Meaning or Measurement? Researching the Social Contexts of Health and Settlement among Newly-arrived Refugee Youth in Melbourne, Australia

What are the most appropriate methodological approaches forresearching the psychosocial determinants of health and wellbeingamong young people from refugee backgrounds over the resettlementperiod? What kinds of research models can involve young peoplein meaningful reflections on their lives and futures while simultaneouslyyielding valid data to inform services and policy? This paperreports on the methods developed for a longitudinal study ofhealth and wellbeing among young people from refugee backgroundsin Melbourne, Australia. The study involves 100 newly-arrivedyoung people 12 to 18 years of age, and employs a combinationof qualitative and quantitative methods implemented as a seriesof activities carried out by participants in personalized settlementjournals. This paper highlights the need to think outside thebox of traditional qualitative and/or quantitative approachesfor social research into refugee youth health and illustrateshow integrated approaches can produce information that is meaningfulto policy makers, service providers and to the young peoplethemselves.     

Contemporary Prevalence and Prevention of Micronutrient Deficiencies in Refugee Settings Worldwide

Scant research has been conducted that systematically evaluatesinterventions to reduce micronutrient deficiencies in refugeepopulations, despite documentation of considerable prevalenceand continued outbreaks of micronutrient deficiency among thesepopulations. Refugees are especially at-risk for micronutrientdeficiency given their circumstances of origin, current residentialenvironment, and typical dependence upon food aid. Interventionspromoting reduction of micronutrient deficiency in refugee settings,including food fortification and dietary diversification, arerarely systematically evaluated for impact in reducing micronutrientdeficiency in refugee populations. As a result, little is knownabout the most effective prevention strategies for reductionof micronutrient deficiency in refugees. In fact, evidence suggestsperhaps that nutritional interventions with demonstrated effectivenessin other populations and locales may not be readily adaptableto refugee situations. Sustainable prevention interventionsaimed at reducing micronutrient deficiency in refugee populationsneed to be implemented and tested systematically to create anevidence base for good practice.     

Theoretical and Methodological Challenges of Studying Refugee Children in the Middle East and North Africa: Young Palestinian, Afghan and Sahrawi Refugees

This article aims to address a number of conceptual and methodologicalchallenges facing the study of young refugees. Much of the researchon refugees has, until recently, been focused on adults, andto a lesser degree, on young children. Those studies that doinclude children are largely carried out in the domain of psychologyand psychiatry and tend to pathologize and individualize. Thisarticle is based on observations derived from a six-year, multi-disciplinaryanthropological and participatory research programme that examinedthe impact of forced migration on young people in the MiddleEast and North Africa: Palestinian refugee youth in Lebanon,Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza, Sahrawi youth in Algeria,and Afghan youth in Iran. It argues that despite the challenges,an anthropological and participatory approach contributes toa greater, more holistic understanding of refugee youth.     

Democratic engagement in the digital age: youth,social media and participatory politics in Kenya

As the communication world becomes more complex and participatory, social networking sites (SNSs) have emerged as a platform with the potential to invigorate democracy and political engagement. However, the value of SNSs in politics remains contested among researchers. The study reported on in this article was based on a survey of 600 university students, aged between18 and 35, to examine the relationship between social media use and political engagement among the youth in Kenya. The study focused on the extent to which SNSs facilitate consumption of political information and the role of SNSs in influencing political interest, knowledge and behaviour among the youth. The study found that reliance on SNSs is positively associated with political participation; however, this influence is limited, and though useful, it does not radically transform political engagement. Therefore, the capacity of SNSs to shape opinion and influence political preferences is limited but internet based political activities like posting and distributing campaign information and consumption of political content have a bearing on political participation. The study concluded that while SNSs do not seem to have a major direct impact on political choices among users, politicians and other campaign actors cannot ignore the opportunity provided by these platforms in the voter mobilisation process.     

Gender Relations in a Refugee Camp: A Case of Chechens Seeking Asylum in the Czech Republic

This article aims to give an account of how refugees' familyrelations are constructed in exile. It is based on fieldworkconducted among Chechen asylum seekers living in a refugee campin the Czech Republic in April 2004. It argues that althoughtraditional norms defining women's and men's position in Chechenfamilies have often been transgressed in the actual experiencesof men and women in situations of emergency such as war, flightand life in the camp, they remain relatively unchanged at thelevel of refugees' ideal notions of femininity and masculinity.It also shows that the environment of the refugee camp provides,on the one hand, some opportunities for the increase of women'spower in the family and men's involvement in childcare and householdduties. But on the other hand, the assistance in the camp isbased on an undiversified and gender-blind perception and constructionof refugees as passive objects of aid, and latently sustainsgendered violence.     

