Some 5 million people were classified as internally displaced in Colombia at the end of 2012, which represented about 10 per cent of the population and the highest number in the world at the time. Colombia differs from other countries with high levels of displacement in that it is comparatively politically stable, has effective national institutions, a relatively strong formal economy, and can by no means be described as a ‘failed’ or ‘failing’ state. The displacement literature tends to characterise the phenomenon as a humanitarian crisis and a side effect of the long-running civil war. But Colombians continue to be displaced in very large numbers despite the formal demobilization of the paramilitaries in 2006 and the diminished military capacity and engagement of the guerrillas since about the same period: the same groups that are widely regarded as being the main perpetrators of displacement. This thesis contends that displacement of the civilian population in Colombia is frequently not a consequence of violence, but rather the primary objective, where violence plays a facilitatory role. Moreover, the thesis asserts that these massive levels of displacement are substantively linked to predominantly economically-motivated logics and are regionally specific. By examining an agricultural commodity that has significantly expanded relatively recently in Colombia - African palm oil - this research examines if and how expanded cultivation may be linked to displacement. Using a political economy framework of analysis combined with empirical fieldwork, it explores the ‘localised displacement logics’ whereby land is coercively acquired by powerful local groups. The thesis concludes that the abandonment and dispossession of land from poor and marginalised groups constitutes part of an ongoing process of capitalist expansion and statebuilding in Colombia. Contrary to assertions that it is the intra-state conflict that constitutes the central obstacle to development, Colombia’s current trajectory of capitalist development may actually be a central obstacle to sustainable peace and not lead to an end to displacement.

This thesis makes two related arguments regarding the academic field of migration and refugee studies (MARS) and the control of migration by UK state agencies. The first, and more empirical one, is that the former facilitated the latter: the field’s members provided symbolic, technical, and pedagogic assistance to two non-departmental public bodies in controlling migration. The second, and more theoretical, argument of this thesis is that MARS facilitated migration control because of culture, power, and structure. It is through the field’s implication in the coercion of its human subjects by UK state agencies that MARS academics a) answered their calling, b) assisted class rule as ideologists, and c) separated sacred and profane by policing endogamy. The introduction describes the existing literature on the relationship between MARS and migration control. The consensus is that the former facilitated the latter. However, these studies fail to provide detailed accounts of the ways in which it did so. Chapter One defines the elements of my more empirical argument: MARS and migration control. An historical narrative outlines the institutional development of the field since its beginnings in the early 1980s. Then a new model for understanding migration control – i.e., migrant CODAR – is described. Chapter Two uses this model to trace the actor network through which MARS academics facilitated the restriction of their human subjects’ mobility by the UK state agencies of the Advisory Panel on Country Information and the Migration Advisory Committee. Chapters Three, Four, and Five use Weberian, Marxist, and Durkheimian anthropological approaches (respectively) to explain the implication of MARS and migration control that is described in Chapters One and Two. Finally, the conclusion of the thesis discusses its contributions to both more particular (i.e., the literature surveyed in the introduction on MARS and migration control) and more general (i.e., anthropology) scholarly fields.

This dissertation focuses on international actors' response to the ethnic cleansing perpetrated during the 1992 – 1995 Bosnian War. The work illuminates the multilateral attempt to reverse one of the outcomes of ethnic cleansing following the war, through the return of displaced people. The policy emphasis on "re-mixing" people, interpreted through a strategy of minority returns, and supported and coordinated on an international scale, was unprecedented. This dissertation asks: why did powerful states and international organizations pursue a re-mixing policy as a response to ethnic cleansing in Bosnia? At first glance, the choice seems counterintuitive. The policy was expensive. Post-1989, the West no longer needed "to keep Yugoslavia afloat." Furthermore, reversal required a degree and duration of international involvement that, at the time, was thought to be politically, militarily, and financially impossible. There are two existing explanations for this surprising phenomenon: international moralism and norm evolutionism. International moralists posit that international actors were moved to re-mix Bosnians out of a sense of guilt. Norm evolutionists argue that international norms governing appropriate responses to ethnic cleansing have shifted during the twentieth century towards support for re-mixing. In contrast to these two dominant views, this dissertation argues that the re-mixing policy initially emerged as a practical fix to a series of pressing, context-specific political challenges. State policymakers justified the re-mixing policy, however, on normative grounds. Though not the original incentive for action, international organizations on the ground then adopted the policy, empowered by states' normative justifications and thereby transformed the political rhetoric into concrete action. This dissertation corrects a common assumption that the origins and motivations behind the re-mixing policy were normative in nature, it contributes to a better understanding of how normative discourses emerge, mature, and transform into policy and it offers policy recommendations based on lessons learnt from this important and seemingly contradictory case.

