This thesis describes three studies that examined the experiences of foreign-born families staying in the emergency shelter system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In the first study, timeline mapping and qualitative interviews were conducted with 13 Canadian-born and 23 foreign-born homeless families to understand the needs of these families and their pathways into homelessness. In the second study, data were drawn from quantitative interviews with 75 heads of families who were experiencing homelessness in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. This cross-sectional study examined differences in mental and physical health, chronic medical conditions, access to care, unmet healthcare needs, and diagnoses of mental disorders between foreign-born and Canadian-born families. In the third study, in-depth interviews were used to explore the shelter experiences of 16 foreign-born adolescents and young adults (aged 16-21) who were residing in emergency shelters with their families. Overall, findings from the three studies indicated that foreign-born families faced unique challenges before and during their homelessness. Moreover, some of these challenges were associated with adjusting to life in Canada. Challenges, such as staying housed and financially stable were common and led families to require shelter services. However, foreign-born families also reported positive experiences that may buffer some of the negative impacts associated with immigrating to a new country, housing instability, and homelessness. In the first study, more heterogeneity was found in the homeless pathways reported by foreign-born families than by Canadian-born families. The experiences they had prior to homelessness were also different across themes of poverty, health and substance use, interpersonal challenges, victimization, traumatic experiences, and stressful life events. In the second study, foreign-born heads of families reported better mental health and fewer chronic medical conditions than did Canadian-born heads of families with a significantly lower proportion of foreign-born participants reporting having been diagnosed with a mental disorder. In the third study, youth described homeless shelters as stressful environments but also found that the shelters provided support to them and their families. Youth also discussed the various strategies they used to cope with the challenges of shelter life. Findings from the studies suggest that foreign-born families experiencing homelessness are a heterogeneous group with diverse needs and experiences who may require services that differ in type, duration, and intensity than those that may be required by Canadian-born families.

Refugees are once again a major topic of international politics, but one that also reaches down to the local level of even some small, rural American towns. This study pulled data from a qualitative, statewide refugee needs assessment in Utah, funded by the Department of Workforce Services, in order to explore the perceptions of both refugees and refugee employers concerning the variables affecting refugee employability. The data was framed using the concepts of social, cultural, human, and financial capital. In many cases, the refugees and employers perceived the same deficits and stores of capital as important, but there was some disconnect over institutionalized cultural capital, financial capital in the form of government assistance, and external embodied cultural capital. These findings will help increase the sociological knowledge base regarding refugee issues and will lead to future research that can dive deeper into some of the issues that were uncovered.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Film and Video. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 33-34). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL:http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss&rft%5Fval%5Ffmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss:MQ99298

Spiritan Life No. 17 -- April 2008 -- Spiritan Ministry with refugees, displaced peoples and asylum seekers -- CONTENTS -- Introduction, John KINGSTON -- (pg 3) -- DECLARATION ON SPIRITUALITY -- (pg 8) -- A Stop on the way to the "Eldorado" of Europe, Pierre VEAU -- (pg 10) -- Unravelling the socio-political situation in Burundi, Gervais TARATARA -- (pg 15) -- 'REVIVE'in England, Ann-Marie FELL -- (pg 27) -- Relieving migrant isolation and solitude at Nouadhibou, Jerome Otitoyomi DUKIYA -- (pg 32) -- Refugees and Immigrants in Portugal, Jose Reis GASPAR -- (pg 36) -- Hostel Ministry in Durban, Pierre SAKODI SATALA -- (pg 47) -- Services at SPIRASI, Michael BEGLEY -- (pg 50) -- At the service of the dispossessed in Rennes, Michel THOMAS -- (pg 77) -- Serving, accompanying and defending the 'returnees' of Manono, Jean-Pierre ILUNGA -- (pg 80)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2008. Graduate Programme in Sociology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 278-291). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:NR45990

In the wake of massive displacement following World War II, the U.S. Congress passed the first U.S. refugee legislation, the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. In the years following 1948, the U.S. accepted refugees for resettlement through a patchwork of ad hoc policies. The cornerstone of the U.S. refugee resettlement program is the Refugee Act of 1980, the first legislation to define “refugee” and create a uniform procedure for admissions. Three agencies in separate federal agencies process participate in the resettlement program: the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration in the State Department, the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Health and Human Services, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security. Refugee resettlement is further segmented between the federal and local level as local nonprofit agencies provide the direct services associated with resettlement. This report examines the need for reform in the U.S. refugee resettlement program, with a focus on structural concerns. In particular, this report probes the transition from programs providing services overseas to those providing services on the domestic level. This examination is conducted through a literature review developed from recent academic literature. Additionally, the report will incorporate program evaluations, relevant legislation, and regulations from mixed sources, including academic literature, governmental documents and other public records. / text

