This thesis critically examines the role of suffering in violence, by applying a postmodern perspective to empirical examples gathered during fieldwork in Malmö in 2011.by Combing Bourdieu’s perspectives on practice with Turner’s concepts of space and liminality, Malmö takes on a new light. Through the criminalization of rejected asylum seekers, Malmö — otherwise a location of everyday peace — becomes an inside-out space defined by suffering where the clandestine asylum seekers are physically located within Swedish society, yet legally, culturally and socially located outside. Within this space bought into existence through the creation of clandestine asylum seekers new social relationships are formed — new ways of ‘being in the world’. In this thesis the clandestine asylum seekers are facilitating the altruistic and philanthropic practices of volunteers, whilst simultaneously becoming a utility for personal gain through exploitation. By examining these newly created social relations this thesis explores the experiences of suffering from an emic perspective, which provides an alternative and holistic approach to understanding the relationalities of experiences of suffering, personhood and the social field. These relationalites of suffering are exhibited through postulates of identity, performances, ways of doing and being, subjectivities and difference, as tools for viewing the social encounters taking place in a specific field.

<p>This dissertation investigates how the politics of asylum are implicated in our understandings of political agency for non-citizens. Using qualitative methods of interviews and participant observation, I centre migrant narratives in my analysis and begin from the migrant experience to investigate the development and practices of a global regime of management and control over migration, asking how migrants both participate in and challenge the shaping of this regime.</p> <p>The sites examined are refugee camps in Western Tanzania, the border zone between Spain and Morocco, and the detention regime of Australia. In each case a border space is created where the sovereign politics of migration operate to control migrants, and to manage their capacity for political agency and mobility through discourses and practices of exclusion. In each case, the regime is situated within a global system of securitized migration oriented explicitly against irregular migration. In each case the migrant narratives from within the border space reflect active participation in shaping the border politics in direct challenge to dominant narratives of control.</p> <p>I argue that the dichotomy of voluntary/forced migration that has characterized the refugee and migration regime since 1945 is being replaced by a more rigid dichotomy of regular/irregular migration. The implications of this shift are found in more advanced and securitized border regimes and practices.</p> <p>My conclusions directly challenge the characterization of the border space as a space that is not only exceptional, but exclusionary, abject and without the possibility for politics. Rather, I argue that an understanding of politics as momentary and everyday, and of politics as contestation reveals a radical political agency that re-imagines the global non-citizen as a transgressive and powerful figure. Further, I argue that this re-imagining of global non-citizens reveals possibilities for a politics that dramatically changes contemporary state-centred understandings of border regimes.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Since the time of their arrival beginning around 2005, there remain approximately 46,000 African asylum seekers in Israel. The following paper reviews the foundations and implications of Israel’s political discourse in reference to the presence of this community. I situate the treatment of the asylum seekers in their relationship to the Jewish State, Zionist ideology, international refugee law, and Israel’s human rights community. I argue: 1) that the discourse surrounding the asylum seekers reflects larger changes within the ethos of the Jewish State and models of Israeli personhood; 2) that notions of “security” and “threat” in relation to the asylum seekers take on new meanings shaped by Israel’s ongoing demographic concerns; and 3) that the political response to the African asylum seekers sheds light on irreconcilable goals of the Zionist nation-building project seeking to both maintain a Jewish majority and liberate world Jewry from life segregated and isolated in the Diaspora. / Anthropology

Yes / The experiences of LGBT asylum seekers in the UK are the focus of this chapter. The relative invisibility of LGBT asylum seekers in social work literature and research is acknowledged. Data from interviews undertaken as part of a small scale research study is used to highlight issues of psychological stress, safety, social isolation and resilience and survival. This material is discussed in relation to models of minority stress, discrimination, social determinants of health, and human rights. A holistic approach to practice in response to an opening vignette, is presented with reference to the importance of advocacy and cross-sector partnership working. / This is a post-peer-review, pre-copy edited version of a chapter published in: Fish J and Karban K (Eds.) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Health Inequalities. Details of the definitive published version and how to purchase it are available online at https://policypress.co.uk/lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-trans-health-inequalities.

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Yes / The aim of this paper is to describe the conceptualisation and development of an inclusive educational model. The model is designed to facilitate pre-registration midwifery students' learning around the health and social care needs of pregnant women seeking asylum in the United Kingdom. current literature has identified a concern about the standard of maternity care experienced by asylum seeking women accessing maternity services in the United Kingdom. In response to this, a doctorate study was undertaken which focused on examining the way in which a group of midwifery students approached the provision of care for asylum seekers. This study revealed difficulties that these students had both in identifying these women's needs and also in the wider care issues in practice. Consequently, one of the recommendations was to ameliorate these difficulties through midwifery education. Methods the key findings from this study were used together with relevant supporting literature to construct “the pregnant woman within the global context” model for midwifery education. Results The model is designed to facilitate a holistic assessment of need rather than focusing on the physical assessment at the expense of other aspects of care. It incorporates wider factors, on a global level, which could impact on the health and social care needs of a pregnant woman seeking asylum. It also prompts students to consider the influence of dominant discourses on perceptions of asylum seek;ing and is designed to encourage students' to question these discourses. Recommendations this model can be used in midwifery education to prepare students in caring for pregnant women seeking asylum. It may be especially helpful when students have close contact with pregnant women seeking asylum, for example through caseloading. Further research is recommended to evaluate the effectiveness of this model in enhancing the care of asylum seeking women in the United Kingdom.

Yes / Asylum seekers in the UK often have complex health needs but face barriers when accessing health services. A family health programme was established in an initial accommodation centre (IAC) in northern England, by trained volunteers who are refugees and therefore peers. The main focus of the programme is peers educating asylum seekers about health services in the United Kingdom (UK), including maternity services, and evaluation research was undertaken to explore the effectiveness of this. Two sessions were observed and participants provided a short verbal evaluation. Data were thematically analysed. Around 30 people from 17 countries attended the sessions which were evaluated positively. Three themes emerged related to asylum seekers' perceptions of their learning: access to health care, living as a family, and the UK as a caring country. The findings suggest that peers educating asylum seekers within an IAC appears helpful in overcoming barriers to accessing health care in the UK and could facilitate pregnant women to attend for maternity care.

No / Pregnant asylum-seeking and refugee women are a particularly vulnerable group in society, who may be possibly living alone in poverty in inappropriate accommodation (Dunne, 2007) and experiencing hostile attitudes (Hynes and sale, 2010). They may have poor physical and mental health, placing them at an increased risk of poor pregnancy outcomes (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), 2010). Despite this, they are less likely to attend for timely maternity care. This article discusses the evaluation to date of an ongoing befriending project located in Northern england, targeting pregnant asylum-seeking and refugee women and helping to address difficulties that they may face. Volunteer befrienders, who themselves are asylum-seeking and refugee mothers, receive training to provide support and guidance to clients. Preliminary data suggest that befriending has advantages for both client and volunteer: clients appear to develop a trusting relationship with their befriender which facilitates self-confidence and helps overcome social isolation; and the volunteers feel that they are undertaking a worthwhile role and often move onto paid employment. Befriending may be a useful resource for midwives and ultimately improve pregnancy outcomes for asylum-seeking and refugee women.

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