This dissertation examines the processes and outcomes of the United States’ refugee resettlement policy. Specifically, I ask: how are refugees selected? How are refugees processed abroad? And how are refugees incorporated once they arrive? Drawing on statistical analysis of previously unreleased government data, 150 interviews, and nineteen months of ethnographic fieldwork across the transnational chain of resettlement, this study examines the logics of practice and patterned interactions—among refugees, civil society, and state agencies—that shape outcomes of resettlement. The predominant framework to understand resettlement posits a relatively straightforward reintegration of refugees into national citizenship regimes. In contrast, this dissertation demonstrates how constructions of refugees as “ideal beneficiaries” produced through meso-level social processes shape the distribution of scarce humanitarian resources and the experiences of refugees. I also show that refugees respond to these constructions in complex ways, sometimes internalizing them and sometimes challenging them, thereby creating social dynamics and subjectivities not accounted for by the predominant framework. I develop the above argument across three empirical chapters, each examining a distinct stage of resettlement: selection, processing, and reception. To explain how refugees are selected, I draw attention to a transnational social system of constructing “clean cases.” These are cases that can be identified and processed in stable and predictable ways to meet US admission demands under complex constraints. This system concentrates spaces around a relatively small number of groups, undermining humanitarian ideals of distributional equality. Examining social dynamics of processing, I find that frontline practitioners in Uganda grapple with refugees’ expectations of attaining resettlement and the reality of limited spaces and long, uncertain wait times. Practitioners respond by creating physical barriers and administrative procedures that force refugees to wait and be patient. These findings challenge straightforward notions of resettlement as “solution,” showing instead that processing involves coercion and compounds traumatic waiting. Lastly, at sites of reception, I find that local actors have rescaled federal resettlement policy, but that policies diverge across Atlanta and Pittsburgh because of their distinct histories. I term these local policies “urban incorporation regimes,” and show how they valorize different aspects of refugees’ identity, leading to place-based modes of identification.

abstract: Throughout history composers have used music to depict their perception of the refugee experience. This project expands upon this idea through the commission and recording of four new works for saxophone. The compositions are Different Arks for solo alto saxophone by John Secunde, Rubble/Resolve for alto saxophone and piano by Jared Yackiw, Emerging Light for soprano saxophone and vibraphone by Alan Hankers, and Unam aeternam for solo alto saxophone and stereo playback by Ashlee Busch. For each work, this project provides performance guides, biographical contexts, program notes, and recordings. I hope to encourage artists to discover and facilitate creative ways to draw attention to migration around the world and contribute to the fight against racism and xenophobia. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Music 2020

"As will be seen, the OAU Refugee Convention contains many provisions which, if not properly construed, might lead to a great curtailment of refugees' political rights. Yet the right to participate in the government of one's country is guaranteed by a number of international human rights isntruments. In any case, when people are forced to leave their country of origin, it is simply natural for them to seek the means whereby they could go back to their country of origin. ... Besides, not only voluntary repatriation is generally regarded as the most desirable solution to the refugee problem, but also it has been observed that a successful return is dependent upon the political conditions in the country of origin. It will be argued that refugees should be allowed and assisted to play a proactive role in order to create a political environment propitious to their return. ... The first chapter is a presentation of the study, its background, the research questions, the literature review, the methodology and the limitations to the study. The second chapter deals with the problems related to the refugee status and international protection. It is a presentation of the big picture of international refugee protection, with a focus on Africa. From an African point of view, it looks at the definition of the term refugee, the refugee status and the available protection mechanisms. The third chapter discusses the traditional durable solutions to the refugee problem, as well as the new approaches in refugee protection. It discusses the availablility, effectiveness and shortcomings of traditional solutions, and highlights repatriation as the most suitable solution to the refugee problem. The fourth chapter is a reflection on the right to repatriation and the extent to which political participation of refugees can be used to realise that right. This chapter examines the legal foundation of the right to return, the significance of political participation to that right, highlights the major obstacles to political participation of refugees, and puts forward ideas that might serve as guidelines for enhanced participation of refugees in the political life of their country of origin. The last chapter is a summary presentation of the conclusions and recommendations drawn from this study." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Prof. T.P. van Reenen at the Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

This dissertation explores the potential of the queer Muslim asylum seeker to confront the Dutch national imaginary. An archetype of homonationalism, the Netherlands faces rising tides of Islamophobia, waters which queer Muslims must learn to navigate. An asylum seeker’s success in the system depends on their “credibility”, hinging on the consistency of their self-representation which is constantly being reconstructed. These constant reconstructions, what Ewing (1990) refers to as “shifting selves”, are not conscious or noticed by the individual; yet, in the context of asylum claim-making, reconstitutions of the self may rise to the surface, asylum seekers then engaging in conscious strategizing. I analyze these contexts ethnographically through informal interviews and participant observation, at the height of the so-called “Refugee Crisis” of the mid-2010s in Europe. I find that as the figure of the queer Muslim asylum seeker confronts the Dutch national imaginary, it both confirms it—representing national commitments to human rights, to tolerance, and to protection of sexual minorities—and challenges it—embodying impossible identities, and evincing a failure of the nation to live up to its ideals: What is “tolerance” when it is weaponized against minority groups? What kind of queerness is being protected if deviation from a cultural norm is disqualifying? Whose human rights are being protected by a system that demands the subject of those rights conform to formulations inconsistent with lived experience?

