiments across Europe. The Polish context has been a clear example. This study aims to analyze the ways in which Polish media produced and reproduced the discourse pertaining to the refugee crisis and subsequently the perceived representation of refugees. Based on the review of literature and theories of discourse, mediatization, politicization and Othering, selected mainstream media articles from 2014 to 2017 were analyzed. The findings illustrate that an exclusionary discourse and Islamophobic notions were prevalent during this period. Moreover, the results indicate that a discursive shift regarding the representation of refugees has occurred, significantly altering the manner in which Polish society perceives both refugees and the refugee crisis more generally.