Internally Displaced Persons ('IDPs') outnumber refugees by two to one and often have the same fears, needs and wants as refugees recognised as such under international law. However, refugee status entails international protection, while IDPs are left to the protection of their own state, which may, but by no means necessarily, be the very entity that has forced them to flee in the first place. In recent years, there have been significant developments in the realm of IDP protection. This includes the conclusion of two regional treaties on the protection of IDPs, the development of relevant soft law instruments, and the reformed 'Cluster Approach' of humanitarian response. Although the increased focus on IDP protection is a welcome development, the UNHCR has expressed the fear that 'activities for the internally displaced may be (mis)interpreted as obviating the need for international protection and asylum.' This thesis represents the first legal analysis of the relationship between the protection of IDPs and International Refugee Law. It will discuss five key challenges in this respect. First, the challenge of drawing the attention of the international community to the plight of IDPs; second, the challenge of developing an appropriate framework for the protection of IDPs; third, the challenge of ensuring that internal protection is not interpreted as a substitute for asylum; fourth; the challenge of determining the relationship between complementary protection and internal displacement; and fifth, the challenge of ensuring that IDP protection in an inter-agency context does not trigger the application of Article 1D of the Refugee Convention, rendering the Convention inapplicable to the recipients of that protection. This thesis will conclude by setting out the future challenges in the relationship between IDP protection and International Refugee Law, by identifying questions left open for further research, and by illustrating the overall impact and importance of this thesis' findings.

Since the early 1990s Oregon has witnessed an economic and politically based influx of immigrants and refugees. Most refugees resettled in Oregon initially settled in the greater Portland metro area, and Portland currently ranks eleventh among cities around the country that resettle international refugees. This research focuses on the reception and resettlement experiences of one sub-group of refugees and immigrants: those from Somalia. In the Portland area, Somalis are a largely marginalized social group. They live on the peripheries of society and are often segregated (physically as well as culturally) in what is historically a racially and culturally homogenous state. To date, limited research has focused on the reception experiences and adjustment challenges of the local Somali community. The intent of this descriptive case study is to explore and record the arrival and adjustment experiences and perspectives of Somali refugees and immigrants, so as to understand their journey of displacement and resettlement holistically. It investigates the context of their acclimatization into US society via the Portland urban area. It, more specifically, explores the nature of the arrival and adjustment experiences of the community, as well as the factors influencing them. It attempts to understand how these factors and the overall experience of adjustment influence the negotiation and construction of individual and collective identity of the local Somalis. In understanding the overall experience of resettlement within the community, the study also explores how well the needs of the community are met when it comes to support services and other resources for adaptation. Seventeen participants were interviewed from the community, and they indicated that the journey of adjustment is an on-going one that needs to be understood holistically while incorporating all the stages of exile: from displacement to resettlement. Identity formation and negotiation is a key process that emerged within the narratives, through which the experience of resettlement is maneuvered. Within the local community, identity informs the participation of Somalis within social networks, as well as the myriad social roles they take on as individuals, family members, and community members. This study finds some important similarities and differences in the experiences of the local Somalis with other local and national immigrant and refugee groups.

One of the consequences of the ethnic hatred between Hutu and Tutsi in Burundi is that around 10% of Burundians were forced to flee to Tanzania for their safety. Three decades after the creation of Ulyankulu Settlement through the joint efforts of the Tanzanian government, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and the Tanganyika Christian Refugee Service (TCRS) it is assumed that these refugees are fully assimilated and feel at home. However, this dissertation argues that they do not feel at home and consequently long to return to their homeland. This study is an attempt to understand the experience of refugees in Ulyankulu Settlement and the contribution of this experience towards their craving for their homeland. It also explores the role played by Anglican Church in shaping these refugees' experience. Finally the study proposes ways of improving the church's ministry among these refugees. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M.Th. (Missiology)

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by 2012 there were 15.4 million refugees and 28.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) forced to flee their homes due to war or violent conflict across the globe. Upon arrival in their host settings, forced migrants struggle with acute health and material needs, as well as issues related to identity, politics, power and place. The Karen ethnic minority of Burma (also known as Myanmar) has been involved in a prolonged civil conflict with the Burmese military government for nearly six decades. This fighting has resulted in massive internal displacement and refugee flight, and although a ceasefire was signed in 2012, continued violence has been reported. This study among the displaced Karen population along the Thai-Burma border examines the relationships between traditional – or indigenous – medicine, the population's health needs, and the broader social and political context. Research was conducted using an ethnographic case-study approach among 170 participants along the Thai-Burma border between 2003 and 2011. Research findings document the rapid evolution and formalisation of the Karen traditional medical system. Findings show how the evolutionary process was influenced by social needs, an existing base medical knowledge among traditional health practitioners, and a dynamic social and political environment. Evidence suggests that that Karen traditional medicine practitioners, under the leadership of the Karen National Union (KNU) Department of Health and Welfare, are serving neglected and culturally-specific health needs among border populations. Moreover, this research also provides evidence that Karen authorities are revitalising their traditional medicine, as part of a larger effort to strengthen their social infrastructure including the Karen self-determination movement. In particular, these Karen authorities are focused on building a sustainable health infrastructure that can serve Karen State in the long term. From the perspectives of both refugee health and development studies, the revival of Karen traditional medicine within a refugee and IDP setting represents an adaptive response by otherwise medically under-served populations. This case offers a model of healthcare self-sufficiency that breaks with the dependency relationships characteristic of most conventional refugee and IDP health services. And, through the mobilisation of tradition for contemporary needs, it offers a dimension of cultural continuity in a context where discontinuity and loss of culture are hallmarks of the forced migration experience.