It has been said that those with the least are often the ones with the most to give. This proved to be true for a Syrian refugee turned cardiologist who provides care in communities that are poor and underserved including refugees, immigrants, minorities, those of low socioeconomic status, and other vulnerable populations. Dr. Heval Kelli is the epitome of a kind-hearted, humble, genuine hero, through his dedication to serving humanity. Between providing health care to those in need, educating future generations of doctors, mentoring high school students, and advocating for the less fortunate, his life is truly his message to the world.

The purpose of this study is to examine the innovative financial inclusion for the under-served urban migrant and refugee population in Thailand, respectively. The increasing number of urban migrants and refugees in Thailand requires innovative financial inclusion and livelihood interventions. Many migrants and refugees do not have access to formal financial services due to their legal documentation, although their demands for financial services still exist and remain unsatisfied. The evidence from Kenya in Africa could provide implications and viable options for Thailand in implementing financial inclusion and livelihood programmes in different ways. Using data from the migrants and refugees residing in Bangkok, Thailand through individual interviews, the discourse and narrative qualitative analytical methods were employed to analyse data. The key findings from this study include financial needs, financial inclusion options, livelihood assets and strategies, financial literacy, as well as the livelihood approaches that can support the wellbeing of urban migrants and refugees in the host countries. The findings also revealed the difference in financial needs between urban migrants and refugees in Thailand due to their unique needs and livelihood goals. The data analysis suggested that the financial inclusion and livelihood interventions in Kenya could be applicable for refugees and migrants in Thailand. The roles of financial technology and innovation also have a positive impact in accelerating the financial inclusion of refugees and migrants. The recommendations from this study can help to create the enabling environments for financial inclusion of migrants and refugees in the urban context of Thailand. A comprehensive needs assessment on livelihoods and financial inclusion could explore the actual needs of the migrant and refugee population in in Thailand. The coaching sessions for new arrival groups of migrants and refugees can help them to adjust their livelihood strategies while residing in the host country. The innovation and technology will promote the cost-effective informal banking and open up employment and economic opportunities. The advocacy for the rights of migrants and refugees should be strengthened, including the legislations regarding basic healthcare and education. With a dramatic increase in migration, a better understanding of urban contexts will help develop workable interventions for financial inclusion of urban displaced persons, eventually building resilience and reducing poverty among migrants and refugees.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / The world has recognised the global record of increased international migrants and refugees in the last two decades. In South Africa in particular, migrants and refugees have remarkably increased in the last ten years. Refugees in South Africa face many challenges of accessing employment while the government also faces the high global unemployment of its citizens. Also, refugees have problems of accessing social services such as education, shelter, and social grants and also problems of insecurity and safety, discrimination and exclusion.

The thesis explores on the negotiation of agency in experiences of age assessment of former unaccompanied refugee minors who seek asylum in Germany, as well as in their interaction with the situational context. As a combination of narrative and thematic analysis, the study is based on six online semi-structured interviews with young people and two with professionals working in Youth Welfare Offices. By employing the perspective of Emirbayer & Mische (1998), agency takes here the form of a temporal process. As a result of the juxtaposition between aspects embedded in the past: such as the fact of not having identity documents; their knowledge of age; images of childhood; experiences lived in the trajectory to Germany, and the interplay with the time, flexibility, and credibility in the practical implementation, the negotiation of agency at the time of the age assessment ranges between normalization and confusion. The findings contribute to the debate about age assessment in Germany unifying migration and childhood research. Furthermore, it advances with an empirical approach of agency in the sociology of youth.

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Information and communication technologies (ICT) are becoming a growing form of designing and implementing humanitarian response in emergency and post conflict areas. This research explores the role ICTs play in the new era of emerging humanitarian spaces, focusing on two main UN agencies, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), that cover a wide range of services in Jordan. This master thesis investigates the different interventions of these two organizations in response to the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan, asking how ICTs contributed to the efficiency of their service delivery. This study also analyses the changes ICTs brought to UNHCR’s and UNICEF’s humanitarian response in Jordan by comparing the nature of response before and after the integration of ICTs in the different programs. By examining the existing literature related to the use of ICT in humanitarian response combined with fieldwork conducting key informant interviews with UNHCR and UNICEF staff in the field of innovation and ICT, this master thesis aims to provide a critical perspective on the digital development discourse. This study argues that ICT has helped to increase the efficiency of humanitarian services delivery by decreasing the overall cost of interventions and decreasing the time needed to respond to the beneficiaries needs, leading to increase beneficiaries’ satisfaction.