Frontier Justice: Legal Aid and UNHCR Refugee Status Determination in Egypt

Where UNHCR conducts refugee status determination (RSD), itsreactions to legal aid for asylum-seekers have been mixed. Statisticalevidence collected from Egypt in 2002 indicates a correlationbetween receiving some form of legal aid service and an asylum-seeker'sincreased chances of gaining refugee protection from UNHCR.Unconventional forms of legal aid, including limited servicesby supervised non-lawyers (including volunteers from the refugeecommunity) showed a positive impact on first instance cases,while traditional legal aid models showed an impact at the appealstage. Legal aid should form an essential part of UNHCR's RSDprocedures, and NGOs should work to expand both traditionaland innovative forms of legal aid for asylum-seekers.     

Youth employment and post-war development in Jaffna,northern Sri Lanka

Jaffna District in northern Sri Lanka has recently emerged from three decades of violence and isolation, leading to a diverse array of political, social and economic issues. This article critically analyses the links between youth employment and the post-war reconstruction and development of this region. Unemployment among youth is regarded as a potential threat to the stability of the country during the post-war period, and it is argued that only through the active engagement of Sri Lanka’s youth population can the threat of a resurgence in violence be fully eliminated. The article, which is based on recent field research, examines the extent of youth unemployment within Jaffna District, and considers how government, non-government and community-based actors are working together to solve related problems.     

UNRWA’s First Years, 1949–1951: The Anatomy of Failed Expectations

The birth of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Near East Refugees (UNRWA) in 1949 represented the culmination of two years of international diplomacy to solve the Palestinian refugee problem. The United States, Britain, and the international community not only sought an agency to take charge of refugee relief, but also envisaged a body to facilitate direct programmes for public works to wean the refugees away from aid dependency whilst also contributing to the economic productivity of host Arab nations. It was hoped this would support the refugees on a self-sustaining basis and even lead to their re-settlement and re-integration into the region. This analysis examines how and why Britain, the United States, and international bodies established UNRWA and identifies why UNRWA, by 1951, was unable to fulfil the task for which it was initially conceived.     

Indigenous NGOs and refugee assistance

Although well placed to render assistance to refugees, indigenous NGOs usually play only a marginal role, compared with the Northern NGOs which dominate most humanitarian aid programmes. The unbalanced power relations between Northern agencies and donors and Southern NGOs in the delivery of refugee assistance are reviewed. Using data from the assistance programmes for Mozambican refugees in Malawi and Zimbabwe, the strategies and conditions by which some indigenous NGOs successfully challenged this prevailing situation are examined. Factors considered to be significant are institution building; diversifying the donor-base; project design and development; and the skills and expertise of field directors. The broader applicability of these experiences is considered.     

Refugee Flows,Ethnic Power Relations,and the Spread of Conflict

Why do some refugee flows cause conflict in the host state and others do not? Drawing on bargaining models of war, I argue refugees are especially likely to cause conflict when they alter the host state's ethnic balance of power. More specifically, I explain why multiple informational and commitment problems arise when refugee flows produce a rapid shift in relative power between ethnic groups. As an empirical strategy, I examine a unique controlled comparison made possible by the influx of Kosovar refugees into Albania and Macedonia in 1999 that eliminates over a dozen competing explanations for civil conflict. I then use process tracing to demonstrate how a change in relative power between ethnic groups fostered violence in Macedonia, whereas the preservation of the ethnic balance facilitated a peaceful refugee flow into Albania. This evidence, though tentative, indicates that a refugee flow's effect on the host state's ethnic balance of power can help explain whether the state experiences peace or conflict.     