Since the 1951 United Nations Convention, nations have dealt with refugee issues in various ways. In the United States, since the Vietnam War, there has been great debate and a significant amount of research on issues of refugee resettlement, with these discourses inherently involving issues of power and ideology. English language training and the promotion of economic self-sufficiency have been interventions used to integrate and assimilate refugees into American culture and society. These two interventions were the subject of the current investigation. The purpose of this study was to look into the way federal refugee resettlement policy mandated by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) construes the notion of self-sufficiency in policy documents; and whether or not that constructed version of self-sufficiency is reflected or reinforced in the local attendant English language training, provided by the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization's (IRCO) Pre-Employment Training's English language training courses. Through a combination of Critical Discourse Analysis and analytic techniques influenced by Corpus Linguistics, this study was able to investigate the construal of self-sufficiency in ORR refugee resettlement policy and its reflection in IRCO PET ELT. The ORR policy Title 45: Public Welfare, Part 400: Refugee Settlement Program and the lesson plans and materials of IRCO's PET's SPL levels 2 and 3 were analyzed with a textual analysis, process analysis, and social analysis. The ORR policy also underwent a collocation comparison analysis that employed the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). The results of this qualitative study indicate that the federal resettlement policy exploits a common connotation of self-sufficiency to mask its underlying subjugating policies that position resettled refugees into early employment positions with little opportunities for higher education or occupational advancement. The ELT provided by IRCO's PET program reflects and reinforces the ORR's construed notion of self-sufficiency as well as its underlying hegemonic agenda. These findings this relate to broader discourses of immigration, neoliberalism, and education in the United States. Conclusions drawn from this investigation have pedagogical implications and applications that are discussed.

Since the start of the Syrian war, Jordan has received many Syrian refugees with around 650,000 Syrians now residing in the country. As the state has received a lot of help from the international community, funding refugee camps and providing basic necessities, a lot of international humanitarian practitioners have come to Jordan to work alongside Jordanian and Middle Eastern practitioners. The situation therefore has brought practitioners from different academic, professional and geographical backgrounds together to work with people of a different cultural background than their own. Syrians represent a vast diversity in terms of ethnic, religious, linguistic and socio-economic backgrounds. Research have addressed that practitioners’ sensitivity to how cultural complexities may influence social problems can facilitate a better understanding of the client’s path to recovery. The purpose of our study was to increase the knowledge of mental health and psychosocial support practitioners’ understanding and experience of a culturally sensitive social work in Amman, Jordan and discuss how this affects their practice with Syrian refugees. Through qualitative interviews we found that the practitioners’ perception of Arab culture as one and the same makes culture a non-issue in terms of cultural diversity, and that this perception influence the practice with Syrian refugees in a number of ways.

This thesis concerns persons recognised as refugees based on the criteria set by Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (CSR1951) and residing in a Contracting State. It appraises the exclusion of CSR1951 refugees from participation in elections of their countries of asylum pursuant to a citizenship voting qualification, which most countries set. It is emphasised that, since neither the CSR1951 refugees nor their country of asylum know when or indeed whether cessation of CSR1951 refugee status may occur, their exclusion may last for an indeterminate period of time. CSR1951 confers on recognised refugees a host of civil, social and economic rights in their country of asylum; voting rights are absent. Concomitantly, while the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (and regional human rights treaties) pronounce that all persons are entitled to have their rights respected, protected and promoted, Contracting States are permitted to reserve two rights for their (full) members: the right to enter and remain in their country, and the right to vote in its elections. The central claim of this thesis is that recognised CSR1951 refugees are a special category of non-citizen residents, due to their unique political predicament. They are unable to participate in elections of their country of origin, do not enjoy its diplomatic protection and consular assistance abroad, and – most fundamentally – are unable or unwilling, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution, to return to it for an indeterminate (and potentially protracted) period. It is submitted that recognised CSR1951 refugees should be entitled to vote in elections of their countries of asylum, notwithstanding general citizenship qualifications imposed by these countries. At present, treaty law does not require countries of asylum to enfranchise their recognised CSR1951 refugees. Hence, this thesis explores a gap in international refugee law and international human rights law between de lege lata and de lege ferenda; it is an exercise in ‘progressive development of the law’. Its inquiry is located in the international domain, and concerns, in principle, any Contracting State which admits and recognises CSR1951 refugees. References to national or regional practices serve solely an illustrative purpose.