Magister Artium - MA (Anthropology/Sociology) / This study examines the fears of Rwandan army deserters who oppose President Kagame, of being found by the External Security Organisation (ESO), a Rwandan spy organisation meant to sniff them out wherever they are in exile: in this case Cape Town, South Africa. The army deserters are perceived as both a political and military threat to the survival of President Kagame. I argue that the fear of being hunted is a real threat which (re)produces 'militarised identities' as these former soldiers employ their military training skills to hide from the ESO in South Africa. In this I employ Foucault's (1977) concept of 'panopticism' to examine these army deserters' experiences of surveillance by the ESO and also Vigh's (2006) concept of 'social navigation' to understand how the army deserters 'scan' and manoeuvre the exile terrain. In substantiating the thesis argument, my study draws from six in-depth interviews and conversations with Rwandan army deserters living in Cape Town. It also made use of thematic analysis, drawing themes from the data on which it is based.

Adolescence can be a difficult time for youth, and several additional factors intensify the stress and risk associated with adolescence for refugee youth. Refugee adolescents, for example, often have to learn and speak different languages in different contexts, establish new peer relationships, and adjust to new cultural norms. It is important to understand how such cultural negotiations influence refugee youth's educational experiences because improved educational outcomes for youth are associated with improved health outcomes. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to explore the relationships between peer connectedness, parental monitoring, academic self-efficacy, educational barriers, and school engagement with a sample of refugee adolescents. Research hypotheses were tested using exploratory factor analysis and bivariate correlational, multiple regression, and MANOVA analyses. Data were collected from a sample of 120 refugee adolescent participants who were between 13-18 years old and arrived in the United States from Bhutan, Burma, Somalia, Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, or Iraq. Refugee adolescent participants and their families were recruited from Ecumenical Refugee and Immigrant Services (ERIS) and the African Community Center (ACC), which are refugee resettlement agencies located in Denver, Colorado. Language interpreters were recruited to assist with communication during data collection. Study findings showed that (a) a significant amount of variance in academic self-efficacy was uniquely accounted for by participants' educational barriers, school engagement, and parental monitoring, (b) a significant amount of variance in educational barriers was uniquely accounted for by ethnically similar peer connectedness, ethnically dissimilar peer connectedness, academic self-efficacy, and school engagement, (c) peer connectedness and educational barriers were positively, rather than inversely, correlated, (d) a significant amount of variance in school engagement was accounted for by educational barriers and academic self-efficacy, and (e) group differences in the level of relationships between variables were found as a function of current geographic location. Research implications include re-evaluating the use of negatively-worded and confusing items within the measures and collaborating with community partners when working with vulnerable populations. Practice implications include involving parents to decrease educational barriers through collaboration and providing educational support to foster success within the school and community.

This thesis project focused on exploring protracted impediments among Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and examined the varying perspectives among stakeholders in the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon, looking at the international significance of their current public discourse and its consequent implications. This project was conducted with the purpose of contributing to the existing literature, but most importantly, it was conducted with the hopes of contributing to the stabilization phase being carried out by several organizational partnerships on the ground by providing relevant information focused on sustainability, capacity building and nonsectarian approaches. Notably, this project hopes to expose impediments in overlooked unofficial settlements in the Tamnine el Fawka Area, settlement #53415-01-007 and settlement #53415-01-011 in the Beqaa Valley Province, Lebanon. The information collected in this project was obtained through interviews, focus groups and an extensive observation process for four months throughout Lebanese territory. Funded by the UO Sandra Morgen Fellowship.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar boas práticas trazidas pela doutrina internacional durante o processo de solicitação de refúgio em razão de orientação sexual e/ou identidade de gênero a fim de recomendação de aplicação das mesmas no Brasil. Inaugura-se o trabalho realizando uma revisão histórica do instituto do refúgio bem com sua internalização no Brasil através da Lei 9.474/07. Além disso, o estudo a explorar como se dá a caracterização da perseguição para esse tipo de refúgio. Costura-se, por meio dos critérios de concessão de refúgio por grupo social, religião e opinião política o embasamento das decisões que vem concedendo refúgio LGBTI. Na análise da valoração das narrativas e situações imperantes sobre a situação de lésbicas, gays, bissexuais, trans e intersex no país de origem, busca-se práticas que não violem direitos humanos e garantam direitos. Utilizou-se para tanto do método de pesquisa bibliográfico, buscando-se na doutrina internacional e nacional práticas que possam vir a garantir direitos durante o processo de solicitação de refúgio. Obteve-se como resultado a estruturação de boas práticas utilizadas em outros países. Concluiu-se através do presente trabalho que o processo de refúgio por razão de perseguição por orientação sexual e/ou identidade de gênero possui atravessamentos de diversas ordens e enfrenta desafios que merecem aprofundamentos teóricos e empíricos sobre como se dá a declaração do status de refugiado. / This work aims to analyze good practices brought by international doctrine during the process of requesting refugee’s status based on sexual orientation and / or gender identity in order to recommend their application in Brazil. The work is inaugurated by carrying out a historical review of the refuge institute and its internalization in Brazil through Law 9.474 / 07. In addition, the study explore how the characterization of persecution for this type of refuge occurs. Through the criteria of granting refuge by social group, religion and political opinion, the bases of the decisions that have been granting LGBTI refuge are sewn. In the analysis of the assessment of the narratives and situations prevailing on the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex in the country of origin, practices are sought that do not violate human rights and guarantee rights. It was used for both the method of bibliographic research, researching in international and national doctrine practices that may guarantee rights during the process of requesting refuge. As a result, the structuring of good practices used in other countries has been summarized. It was concluded through the present work that the process of refuge due to persecution due to sexual orientation and / or gender identity has crosses of several orders and faces challenges that deserve theoretical and empirical deepening on how the declaration of refugee status is given.