Radicalism of the Hopeless: Refugee Flows and Transnational Terrorism

We examine whether refugee flows increase transnational terrorism in states to which refugees flee. Recent studies find that refugee flows contribute to the spread of interstate and civil war, but to a far lesser extent have studies examined how refugee flows could lead to other forms of political violence. We discuss two ways in which refugee flows can lead to transnational terrorism: how conditions in camps contribute to the radicalization of refugees; and how poorly host states treat refugees. We then conduct empirical tests using data on worldwide international refugee flows and transnational terrorism. Specifically, we model the effect of refugee flows on transnational terror attacks within a directed dyad framework to account for characteristics of origin and host states. Using a rare-events logit model, along with count models to check robustness, we find that refugee flows significantly increase the likelihood and counts of transnational terrorist attacks that occur in the host country, even when controlling for other variables. Given the prominence of refugee flows and populations worldwide, the results suggest that states with significant refugee populations and the international community at large should take measures to address the conditions in refugee camps, as well as the treatment of refugees by host states in order to prevent transnational terrorism.     

Collective memory in Germany and the great foreign policy debate: the case of the European refugee crisis

Abstract

Embedded within the wider normalization–continuity debate about the nature of Germany’s actorness, this article assesses the impact of collective memory on German foreign policy during the European refugee crisis. The Federal Republic’s open-door policy in autumn 2015 bewildered many observers who saw it as a self-harming act of charity. Based on a three-stage empirical framework, the article argues that Germany’s initial behaviour cannot be understood without accounting for the influence that collective memory still exerts in Germany today. The open-door policy was irreconcilable with Germany’s immediate material interests, but instead shaped by collective memory-inspired humanitarian and European principles. This conclusion challenges the growing consensus among students of German foreign policy that Germany is becoming a normal actor which has freed itself from the constraints of the past and behaves in congruence with its material interests. This article seeks to make a timely contribution to the knowledge about collective memory in international relations, Germany’s foreign policy in the specific as well as wider context, and the dynamics of the European refugee crisis.     

Analysing cultural proximity: Islamic Relief Worldwide and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

Based on fieldwork carried out on Islamic Relief's relief programme for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, this article contributes to the debate on whether Muslim aid agencies bring added value when working with Muslim beneficiaries in Muslim areas. The author explores the significance of religion in relations between actors in the aid process and argues that a common religion does not necessarily override political, social, and cultural divisions. The article questions whether it is useful to claim that Muslim solidarity exists in the aid process when in practice it is difficult to have any meaningful engagement with religion in the field.     

Refugee repatriation during conflict: Protection and post-return assistance

This article reports on the findings of the International Study of Spontaneous Voluntary Repatriation, begun by the authors in 1986, and involving case studies on return to countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It discusses the lack of recognition in both policy and practice of the pervasiveness of refugee-induced repatriation, and of repatriation during conflict; and offers new assumptions regarding the pattern and process of contemporary repatriation and of refugee decision-making. Lastly, it examines some repatriation issues for the 1990s: fragile peace and tenuous security; protection of the voluntary nature of return; dealing with non-recognised entities; and post-return assistance, particularly the need to focus on rehabilitation before development and to provide refugee-centred aid.     

Political Context and the Consequences of Naming and Shaming for Human Rights Abuse

Does being named and shamed for human rights abuse influence the amount of foreign aid received by the shamed state? Recent research suggests that the impact of public censure may depend on the political relationship between donor and recipient. We argue that donors deriving a direct political benefit from the aid relationship (such as a military advantage or the satisfaction of a domestic political audience) will ignore or work against condemnation, but donors with little political interest in the recipient (who give aid for symbolic or humanitarian reasons) will punish condemned states. We also argue that the size of prior aid packages can be used as a holistic measure of the donor’s political interest in the aid relationship because mutually beneficial aid packages are subject to a bargaining process that favors recipients with more to offer. We find that condemnation for human rights abuse by the United Nations is associated with lower bilateral aid levels among states that previously received small aid package, and with equal or higher bilateral aid to states already receiving a great deal of aid. The source of shaming also matters: We find that public shaming by human rights NGOs is not associated with decreased aggregate bilateral aid.     

The Rise of the Far Right in Europe and the Refugee Crisis

The rise of the far right in Europe has captured the attention of the international community in recent years.Its specific features are:an unprecedentedly strong influence,an obvious trend towards the moderate line,horizontal collaboration to expand its reach,and a very adept use of social media networks.The refugee crisis has given the far right an historical opportunity.The rise has also had a profound effect on European politics;it has deepened the political divide inside EU member states,and shaken up the traditional political values and the foundation of the union.The rise of the far right will likely not change Europe's political landscape,but problems of EU governance over its handling of the refugee crisis cannot be ignored.     

