While housing has been recognized as an essential component of refugee resettlement, access to housing is difficult for refugees. This thesis examines the approach to essential services like housing services provided by faith-based organizations (FBOs). In studying how FBOs conceptualize the home and convey their approach to housing for refugees, I aim to put emphasis on the concept of home. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis to examine the narrative FBOs have created of home for refugees I will argue that FBOs conceptualize home as immaterial, meaning that it is an 'affective construct' or an emotional feeling rather than a material reality. The research revealed that while FBOs work in the community is undeniable the focus on creating the emotions associated with the home, the limited attention to a physical place refugees can call home reveals the lack of attention granted to FBO’s websites in their approach to housing for refugees. Therefore, the physical concept of the home needs to receive more attention from FBOs.

This study seeks to achieve a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of child marriage among Syrian refugees, identify the causes and the consequences of this phenomenon, and explore the relationship between the armed conflict in Syria and the prevalence of child marriage practices among Syrian refugees living in refugee camps in Lebanon. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher used the case study approach and mixed-methods methodology in data collection and analysis. Quantitative data were collected by questionnaire from twenty participants, all women who married before the age of eighteen. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with ten of the participants, all of whom married before the age of eighteen. The findings indicate the contributing role played by the Syrian armed conflict in the prevalence of child marriage practices among Syrian refugees and that Syrian refugees used child marriage as a survival strategy. The results also reveal that there are two types of child marriages: forced and consensual. The study demonstrates that child marriage is a serious violation of children's rights. Recommendations for governments, NGOs, and further research are included. / Denna studie söker uppnå en djupare förståelse för företeelsen barnäktenskap så som den yttrar sig bland syriska flyktingar, att identifiera orsakerna och konsekvenserna av detta fenomen och att titta närmare på relationen mellan den beväpnade konflikten i Syrien och förekomsten av barnäktenskap bland syriska flyktingar som bor i flyktingläger i Libanon. För att nå undersökningens mål använde forskaren ”case study”-formen och mixed-methods-metoden för datainsamling och analys. Kvantitativa data samlades via frågeformulär från tjugo deltagare, samtliga kvinnor, som gifte sig före arton års ålder. Kvalitativa data samlades genom intervjuer med tio av deltagarna, som samtliga gifte sig före arton års ålder. Resultatet pekar på den påverkan som den syriska beväpnade konflikten spelat i förekomsten av barnäktenskap som brukas bland syriska flyktingar och att syriska flyktingar använde barnäktenskap som en överlevnadsstrategi. Resultaten visar också att det finns två typer av barnäktenskap: tvångsäktenskap och samförståndsäktenskap. Studien visar att barnäktenskap är en allvarlig kränkning av barns rättigheter. Rekommendationer för regeringar, icke-statliga organisationer och för vidare forskning är inkluderade.

No description available.

As of April 2019, there were over 650,000 Syrian refugees residing in Jordan. A combination of economic, social, and moral imperatives related to the Syrian civil war have led to a threefold increase in early marriage rates. Syrian women and girls, particularly those who marry under the age of 18, are at significant risk of sexual and gender-based violence and unwanted pregnancy. In this context, emergency contraception could play a significant role in supporting Syrian refugees prevent pregnancy. In 2016-2017 we conducted six focus group discussions with Syrian women and girls. We conducted 100 structured interviews with pharmacists in different areas of the country regarding EC provision practices. We also interviewed 13 key informants about available sexual and reproductive health services, including EC, and conducting six focus group discussions with Syrian child brides. We audio-recorded and translated all discussions from Arabic to English and conducted content and thematic analyses using deductive and inductive techniques. Most women and girls became pregnant during the first six months of their marriage, face pressure to become pregnant repeatedly, and experience or had experienced physical and sexual violence. None of the women knew of EC but all expressed curiosity and excitement about this method of pregnancy prevention. Our findings suggest that Syrian women and girls in early marriages have significant unmet contraceptive needs. Child brides, specifically those under the age of 15, reported rarely using any type of contraception, largely due to familial pressures to prove fertility. As a result of this research we undertook a multipronged initiative to respond to the sexual and reproductive health, as well as psychosocial needs, of Syrian child brides.

The war in Ukraine has led to the displacement of millions of Ukrainians. Refugee policy hasalways been hotly debated and the Swedish political debate has been divided since Swedenhas received refugees from a lot of war-torn countries. Previous research has shown thatrefugees from different parts of the world are portrayed in different terms. Therefore thisstudy aims to compare discourses in the portrayal of Syrian refugees during the years2014-2015 and Ukrainian refugees in 2022 respectively in the Swedish political discourse.Specifically, it will be examined how the parties Sweden Democrats and the Moderates haveexpressed themselves in political statements about the Syrian refugees in the years 2014-2015compared to the Ukrainian refugees in 2022. The aim is also to critically analyze thesediscourses and how "us and them" identities are constructed. In order to carry out the study, acritical discourse analysis and Fairclough's three-dimensional model has been applied to theempirical material. The theoretical framework that has been helpful in analyzing the politicaldiscourse on refugees has been the postcolonial theory, the theory of racialization andOrientalism. The study concluded that Syrian and Ukrainian refugees are portrayeddifferently. Syrian refugees are mostly talked about in negative terms, while Ukrainianrefugees are described in positive terms. The result of the study also showed that the Syrianrefugees were mostly excluded to be described as "them" and the Ukrainian refugees wereincluded in a "us". These findings align with results from previous research in studies ofrefugee portrayal.

No description available.

