The UNHCR reports an anticipated growing number of migration movements in Africa that will increase the amount of prolonged refugee situations, with the international debate regarding refugee policies discussing local integration as a durable solution. Local integration policy is dependent on the acceptance and willingness of the host population and can engender tensions between refugees and hosts, which could be a result of their uneven power distribution, with one group possessing more social power, leading to more opportunities in the community. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between refugees and host community in a settlement and seeks to expose any tensions that could arise between the groups from an uneven power distribution by using an analytical framework based on Norbert Elias’ book The Established and the Outsiders, which focuses on community problems between two groups. This thesis draws on a field study of the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in southern Uganda that has a refugee policy partially aimed towards local integration. The data has been collected through semi-structured interviews and observations as part of an ethnographic approach. The interviewed key stakeholders have been refugees and host populations living within the settlement as well as government officials and representatives from international organisations, IGOs and NGOs. Using Elias’ theory as a universal analytical tool showed us that there are established-outsider constellations creating tensions in a community, however these tensions do not fully rely on the qualities of the relationship. Moreover, results from the study indicate that the relationship between nationals and refugees in the settlement and the tensions it fostered are to a very large degree influenced by external factors, more specifically by the Ugandan government and international organisations as well as the complexity of group dimensions and situations, which contributed to a weakened host population.

The aim of Sweden’s refugee settlement policy is that refugees should be offered an             initial place of dwelling in a municipality with available accommodation and a good             labour market within commuting distance. Refugees risk long-run unemployment, if             initially placed in a municipality with bad labour market opportunities (see Edin et             al., 2004 and Åslund et al., 2006). It is therefore important to know to what extent             the state of a municipality’s labour market (and not only availability of apartments)             drives the willingness to receive refugees. No such study has previously been con-             ducted. This paper thus aims to bridge this gap in the research by analyzing data             between 2006-2010 for all 290 Swedish municipalities and their contracts with the             Swedish central government regarding refugee reception. The main findings are,             when accounting for municipality-fixed effects, that neither unemployment nor             available apartments affect the probability of signing a contract. Additional govern-             ment grants, on the other hand, has a positive effect on the likelihood of signing a             contract. Among municipalities which do sign contracts, the agreed number of refu-             gees is negatively affected by higher municipality unemployment and positively             affected by additional available apartments.

The aim of this thesis was to explore the spatiality’s affect on refugee’s sense of safety in the Osire refugee settlement in Namibia. The gathered empirics together with previous research and theories should lead to a design for a spatial information system. The system should contribute to peoples’ understanding of their environments’ whole structure as well as showing the way to the health centre and the police station, thus increasing their sense of psychological and physical safety. A wish was also to breathe life into the point of intersection of spatial information design and human science. The methods used to enable this were first and foremost a field study in the settlement to experience and acquire first-hand information. In addition observation, introspection and several interviews were conducted. As a result I established safety to be an issue that could be solved with spatial design. Refugees expressed that not knowing your environment or finding your way leaves you scared, uncomfortable and confused. With the use of a spatial information system safety can literally be created, as demonstrated in the design proposal. The conclusion is that much could be done to spatially solve complex issues as long as it’s addressed from that perspective.

This thesis investigates two Swedish municipalities that have vocalised a discontent with Sweden’s recent “Settlement Act,” arguing that they would like to receive more refugees than the national policy allows. Making it an interesting case of decision-making processes within governance studies. In the center of this thesis, public officials’ influence in the policy process of migration and refugee settlement is investigated, given that this focus has previously been neglected in studies concerning migration policy. As such, the primary purpose of this study is to describe and analyse how public officials potentially influence the policy process, alongside a secondary task of investigating how municipalities react towards a more restrictive national policy regarding refugee settlement and what governance arrangements this can lead to. The study uses a qualitative research method, drawing upon documents from the municipalities and twelve interviews with both public officials and politicians. The study finds that public officials influence the policy process within two dimensions of power: agenda-setting and decision-making. Furthermore, it is found that local governments react towards the more restrictive national policy with a localist approach, by formulating policies of their own, using “vertical venue shopping” to influence upper levels of government, and arguing that local problems need local solutions. Nonetheless, the thesis demonstrates that these attempts to influence upper levels of government do not succeed, with no signs of the national government changing its policy in response. Thus, it is argued that with specific regards to refugee settlement, it seems as though Swedish policy-making is becoming increasingly top-down, with limited opportunities for local governments to influence national policy.

