When ‘brothers and sisters’ become ‘foreigners’: Syrian refugees and the politics of healthcare in Jordan

Abstract

Does overseas development aid necessarily translate into more generous national policies for refugees? Evidence from Jordan suggests that this is not always the case. Since the arrival of an estimated 756,000 Syrian refugees, international funding has made Jordan one of the top seven recipients of foreign aid in the world. Despite sustained international financing, however, national policies towards refugees have become increasingly restrictive, especially when it comes to healthcare. Based on fieldwork conducted between 2017 and 2019, this paper argues that Jordan’s healthcare policies towards Syrian refugees are not necessarily correlated to international financing, but are rather the product of political considerations aimed at maintaining domestic stability, increasing bargaining power in the global policymaking arena and resisting international pressures to integrate Syrian refugees. This paper contributes to filling a gap in the literature on the complex and interdependent factors which influence the evolution of national healthcare policies towards refugees in a country not only highly dependent on foreign aid, but also at the geopolitical crossroads of international interests in the Middle East.     

Higher education and peacebuilding – a bridge between communities?

As the Syrian civil war enters its fifth year, with over four million refugees and no solution in the near future, the international community must better consider long-term planning in regards to the plight of refugees and services to support them, not just short-term emergency responses. Critically, higher education is all too often ignored when addressing refugee crises, pushed aside in favor of primary education, and effectively disempowering those best suited to eventually rebuild and reconstruct after war’s end. This paper examines the often less considered aspect of refugee access to higher education, using Duhok, located in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, as a case study, and hypothesizing that refugees’ inclusion in Duhok’s local higher education system can serve as an invaluable peacebuilding tool, bridging host and refugee communities, while empowering refugees to promote peacebuilding and development. We chose to focus on higher education because we agree with the idea espoused by Watenpaugh, Fricke, and Siegel that ‘university graduates … include Syria’s brightest and most ambitious young people … the human capital that will be critical to the rebuilding of Syrian society after the conflict has ended’. This study investigates Duhok area residents’ perceptions of the Syrian refugee crisis and the refugee population, refugees’ attitudes toward the host community and higher education, and personal views regarding intergroup relationships and the role of higher education, drawing primarily on field research conducted in 2013. Approached as a qualitative study, field research was conducted by a two-person team, with members representing the University of Duhok and New York University, and with the aim of actively working with research participants in the hopes of generating policy-related and practical recommendations.     

“C’est comme ça que cela pourrait recommencer” : L’épineuse question foncière au Burundi

In recent years, research on land conflicts in war-affected countries has seen a significant increase in the literature on conflict resolution. Land grabbing coupled with the return and repatriation of thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) after the end of civil wars constitute major challenges for peace and reconciliation in many African countries. Drawing on a case study of Burundi, one of Africa’s most densely populated countries, this article analyses the complex issues related to land conflicts. Burundi is currently facing thousands of land disputes following the return of refugees and IDPs stemming from the different politico-ethnic crises that this Great Lakes country has endured since independence. The current instrumentalization of the land issue by political entrepreneurs highlights the risks for the fragile peace and reconciliation process that Burundi has known in recent years if the land conflicts are not addressed in a sensitive and equitable manner.     

Reconstructing Identity

Abstract

This article provides an account of the challenges faced by a group of women refugees in recreating shattered identities in the aftermath of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. As a result of civil war, national identities were challenged and changing roles involved negotiating new definitions of self. Participants developed a new identity to reflect the realities of their situation, and at the same time transcended national and ethnic boundaries to recognize a common humanity. The article concludes that further research should focus on the special challenges to identity for refugees from civil wars and encourages social workers to be sensitive to these particular issues.     

International Pressure and Domestic Precedent: Japan's Resettlement of Indochinese Refugees

Abstract

Why did Japan decide to admit more than 11,000 refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia between 1975 and 2005? The conventional explanation is that Japan admitted these refugees because of pressure from foreign countries, and particularly from the United States. In this article, I argue that, in addition to foreign pressure, there was another factor that was important in causing Japan to admit these refugee populations. Japanese leaders agreed to admit Indochinese refugees because they came to believe that this would not set a precedent that would make Japan into a major destination for refugee resettlement.     

The limits of hospitality: coping strategies among displaced Syrians in Lebanon

Based on qualitative fieldwork in the Sunni village of Bebnine, located between Tripoli and the northern Syrian border, this paper explores how displaced Syrians adjust to life in Lebanon under the threat and actuality of violence. The marginalised refugees do not only appear as passive victims of crisis but draw on a diverse repertoire of coping strategies to deal with displacement and dispossession. Self-settled Syrians have exploited social networks, savings, aid, education and work opportunities to create a new livelihood system for themselves. Nevertheless, everyday life in Lebanon is not conceptualised as a safe zone. Syrian refugees are increasingly being used as scapegoats for the poor economy and political challenges in the country. While practices of hospitality towards the Syrian refugees were widespread, ambivalent feelings and prejudice frequently surfaced. Refugees expressed concern that the Syrian civil war would escalate into further sectarian violence in Lebanon, pushing the country closer to war.     