abstract: In the early-twentieth-century United States, Jewish and European immigrant scholars, musicians, and composers dominated the academic, orchestral, film and popular music scenes. While some of these musicians immigrated voluntarily, others, having fled the genocide of the Holocaust, were forced into exile due to religious and political persecution. Musicians were often targeted by the Nazi regime for performing and advancing banned music, composing modernist works, or for their religious or political beliefs. The United States upheld strict, pre-World War Two immigration quotas and laws that limited relocation. Specialized rescue agencies arose to help these exiles settle in the United States. Meanwhile in 1924, American composer Mark Brunswick (1902-1971) moved to Europe and later studied with Nadia Boulanger. He found his niche among members of the Second Viennese School. Brunswick returned to the United States in 1938 and founded the National Committee for Refugee Musicians (NCRM), originally called the Placement Committee for German and Austrian Musicians, to aid in the relocation and job placement of at-risk musicians and their families during World War Two. This thesis briefly explores Brunswick’s life, and then more closely addresses the formation of the NCRM, its members, those who received aid, and partnering organizations. Finally, cases in point illustrate the varied ways in which the NCRM helped musicians in exile. Brunswick and the Committee played a major role in American musical history, yet no major studies have focused on them. With the NCRM’s assistance, many refugees thrived in and contributed to America’s musical landscape. By exploring letters, memoranda, and other unpublished archival documents, I will show how Brunswick and the NCRM affected U.S. musical life beginning in the 1930s. The positive effects of this germinal group endure today. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Music 2015

Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar boas práticas trazidas pela doutrina internacional durante o processo de solicitação de refúgio em razão de orientação sexual e/ou identidade de gênero a fim de recomendação de aplicação das mesmas no Brasil. Inaugura-se o trabalho realizando uma revisão histórica do instituto do refúgio bem com sua internalização no Brasil através da Lei 9.474/07. Além disso, o estudo a explorar como se dá a caracterização da perseguição para esse tipo de refúgio. Costura-se, por meio dos critérios de concessão de refúgio por grupo social, religião e opinião política o embasamento das decisões que vem concedendo refúgio LGBTI. Na análise da valoração das narrativas e situações imperantes sobre a situação de lésbicas, gays, bissexuais, trans e intersex no país de origem, busca-se práticas que não violem direitos humanos e garantam direitos. Utilizou-se para tanto do método de pesquisa bibliográfico, buscando-se na doutrina internacional e nacional práticas que possam vir a garantir direitos durante o processo de solicitação de refúgio. Obteve-se como resultado a estruturação de boas práticas utilizadas em outros países. Concluiu-se através do presente trabalho que o processo de refúgio por razão de perseguição por orientação sexual e/ou identidade de gênero possui atravessamentos de diversas ordens e enfrenta desafios que merecem aprofundamentos teóricos e empíricos sobre como se dá a declaração do status de refugiado. / This work aims to analyze good practices brought by international doctrine during the process of requesting refugee’s status based on sexual orientation and / or gender identity in order to recommend their application in Brazil. The work is inaugurated by carrying out a historical review of the refuge institute and its internalization in Brazil through Law 9.474 / 07. In addition, the study explore how the characterization of persecution for this type of refuge occurs. Through the criteria of granting refuge by social group, religion and political opinion, the bases of the decisions that have been granting LGBTI refuge are sewn. In the analysis of the assessment of the narratives and situations prevailing on the situation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex in the country of origin, practices are sought that do not violate human rights and guarantee rights. It was used for both the method of bibliographic research, researching in international and national doctrine practices that may guarantee rights during the process of requesting refuge. As a result, the structuring of good practices used in other countries has been summarized. It was concluded through the present work that the process of refuge due to persecution due to sexual orientation and / or gender identity has crosses of several orders and faces challenges that deserve theoretical and empirical deepening on how the declaration of refugee status is given.