Background: The study is based in post-apartheid South Africa and looks at the health and well being of households in the rural northeast. Temporary migration remains important in South Africa because it functions as a mainstay for income and even survival of rural communities. The economic base of rural South Africans is surprisingly low because there is high inequity at a national level, within and between racial groups. There has now been a democratic system in place for 15 years and there is no longer restriction of mobility, but there remain high levels of poverty in rural areas and rising mortality rates. Migration patterns did not change after apartheid in the manner expected. We need to examine consequences of migration and learn how to offset negative impacts with targeted policies. Aims: To determine a relevant typology of migration in a typical rural sending community, namely the Agincourt sub-district of Mpumalanga, South Africa, and relate it to the urban transition at a national level – Paper (I) . To evaluate the dynamics of socio-economic status in this rural community and examine the relationship with migration – Paper (II). To explore, using longitudinal methods, the impact of migration on key dimensions of health, including adult and child mortality, and sexual partnerships, over a period of an emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic – Papers (III), (IV) and (V). Methods: The health and socio-demographic surveillance system (HDSS) is a large open cohort where the migration dynamics are monitored as they unfold. They are recorded as temporary or permanent migration. Settled refugees are captured using nationality on entry into the HDSS. Longitudinal methods, namely a household panel and two discrete time event history analyses, are used to examine consequences of migration. Results: Migration features prominently and different types have different age and sex profiles. Temporary migration impacts the most on socio-economic status (SES) and health, but permanent migration and the settlement of former refugees are also important. Remittances from migrants make a significant difference to SES. For the poorest households the key factors improving SES are government grants and female temporary migration, while for less poor it is male temporary migration and local employment. Migration has been associated with HIV. Migrants that return more frequently may be less exposed to outside partners and therefore less implicated in the HIV epidemic. There are links between migration and mortality including a higher risk of dying for returnee migrants compared to permanent residents. A mother’s migration can impact on child survival after accounting for other factors. There remains a higher mortality risk for children of Mozambican former refugee parents. Interpretation: Migration changes the risks and resources for health with positive and negative implications. Measures such as improved transportation and roads should be seen as a positive, not a negative intervention, even though it will create more migration. Health services need to adapt to a reality of high levels of circular migration ranging from budget allocation to referral systems. Data should be enhanced at a national level by accounting for temporary migration in national censuses and surveys. At individual level we can offset negative consequences by treating migrants as persons striving against adversity, instead of unwelcome visitors in our better-off communities.

The main purpose of this thesis is to test a communications solution for the second to largest refugee settlement in the world, Bidi Bidi. A solution where it is possible to inform the refugees with necessary information, for example that the water at a specific location is currently contaminated or that food is provided at another location. The idea is to use nRF24L01+ modules which operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency band and send information through various ways. This includes turning LEDs' on and off, sending text Strings and streaming audio. The results showed that the modules are too unreliable for a refugee settlement. They also showed that it is not possible to send other types' of data while streaming audio, but there could be workarounds. It is clear that more knowledge and further investigations are needed.

Sweden, like Europe, has had an increased influx of people seeking asylum in recent years, instigating restrictive measures within the Swedish asylum regime. Simultaneously as the sustainability of settlement and housing policies for people seeking asylum has been the subject of large political debate, restrictive methods such as a minimum rights approach has been adopted, putting the Swedish asylum regime at the edge of the European Convention. In 2019, 25 years after its implementation, Sweden’s refugee reception system was amended. As of then, people seeking asylum who choose their own housing (EBO) in certain municipalities over assigned housing in accommodation facilities (ABO) are no longer entitled to state subsidies. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s discourse theory and Carol Bacchi’s policy analysis, What’s the Problem Represented to be, this thesis examines how the political discourse on refugee reception and EBO settlement has changed from the implementation of the LMA Act in 1994 to its amendment in 2019 by observing how the motifs of the implementation and amendment have been expressed, what underlying presumptions or assumptions such expressions hold, and what effects such discourse has. The study shows a discursive shift represented in the political discourse, portraying EBO settlement as contributing to societal degradation and in need of restrictions through reprisals. The main findings show that the discourse constructs an imagery of people seeking asylum as responsible for, and a threat to, Swedish welfare and societal structure. Moreover, the analysis displays a conceptualization of social sustainability as a matter of meeting the interest of the state, rather than the needs of the individual. In sum the study contributes in part to a deeper understanding of how political discourses shape the knowledge and conceptualization of people seeking asylum, the restrictive trajectory of Swedish asylum policy, and highlights the consequences of restrictive state bureaucracies for people seeking protection within Swedish borders.

This thesis investigates young refugee women’s experience of the process of seeking access to justice for cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda. A Human Rights-based Approach (HRBA) is chosen as an analytical framework to help conceptualise access to justice and to recognise Uganda’s commitment to refugees. A qualitative explanatory approach follows the narrative of Burundian and Congolese women.    Findings show that Nakivale refugee settlement has an overwhelming demand for legal services and support. Refugee women can raise a claim for justice through the established administrative structures in place within the settlement. All refugee women were aware of their entitlements to a remedy and on the process of reporting SGBV. Yet, the analysis shows that none of the SGBV-survivors of rape or sexual exploitation was able to have access to justice. Several barriers were brought forward, such as corruption among refugee welfare committees; limited staff and resources among partner organisations; a bureaucratic referral system; poor police investigations and an inability to persecute perpetrators. The consequences without effective and timely remedies led the interviewed women into further poverty and a continuation of violence and abuse.   This thesis concludes that Refugee Welfare Committees have to be attributed to some sort of compensation as validation for their work as justice providers to mitigate corruption among their leaders. Further research is encouraged to look into possibilities of extending the mandate and training for Refugee Welfare Committees, for refugee-based structures to be able to handle cases of SGBV.

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)

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)