The Returns to Education in Africa: Some New Estimates

Abstract

We estimate the rate of return to education for 12 African countries using recent data and a range of methodologies, which we apply consistently across all countries. Our findings confirm that the return to basic education is the lowest (7–10%). The returns to upper secondary and tertiary education are similar to one another (25–30%). Accounting for the risk of joblessness increases these rates of return, particularly for basic education and for women at tertiary level. Our results at the country level suggest that great care should be taken in choosing the appropriate methodology to estimate rates of return.     

The paradox of Turkish–Iranian relations in the Syrian Crisis

Abstract

Iran and Turkey have competed for regional power projection in Syria and sought through cooperation to find a peaceful end to the conflict in the Astana talks, while also at the same time confronting each other in Idlib province via proxies. This simultaneity of competition, cooperation and confrontation in the Syrian Crisis presents a picture of a relationship that is riddled with contradictions and is in effect a paradox. The question that must be asked is, how can we understand this puzzle of competition, cooperation and confrontation in Turkish–Iranian relations in the Syrian Crisis? International historical sociology (IHS) research brings in discussions on the longue durée, narratives, domestic constraints and, most important, the international which can help decipher this intellectual puzzle. Moreover, the ‘relationality’ of each country’s policies in Syria combined with IHS can help unlock the puzzle of the Turkish–Iranian relationship in the Syrian Crisis and provide insight into the debate surrounding the outbreak of war.     

The Politics of Selectivity: Online Newspaper Coverage of Refugees Entering Canada and the United States

Abstract

While scholarly work on Europe’s latest “refugee crisis” has blossomed, less attention has focused on the United States and Canada. My research centers on newspaper coverage of refugees entering these two countries, before and after the Paris terrorist attacks of November 13, 2015. I conduct a comparative, cultural sociological analysis of 318 online news articles, reconstructing a system of meaning I call the Politics of Selectivity, in which refugees are portrayed as deserving or undeserving of resettlement. A deep, interpretive reading of the data reveals three dimensions of this political arena in which explicit, implicit, and conditional criteria for accepting refugees are articulated.     

Humanitarianism,civil society and the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper reflects on responses to Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugee crisis in the weeks that followed the increased numbers of Rohingya refugees who arrived from Myanmar after 24 August 2017. Drawing on literature on the local and international dimensions of humanitarianism, and the analytical lens of performance, it explores narratives of helping in relation to the shifting character of Bangladesh’s civil society, changing expressions of local and international religious sentiments, and the importance of understanding both formal and informal responses historically in the context of Bangladesh’s own experiences as a country born from a crisis in which citizens became refugees fleeing state-sponsored violence.     

The real deal? The post-conflict constitution as a peace agreement

Abstract

When intra-state armed conflicts end through a negotiated settlement, the conflict parties frequently agree to amend or replace the country’s constitution. Their aim is to entrench the settlement, address the conflict incompatibility, reform institutions and take other measures to prevent a recurrence of violence. This article argues that post-conflict constitutions (PCCs) should be understood as peace agreements. It motivates this argument on conceptual, functional and legal grounds. It demonstrates that PCCs comply with conventional definitions of a peace agreement, are an intrinsic component of the conflict resolution process and have a range of peace maintenance functions. As supreme law, they become the definitive peace agreement. Research on peace durability following negotiated settlements should therefore focus not only on comprehensive peace agreements (CPAs) but also on PCCs. PCCs should be conceived not as mere components of CPA implementation but as substantive political and legal agreements in their own right and as independent causes of peace.     

Principal,Agent or Bystander? Governance and Leadership in Chinese and Russian Villages

Abstract

What does ‘local self-governance’ mean in post-communist Russia and China? In order to answer this question, the article focuses on village-level governance in both countries by employing a four-fold typology of village leadership in public affairs. In both countries, the withdrawal of state power from local communities and the introduction of legislative ‘self-government’ has not brought autonomy to the local and community levels. The findings here suggest that the single ‘state agent’ category of village leadership that emerged under the communist regime is shifting to become one of the remaining three types, ‘principal’, ‘local agent’ and ‘bystander’. There was a growing tendency towards a non-autonomous type of ‘bystander’-style leadership in China and the ‘local agent’ type in Russia. This article suggests that the development of these local governance styles should not be attributed to a common transitional process departing from the communist past, but is the outcome of four factors that influence village leaders in two countries: administrative distance between local and village level, village social structure, fiscal arrangements and electoral relationships.     

To Help ‘Brotherly People’? Russian Policy Towards Ukrainian Refugees

Abstract

The essay focuses on Russian policy towards displaced persons from Ukraine’s war-torn territories from 2014 until mid-2019. The privileging of refugees from Ukraine relative to immigrants and refugees from other countries and, later, the granting of Russian citizenship to Ukrainian citizens from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, were interwoven with both influence-seeking in the Russian geopolitical neighbourhood and transborder nationalism and supported via direct presidential control of immigration. Despite a series of decrees and involvement of civil society in providing support, this essay detected a lack of efficient mechanisms for responding to the needs of the displaced.     

