Master of Arts - Forced Migration Studies / The purpose of this study is to establish the impact of socio-economic interactions between Hutu Burundian refugees (living in Johannesburg) and South African populations on Burundian refugees’ national and ethnic identities. Although this is a case study on Burundian Hutu Refugees in Johannesburg, Rwandan refugees and South Africans were also included for comparative purposes. The snowballing technique was used to identify respondents and in-depth face-to-face interviews were used to collect data. Questions probed respondents’ pre-relocation national and ethnic identity loyalties; the nature and frequency of interactions between them and local populations and other foreign nationals; and the respondents’ current national and ethnic identity loyalties. The study finds that despite regular contact with the host populations, refugee respondents maintained their ethnic and national identities, thus challenging the assumption that to become uprooted and removed from a national territory automatically causes people to lose their identity, traditions, and culture. Further, apart from the adoption of some new situational practices particularly by refugee respondents, the study finds no significant ‘renegotiation’ or ‘contestation’ of group identities in the cosmopolitan Johannesburg as both South Africans and refugees/migrants in the city seem to be firmly holding on to their distinctive identitive ideals. Although not conclusive, the study suggests that the negative nature of interactions between refugees and the host society, which compromises the possibility of assimilation and integration, as well as other internal and external factors such as the refugees’ belief in the temporariness of their situation, may be among important factors that accounted for this maintenance of group identity.

The study is an examination of issues with implementing international law pertaining to refugee children, with particular reference to South Africa. The study provides some selected outcomes with implementation and undertakes an analysis of the factors that influence those outcomes. While South Africa like many other countries provides a comprehensive legal regime in the protection of refugee children, there are still gaps with compliance. Also, whilst the norms of international law demand obedience and compel behaviour, there is no doubt that there still exists some degree of disparity between actual national behaviour and the behaviour prescribed by the rule of international law. If it were possible or meaningful to conduct a quantitative study of obedience to the rules of international law, it might be expected to show that most states obey most agreed rules of international law most of the time. In this particular case study, rules of law are in some instances violated or disregarded but these cases do not in themselves provide evidence that international law is without efficacy in South Africa.

Thesis advisor: David Hollenbach / This dissertation starts by noting a tension in Catholic Social Teaching between the right of certain persons to immigrate, and the right of polities to control their borders, and seeks to find a way to resolve that tension. In a first moment, we ask whether the "right to immigrate" made sense only before the mass international migration movements starting around 1980, and before "globalisation", and whether polities today are morally justified in adopting increasingly harsh immigration restriction measures unilaterally. After rejecting this hypothesis by using an interdisciplinary analysis of the changes in the phenomenon of human mobility in recent decades, we propose another hypothesis to resolve the tension. We claim that the two rights are not "absolute" rights, and must be kept in tension. Which one of them trumps the other in concrete situations is determined partly by a set of (moral) priority rules, and partly through political discernment via fair democratic processes (which are always necessary so as to formulate concrete policies which require the consent of the governed). The rest of this dissertation provides a well-documented argument in favour of this second hypothesis, and in the process, we formulate a number of priority rules which help activists and policy makers, qua citizens and qua Christian disciples, adjudicate between rights claims based on the right to immigrate and the right to political sovereignty. The work also includes a systematic and historical presentation of Catholic Social Teaching on migration, a case study on immigration and emigration in Malta, a diachronic analysis of concepts related to human mobility in the Hebrew Bible, a philosophical reflection on Political Sovereignty in a "globalising" world, and a virtue ethics approach to the notions of solidarity, hospitality and kinship. / Thesis (STD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry. / Discipline: Sacred Theology.

This thesis examines whether and in what ways 'terrorism' has featured in the UK's interpretation of Article 1F, the 'exclusion clause' of the 1951 Refugee Convention, and how the provision is applied to suspected terrorists in the practice of decision makers. This research draws on a number of sources, including Freedom of Information requests, questionnaires and interviews conducted with immigration judges, the Home Office's exclusion unit and legal practitioners. All reported UK cases concerning Article 1F were analysed, as were the Home Office's asylum guidance documents, primary and secondary UK legislation and international legal sources pertaining to exclusion from refugee status. This research therefore provides an unprecedented and thorough analysis of whether and how terrorism is being employed in the interpretation and application of each of the individual limbs of Article 1F. Although there has been a clear governmental and political drive to ensure that refugee status is not granted to terrorists, this research reveals that the predominant practice of both courts and tribunals in the UK and the Home Office's exclusion unit has not been to focus on whether an individual is a 'terrorist', but instead whether they have committed a serious crime within the meaning of Article 1F. Where the term 'terrorism' has been employed, courts and tribunals have looked to international rather than domestic definitions of the term in order to arrive at an 'autonomous meaning'. While there has been an increase in the application of Article 1F in the UK over the last decade, in practice the use of the provision has remained exceptional and appears to be subject to a fair degree of rigour. Nevertheless, a number of recommendations are made by which the quality of decision making could be improved and a greater degree of fairness added to the exclusion process in the UK.

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 paper analyzes how the Trump Administration’s zero-tolerance policy compares with the history of detention and immigration policy within the United States. President Trump believes there is a “border crisis,” wants to deter immigrants from coming to the U.S. and will “do whatever it takes to ensure border security” (Warner, 2018). A 7-year-old girl died in Customs and Border Patrol’s custody on December 7th, 2018. She suffered from dehydration and starvation (Valencia& Boyette 2018). This horrific event, and many other stories prompted me to do this research. In this thesis, I use qualitative and comparative methods of analysis by looking at the rate of immigration along the U.S. southern border under the Obama Administration and the Trump Administration. I unpack why detention is higher today than it was under Obama’s administration without a substantial spike in migration. I discuss how the human rights of these asylum seekers are being violated, in particular society’s most vulnerable social group: children. My thesis asks the question, how has the zero-tolerance policy of the Trump Administration resulted in human rights abuses? Using Foucault’s philosophy of prisons and punishment, this paper argues that the change in border policies since the Trump Administration’s zero-tolerance policy have led to clear human rights abuses, such as child separation, for the purpose of deterring other immigrants from coming to the United States.