This case study is designed to answer the question whether refugees can make a positive contribution to host countries, not simply as individual participants in economic activity, but by contributing to welfare. The thesis provides a detailed study of an NGO originally established to provide medical relief for refugees but which now provides basic health care for local people. Since 1995 this NGO has adopted a policy of providing the same basic care to refugees and to people in local Pakistani villages, thus making no distinction between refugees and the residents of a specific geographical area. The case study also shows that an NGO can be an appropriate and effective provider of primary health care (PHC) as promoted by the 1978 Declaration of Alma Ata. The thesis uses several approaches to demonstrate why this happened and how it was achieved. Firstly, it narrates the history over the twenty-year period 1980-2000 of an international health project originally started for a group of Afghan refugees, and its transformation in 1995 into an indigenous Pakistani NGO called “Frontier Primary Health Care (FPHC)”. Secondly, the study explores the theoretical utility and limitations of the PHC strategy generally. Thirdly, the thesis provides an analysis of the extent to which the underlying principles or “pillars” of PHC, that is, participation, inter-sectoral collaboration and equity have affected the process and outcomes of the project. Locating the case study in the Pakistani context provides evidence of the persistent difficulties and shortcomings of official government basic health care in Pakistan, particularly for rural poor people, showing that the field is open for other providers of health care, such as NGOs. The thesis goes on to discuss strengths and weaknesses of NGOs in general, and particularly as health care providers. In investigating characteristics of the NGO sector in Pakistan, the study pays special attention to the discrete health care system for Afghan refugees created in the early 1980s, including its introduction of Community Health Workers. In order to assess the impact of the NGO on people’s health, the study uses data from mother/child health and family planning programmes (as far as available) demonstrating that this NGO is a more effective provider than the other two agencies i.e. the Government of Pakistan and the Afghan Refugee Health Programme. Placing the NGO in this context also shows that it has a better understanding of the underlying “pillars” and has made more determined and effective efforts to implement them, especially in regard to community involvement. It is unusual for a project initially refugee-oriented to have matured sufficiently to be making a contribution, as a matter of formal policy, to basic welfare in the host country, itself a developing country. The study concludes that the significant factors in its success are continuity of leadership; boundaries of population, geography and administration; dependable income and material resources; rigorous supervision; support, but not takeover, by experienced consultants; capacity to use learning to adapt and move on; and sensitivity to local cultural norms. All these have enabled the project to survive and develop as an indigenous autonomous organisation beyond the twenty years covered by the case study. FPHC is still operational in 2004.

In this thesis I describe Khmers' negotiations of circumstances surroundingthe disassembly, reconstruction, and redefinition of Khmer identity fromtheir homeland in Cambodia to a traditional Khmer village recreated in theUnited States. Using a framework derived from a constructivist perspective,I have placed processes of negotiation and identity transformation withinthe lived context of Khmers' lives. Thus, a holistic understanding of theinterrelatedness of multiple changes in Khmerness is made possible.Ethnographic data collected between 1997 and 1999, through participantobservationand interviews, inform this study. Findings from this studyreveal three levels of identity transformation as told by members of a smallKhmer village established along the U. S. Gulf of Mexico. However, thesethree levels of transformation are not mutually exclusive nor are theynecessarily sequential. Each transformation of Khmers' identitiesconstitutes permeable aggregates of other past and continuingdisassemblies, reconstructions and redefinitions of Khmerness. Findingsfrom this study demonstrate that Khmer identity shifts and is transformedby past and present experiences and with their changing circumstances,from endangered Cambodian, to refugees, to re-established Khmers inAmerica.

No description available.

This study examines how the South African Department of Home Affair’s asylum policies, laws, and implementation of those policies speak to South Africa’s commitment (both legally and socially) to protecting human rights. Specifically, this study analyzes the 2017 policy papers, 2017 Amendment to the Refugees Act, and the Director-General’s decision to close the Cape Town Refugee Reception Office.