The sculpture Syrian horse was placed in Uddevalla, Sweden, in 2019. At first it was borrowed by Uddevalla municipality. Soon it became so popular among the inhabitants which led to a fundraising to enable a public purchase of the sculpture. The aim of this essay was to analyze the process of how a public art work, a sculpture, was procured form the perspective of three actors; the procurer, the artist and the viewer. The following methods were used: qualitative interview with the artist, public document from the procurer Uddevalla municipality, observation of the sculpture in situ with photo documentation, and telephone conversation with the former antiquarian in Uddevalla municipality. Sculpture theory based on Rosalind Krauss and Jessica Sjöholm Skrubbe was central for the analysis. Furthermore, semiotic with Roland Barthes´s concepts denotation and connotation, Ferdinand de Saussure´s concepts expression and content and Charles Sanders Pierces´s concept iconic sign was central. For contextualization of the horse as a motive, different types of horse sculptures were used for comparison. The result shows that for the procurer, no policy or guidelines for public art within the municipality existed to procure public art. The success factors were committed officials, network contacts and being on the right place in the right time. For the artist, the site where the sculpture was placed was of great importance, which was one aspect of realizing his vision of the artwork. Also, the form and technique made the sculpture successful. The viewers turned out to be an important part of the process by visiting the sculpture on site, activities on social media and started a fundraising to enable a public procurement of the sculpture. Also, the artist lowered the price of the sculpture to meet the viewers engagement. Finally, the presence of policy or guidelines for public art within the municipality to procure public art cannot be seen as a determinant. Other sources of funding for public art should be investigated. Several aspects in the composition of the Syrian horse indicate that it is contemporary art, e.g. aspects of globalization, integration and gender.

This research was conducted to study the social integration of Syrian refugees in Sweden and their feeling of inclusion in the Swedish society, or exclusion from it. The research also targeted illuminating and analyzing potential reasons for the social exclusion of some Syrian refugees according to first-hand experiences, perspectives, and opinions collected by semi-structured interviews with 10 informants who left Syria due to civil war and sought asylum in Sweden. This paper serves as a platform on which voices and views of Syrian refugees were echoed, and conclusions on their settlement and inclusion in their new country were based on their own feelings, struggles, and matters of their social lives. To achieve that, social, cultural, and human aspects were prioritized over mainstream economic and legal aspects as all informants were documented and integrated into the Swedish labor market or education system.  Nonetheless, the study results have shown a worrying lack of social inclusion that Syrian refugees have experienced so far in their new country, reducing them into underprivileged, ethnic social circles where they had limited access to social networks from different backgrounds, resources, and opportunity. The nature of the Swedish society, as well as the negative image of Syrian refugees, Ethnic-segregated residencies, cultural incompatibility, and racism, were found to be the main reasons behind this phenomenon

This study investigates the discursive ways in which the Syrian war and the Syrian refugees are being portrayed in the American news media. It was conducted by combining the method Corpus Linguistics with the concepts of Critical Discourse Analysis. The data for this research consists of a virtual sub-corpus created from the NOW (News on the Web) corpus, hosted by English-Corpora. The virtual corpus contains all the data from the NOW corpus with the word SYRIA* in the title and the words SYRIA* and REFUGEE* weref urther investigated by the use of concordance, collocate and KWIC tools. The results for SYRIA* showed that the Syrian war was not the prime focus for media coverage and were therefore underrepresented. The collocations around REFUGEE* demonstrated that the conceptual metaphor REFUGEES ARE WATER, and by extension, REFUGEES ARE A DISASTER, were mapped onto the Syrian refugees. Consequently, the nuisance and inconvenience of the refugees was emphasised and represented them negatively.

Background: The high prevalence of mental disorders related to posttraumatic stress among Syrian refugees is often in contrast with their low utilization ofmental health care in the host countries. Mental health self-stigma, i.e., internalized stigma of having a mental disorder, could prevent individuals from seeking mental health care. Therefore, we aimed to provide evidence on different aspects of mental health self-stigmatization among adult Syrian refugees with posttraumatic stress symptoms residing in Germany. Moreover, we investigated associations with sociodemographic and psychopathological variables in order to identify those at higher risk of self-stigmatization. Material and Methods: Overall, 133 participants with mild to moderate posttraumatic stress symptoms were recruited in the metropolitan areas of Leipzig, Dresden and Halle, Germany, using a multimodal approach. Mental health self-stigma was assessed using the Self-Stigma of Mental Illness Scale – Short Form (SSMIS-SF), consisting of four subscales (Stereotype awareness, Stereotype agreement, Application to self, Harm to self-esteem), each scoring from 5 (low) to 45 (high) points. Linear regression analysis was used to test associations of sociodemographic and psychopathological variables with self-stigma subscales. Results: On average, self-stigma ratings ranged from 16.5 (SD = 6.6) points on Application to self to 28.3 (SD = 7.5) points on Stereotype awareness. Results showed higher scores on Application to self for individuals who were younger (t =2.65, p=0.009) and single (F = 5.70, p = 0.004). Regression analyses yielded statistically significant associations between having multiple comorbidities and a higher Application to self stigma ( = 0.18, p = 0.044), controlling for sociodemographic covariates. Discussion: Mental health self-stigma was increased among Syrian refugees in Germany. Correlates of increased self-stigma could inform efforts to improve access to mental health care among Syrian refugees with mental ill-health. Longitudinal studies following an intersectional approach by concurrently examining multiple forms of public and internalized stigma could provide helpful insights for developing tailored stigma reduction efforts in this context.