De-Europeanization by Default? Germany's EU Policy in Defense and Asylum

Since the end of the Cold War and unification, Germany's policy toward and within the European Union (EU) has undergone significant changes. Once a model "Europeanist," Germany has become increasingly reluctant to support the progressive implementation of key projects of European integration. Neither an instance of a planned strategic change nor a result of an inevitable adaptation to structural shifts at the systemic level, these changes in German foreign policy, incremental yet significant as they are, evade both deterministic and voluntaristic accounts of foreign policy change. Integrating insights from foreign policy analysis, integration theory, and social theory, the article develops an innovative framework for analysis that is applied to Germany's European asylum and refugee policy as well as its security and defense policy. The origins of both policy fields at the European level can be traced back to initiatives that were supported by or even originated in Germany. However, as the 1990s progressed Germany increasingly obstructed further institutionalization. While in the field of asylum and refugee policy the Amsterdam summit marks a clear turning point in Germany's position, the transformation of German policies on European security and defense proceeded rather as an incremental decrease in material support, aggravating substantive progress in the policy field more broadly. An unanticipated consequence of earlier initiatives, in both cases Germany has found it increasingly difficult to live up to the expectations it has helped to raise.     

Neville Bolt. The Violent Image: Insurgent Propaganda and the New Revolutionaries.

This article examines key setting events and personal factors that are associated with support for either non-violent activism or violent activism among Somali refugee young adults in the United States. Specifically, this article examines the associations of trauma, stress, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), posttraumatic growth (PTG), strength of social bonds, and attitudes towards legal and non-violent vs. illegal and violent activism. Structured interviews were conducted with a sample of Somali refugee males ages 18–25 living in the northeastern United States (N = 79). Data were analyzed using multiple linear regressions and path analysis. Greater exposure to personal trauma was associated with greater openness to illegal and violent activism. PTSD symptoms mediated this association. Strong social bonds to both community and society moderated this association, with trauma being more strongly associated with openness to illegal and violent activism among those who reported weaker social bonds. Greater exposure to trauma, PTG, and stronger social bonds were all associated with greater openness to legal non-violent activism.     

Youth participation in society

Due to economic and social changes in societies of Europe and Asia, youth is hard to capture as a group. While the previous generation had a rather linear life with the different stages following each other: school, university, work, family… it is becoming more confused nowadays for the new generation. Young people can be at the same time, student, parents, workers, unemployed… The transition leading to the stage of being settled in life is lasting longer. How successful this transition is, is matter of the various youth policies implemented in European and Asian countries. Young people relationship towards society is problematic. Both in Asia and Europe young people are trapped in the paradigm of being portrayed either as trouble-makers with an emphasis of youth problems such as drugs, violence… or as a new generation of leaders capable of major changes for the future which assumes that young people are not making any contribution to their community yet. This paper addresses the issue of youth participation and contribution to society in the two regions. It will discuss first the different concept of youth that influence the formulation of youth policies by European and Asian states. Secondly, economic and social changes that directly impact on young people’s life will compliment the discussion on youth policy to draw a comprehensive picture of the state of youth. Thirdly the paper will refer to an alternative approach—the ‘positive youth development’ approach—of viewing youth participation to society. To respond to the problematic relationship of youth towards society, this paper argues that there is a need for reconsidering youth contribution and for viewing it as an on-going process of self development rather than as an outcome. Such an approach implies to view young people experiences and initiatives with an holistic lens and to recognize it as a learning process, part of the broader individual development process of youth.

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Community rehabilitation workers as catalysts for disability: inclusive youth development through service learning

This paper explores access to health and education for disabled youth in sites with and without community rehabilitation workers (CRWs). A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was undertaken in nine sites in South Africa, and a snowball sample of 523 disabled youths of both sexes, aged between 18 and 35 years, was selected. The survey found that a significantly larger proportion of disabled youth living in sites with CRWs were seen by health care workers at home, and that there was a large difference in educational access between sites with and without CRWs. CRWs are well positioned to promote equal citizenship for disabled youth through service learning with occupational therapy final year students to improve access to health and education, so that barriers to their participation in economic development are removed.