This dissertation explores narratives that emerge from a community-museum collaboration while working with refugees in relation to Trinh T. Minh-ha’s (2011) concept of the boundary event. Within this study the boundary event is explored as moments of overlap where identity, experiences, knowledge, and processes are continuously being negotiated; by embracing or leaning into these moments, community-museum programs can develop multivocal narratives—where no single voice is heard as distinctly clear or separate. These co-created museum narratives stand in contrast to educational and engagement strategies that aim to instill knowledge and elevate community with the museum as the expert. In this dissertation 16 participant voices– of 15 refugees and one museum educator– mingle, coalesce, and complicate museum narratives. These narratives are participant-created (data presentation) as well as researcher-constructed (analysis and interpretation). Using the methodological lens of narrative inquiry and decolonization I investigated data collected from over a two-year period (summer 2013-summer 2015) including: content and wall labels collected from two exhibitions, one marks the beginning of the study in 2013 and the second in 2015 concludes the study; gallery activities collected over the course of the two-year study; and educator field notes from the 28 individual sessions. Ultimately, I argue that multivocal narratives, and embracing moments defined as the boundary event, complicate traditional hierarchy and expected stories of refugees and new migrants illustrating how difference can positively disrupt linear, static, and authoritative institutional narratives.

Master of Public Health - MPH / The worsening humanitarian situation in Angola and the great lakes due to protracted wars, led to an influx of refugees in Namibia since 1992. The peak of the influx was between 1999-2002 when the camp population reached 25,000 people. Among the many challenges faced by these refugees was their health and nutrition. Malnutrition accounted for high levels of morbidity and mortality among the refugees. This study covered a review of health and nutritional situation of children less than five years of age in Osire refugee camp. It proposed that prevalence of malnutrition among this age group is a proxy for the nutritional status of the refugee population. It also considered the factors prevalent in the camp that affect the nutrition of the children. / South Africa

Abstract Women claiming refugee status in Canada must demonstrate to the Immigration and Refugee Board [IRB] that their claim is valid and plausible. Canada’s legislative framework acknowledges that gender-related persecution can qualify as a ground for refugee status under the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees [Refugee Convention]. Specifically, the IRB’s Chairperson’s Guideline 4 – Women Refugee Claimants Fearing Gender-Related Persecution [Gender Guidelines] assist IRB decision-makers in deciding gender-related refugee claims by offering options for procedural accommodation and analytical guidance in the evaluation of gender-related claims. The Gender Guidelines aim to ensure decision-makers have “the degree of knowledge, understanding, and sensitivity” needed to make a “fair and correct judgment” of gender-related claims (Griffith v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1999] FCJ No 1142 (QL)). The purpose of this research is to critically examine the use of the Gender Guidelines in IRB decisions on gender-related refugee claims and Federal Court judicial reviews of those claims. Looking at 166 Federal Court of Canada judicial reviews of gender-related claims of persecution previously rejected at the IRB level from 2003 to 2013, I used a grounded theory methodological basis and content analysis approach informed by Michel Foucault’s insights on power relationships and Judith Butler’s insights on performativity to examine discursive deployment of gender in refugee determinations through the treatment of the Gender Guidelines. I examined four legal standards used in these judicial reviews of gender-related claim determination—credibility assessments, plausibility assessments, availability of state protection, and the availability of an internal flight alternative [IFA]. I analyzed the application of these standards and looked at how variables such as country of origin or type of persecution or extrajudicial factors such as Canadian political discourse and rigid understandings of gender identity result in inconsistent application of the Gender Guidelines, thereby violating women refugee claimants’ right to procedural fairness. Several recommendations are made for changes at both the IRB and Federal Court level to correct identified barriers and to ensure all claims related to gender-related persecution have a full and fair opportunity to provide evidence and have it considered on its merits.

Thesis advisor: Gabrielle Oliveira / While the current refugee crisis is the result of various factors, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) remains a significant issue for refugee women. This particular thesis is an applied perspective on the socioecological approach and feminist constructivist theoretical orientation to mental health and psychosocial service provision for refugee women survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. The findings are an analytical stand based upon four interviews conducted with mental healthcare providers working among Maine’s population of recent-arrival refugees from Central/Eastern Africa, as well as a comprehensive literature review on refugee mental health and sexual and genderbased violence theory. It argues that, vis-a-vis these frameworks, care providers can best account for the intersectional identities of the immigrant woman, as well as the collective identity of the culture in which she is situated, both ethnographically via the country of origin, and physically within the resettlement society. The interviews were each individually coded and aggregated into three thematic concentrations spanning a descriptive discussion of cultural differences in perceptions of mental health, a reflection from practitioners regarding the needs for furthering the field, and an inquiry into the macro-level barriers to care. The resulting qualitative evidence from the interviews supports the aforementioned orientations to care and, therefore, illustrates a strong case for culturally-competent applied psychology as a means for both individual and communal healing. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: International Studies.