The research outlined in this thesis explores the practice of providing humanitarian aid to refugees and displaced persons in Bangladesh. This aid, offered in a limited way by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) is similar to aid provided to refugees in many other parts of the world, however my research reflects the specificities of research in Bangladesh, the particular conditions of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar (Burma) and the practices of aid work in a Muslim-identified aid organization. The purpose of this study was to investigate the strengths and weaknesses of this kind of aid as a response to protracted refugee situations. Rohingya refugees, the recipients of this aid, fled to Bangladesh in successive waves beginning in the 1970s, leaving villages in Myanmar where they faced extreme levels of persecution, violence and discrimination. Although the government of Bangladesh initially welcomed the Rohingya, in subsequent years, the government has sought to return Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. Approximately 28,000 refugees remain in two camps run by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and another approximately 60,000 refugees (without official refugee status) live in camps run by INGOs. The bulk of my fieldwork was conducted conducted between June 2011 and September 2012 using participant observation, interviews and focus groups in one of these INGO-run camps. Other research on humanitarian aid tends to focus on either the practical challenges of aid work or the philosophical and ethical shortcomings of the system. In this thesis, I examine the day-to-day practices of aid workers, the challenges they face, the contributions they make and the conflicts that arise from their work. This dissertation argues that humanitarian intervention, as it is currently practiced in Bangladesh, while marked by inefficiencies, corruption and conflict, does improve the material lives of the refugees it seeks to assist. I also argue that humanitarian aid, as currently practiced, is fundamentally weakened by the premise that humanitarian crises are short term and by the shared understanding that host countries can set absurdly impossible restrictions on refugees and aid workers. One key contribution I make is to examine the experiences of expatriate aid workers, situating their work as migrant laborers who cope with precarity and the instability of humanitarian crises.

Research on the educational and occupational aspirations of U.S. youth born in Africa is not only rare, but some studies have assumed that these immigrants are a monolithic group. However, they differ in experiences according to whether they are refugees, asylum seekers, or voluntary immigrants coming from various countries in Africa. These immigrants also come from different countries with different ethnicities, cultures, religions, and races. This case study makes such a needed distinction based on a small sample of high school students from Northern Sudan who lived in a small Midwest U.S. city. Diversity in ethnicities and cultures not only affects educational and occupational aspirations but also impacts how the aspirations are formed, maintained, and achieved. The Sudanese refugee youth who participated in this study had high educational and occupational aspirations, with all of them aspiring to obtain a college degree and some intending to achieve careers in medicine, dentistry, law, and engineering. These high aspirations were backed by high academic scores. Almost all students in this study came from well-educated families despite their current low socio-economic status (SES). Their current SES and minority status (MS) did not seem to affect their aspirations and academic performance. This study showed that educational and occupational aspirations are formed when students have strong social support from parents, significant others, teachers, peers, and their community, all of whom influence and reward high educational expectations and enforce the students' cultural obligations.

Refugee studies often focus on the devastating effects forced migration can have on a refugee population, both mentally and physically. This research investigates the case of Saharawis living in refugee camps in south-west Algeria and the social change experienced over 30 years. The method was a case study with qualitative interviews supported with secondary data. The Saharawis went through a period of positive social change, to some a revolution, while living in the refugee camps. The empirical study identifies three theme areas; Education, Women??s rights and Democracy. These circumstances are unlike many other refugee studies, thus providing what may be a unique case of positive social change. The case demonstrates how forced migration of a population may not just be a destructive process, but instead has the potential to reconstruct a society. Theories of social change and unanticipated outcomes are explored. Utilising the theories of Bourdieu and Merton, it is proposed that the Saharawi refugee experience is the unanticipated outcome of forced migration. This thesis explores commonalities and differences between Bourdieu??s study of the Kabyle population, and whether his theory of habitus is applicable. Bourdieu??s theories, heavily criticised for being too structuralist, show their limitations when dealing with positive social change. Bourdieu??s approach can suggest that it is inevitable for refugee populations to spiral into despair. The Saharawi case challenges these presumptions and highlights that neither sociologists nor populations should exclude the possibility of unexpected outcomes. Unanticipated outcomes are an acknowledgement of social change and the fact that at its heart no one can predict the future.

This paper describes a Master of Art and Design research project developing a social entrepreneurial design process in fashion. This is a multi method approach focussed upon a Participatory Action Research methodology, to develop creative practice and a relational business model for female refugee outworkers and myself a fashion designer resulting in long term rewarding employment. The project has two primary strands for discussion. Firstly, visual documentation and analysis of textile and garment development incorporating the refugees’ cultural references. Using drawing, embroidery, dyeing and construction skills of the participants in a collaborative design and production process with the researcher, has resulted in the development of a womenswear collection of T shirts. Secondly; the process findings and outcomes of the pilot study which often cross the boundaries of aesthetics, technology, craft, and ethics; drawing together western and developing world cultures in a creative dialogue will be presented. In conclusion, the aims, objectives, outcomes of and potential of this socially sustainable design model, which could be applicable to refugee agencies and New Zealand fashion designers, will be gauged and discussed.