Human Services Providers’ Perspectives on Refugee Resettlement in the United States before and after the 2016 Presidential Election

Abstract

The United States has historically accepted and resettled refugees by opening its doors to those fleeing violence, armed conflict, or persecution around the world. However, the degree of receptivity toward refugee resettlement has vacillated over time. This study examines the challenges and opportunities that Refugee Resettlement Agencies (RRAs) experienced prior to and after the 2016?U.S. Presidential election. The findings presented in this paper, based on focus groups with the RRA staff, revealed that there is a greater need for understanding the refugee resettlement process and how changing immigration policies impact state-federal funding.     

Entangled in Social Safety Nets: Administrative Responses to and Lived Experiences of Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine

Abstract

This essay explores the citizenship experiences of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine. Since 2014, conflict in eastern Ukraine has forced over 1.7 million people to leave their homes. Unlike refugees, who are protected by international law, IDPs rely primarily on state support. Based on ethnographic research and analysis of secondary sources, the essay focuses on IDPs’ interactions with the state to highlight how displacement affects the provision of social guarantees. The discussion questions the distinctions between categories of migrants and citizens by offering insights into new modalities of controlled citizenship that displaced people live through.     

Two-dimensional legislative conflict: unique implications for the effectiveness of local councils

ABSTRACT

Organisational scholars argue there are two distinct types of conflict found in the private-sector workplace. One is referred to as task conflict and the other relational conflict. We use their insights to devise our own measures of conflict on local elected councils. As opposed to ‘task conflict’ we use the term ‘policy conflict’ and keep the same nomenclature ‘relational conflict.’ We will contend it is important to not conflate the two. In this work, we test our unique operationalisations of conflict on an established measure of Governing Board Effectiveness. Because of concerns over using the same survey instrument to measure both explanatory variables and the dependent variable we also test our thesis regarding two-dimensional legislative conflict on entirely exogenous measures of ‘healthy cities.’ We find that higher levels of policy conflict comport with good governance outcomes, while relational conflict provides no measurable benefit.     

Strengthening the Link

Abstract

Through exploration of definitional issues and current migration realities, this article discusses ways in which emphasis on the international dimensions of social work with immigrants and refugees offers opportunities to improve practice and to enhance the relevance of international social work to the profession. The international character of present day migration is illustrated through discussion of the transnational family and the economic and other relationships that tie immigrants to their countries of origin. The paper concludes with recommendations for increased cross-national professional collaboration.     

Deported before experiencing the good sides of migration: Ethiopians returning from Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

In the period November 2013–April 2014 more than 160,000 Ethiopians were deported from Saudi Arabia after a seven months amnesty period for undocumented migrants came to an end. This large-scale regularization campaign of the Saudi government must be seen in light of the ‘Arab Spring’, when popular uprisings in the Middle East were threatening dictatorial regimes. The effect of the Arab Spring was felt globally; the uprisings impacted upon migrants living in countries in the Middle East and on their countries of origin. This paper looks into the experiences of Ethiopian deportees prior, during and after their forced return. We argue that the fact that the migrants were not prepared for their sudden return affected their economic, social network and psychosocial embeddedness back in Ethiopia. In addition, the Ethiopian government has not been able to improve the returnees’ economic embeddedness, which has affected their social and psychological status negatively.     

‘Refugees Not Welcome Here’: State,Church and Civil Society Responses to the Refugee Crisis in Poland

The Polish response to the crisis that escalated across Europe in 2015, banning refugees from crossing its borders, has been one of the least welcoming in Europe. Poland has been reprimanded by the EU for its lack of solidarity with other countries that accepted refugees. The government’s response was that it does indeed welcome refugees as long as they are not Muslims, since letting Muslim refugees in would be a security risk. The figure of the Muslim terrorist posing as a refugee has become a key trope through which xenophobic nationalist politics have been employed. In this sense, Poland can be seen to be drawing particular inspiration from the Eurosceptic politics of Orbán’s Hungary while also reflecting a broader European trend towards Islamophobia in countries such as France, Germany, Sweden or the UK. This article maps responses to refugees from key public actors. It focuses on how three key players in the Polish public sphere—the Catholic Church, the State and civil society actors—responded to the looming perspective of welcoming refugees to Poland. The paper argues that the Polish response to the so-called refugee crisis should be analysed as subtext to a broader political change in the country towards nationalism that has as its goal to push out all foreign ‘invasion’. Mobilised within this are new and old manifestations of racism, suggesting that Poland’s long history of racial Othering and exclusion has not been sufficiently accounted for.     

Unpacking the Presumed Statelessness of Rohingyas1

ABSTRACT

The decades-old Rohingya problem, which has affected Myanmar and other Southeast Asia countries, has long been defined in terms of forced migration, statelessness, and humanitarian crisis. As the problems involving Rohingya refugees, forced migrants, and internally displaced persons are commonly believed to have stemmed from the highly discriminatory 1982 Citizenship Law, international advocacy has focused on amending or repealing the law as the ultimate solution. Despite the law's several discriminatory provisions, this article argues that the real problem primarily lies in a lack of implementation by successive Myanmar governments and the Rohingya's arbitrary deprivation of the right to nationality and citizenship documentation.