https://thesis.eur.nl/col/7041/ List of Publications en https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/76165/ Tue, 06 Sep 2022 00:00:01 GMT <div>Garzon, Gabriela Antoinette</div> This paper argues that migrants in the Netherlands contribute significantly to the development of both, their host and country of origin. To illustrate this point, the stories of 4 women migrant entrepreneurs coming from outside of the EU will demonstrate the role migrants play in the Netherlands and what their contribution is to development. In the analysis of their contributions, there are three statements suggested by the data: first, migrants prefer self-employment as a response to the difficulties facing the labor market. Second, business creation represents an exercise of rediscovering cultural values and skills, which prove to contribute significantly to the development of both countries. Finally, the access to these skills and values demonstrates that migrant entrepreneurs live translocal lives. In doing so, they belong to both, serve as support, and also contribute to different networks in different locales. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/65390/ Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:00:01 GMT <div>Lea Maria Liekefedt</div> This study focuses on refugees’ livelihood strategies in a context of long-term encampment. It looks at this phenomenon through the case of the Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi by investigating camp residents’ strategies as well as intersecting barriers to livelihood attain-ment. Initially intended as a temporary emergency measure to host refugees fleeing conflict and genocide from East Africa’s Great Lakes Region in the late 90s, it has been operating for more than twenty-eight years. Due to the government’s encampment policy, all refugees in the country are obliged to reside in the Dzaleka camp. Through an interdisciplinary con-ceptualisation of livelihoods, this paper draws on different schools of thoughts to account for a comprehensive understanding of livelihood strategies. The eight-week in-situ research was conducted in the Dzaleka camp during August and September 2022 and twenty-two interviews were held through a collaborative life history method. By using an intersectional lens and thematic analysis, it finds that relations are at the core of camp residents’ livelihood strategies. These relations can both benefit livelihoods through mutual support and impede them due to social hierarchies based on gender and ethnicity. Findings highlight that camp residents face intersecting barriers to livelihood attainment based on multiple systems of op-pression, mostly disadvantaging refugees from Rwanda. There is a need for humanitarian and development actors to take these systems into account when designing policy and live-lihoods programmes. Findings also underline that the concept of refugee ‘self-reliance’, as promoted by the humanitarian and development nexus, needs to be revised as this is not equally attainable for all refugees. Whilst other studies on the Dzaleka refugee camp have looked at specific livelihood strategies, this study is the first of its kind to address livelihoods from an intersectional perspective and to include strategies that do not operate within market structures. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/65388/ Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:00:01 GMT <div>Christy Virginia Gamboa Bastarrachea</div> In 2015 when Europe was experiencing the so-called “refugee crisis” solidarity actions were emerging from civil society organizations to address the gaps left by the national government, and the creation of shelter cities is a prime example this. Shelter cities aimed to become a safe place for people with a migration background. The city of Granada was one of the few small cities in Spain to join this commitment, which is particularly interesting given the rich migration history of the city. In light of Granada being a shelter city, this research explores the sheltering actions of civil society migrant organizations with particular attention towards the different tensions that exist in the city and the solidarity actions to overcome them. This research leverages the concept of conviviality to look at the actions taken by civil society migrant organizations which goes beyond mere coexistence and promotes relationships among individuals while also focusing on the well-being of people with a migration background. The research findings are underpinned by fieldwork based in Granada and the use qualitative research methods including interviews and observation. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/76048/ Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:01 GMT <div>Boscher, Marie Claire Beatrice</div> This research aims to highlight the way aid workers make sense of the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) Nexus, particularly in contexts of protracted refugee encampment. It constitutes an exploratory case study centered on Plan International and its program located in the Nguenyyiel refugee camp in Gambella, Ethiopia. As it looks at Plan International staff’s perception, this research is based on an interpretative paradigm and qualitative methodology, including nine semi-structured interviews. This paper reveals that Plan International aid workers do not have a clear common understanding of what the HDP Nexus means and entails, yet they all agree on the fact that complex needs cannot be addressed by one sector. In order to analyze aid workers’ perceptions of the challenges and opportunities regarding the triple nexus implementation by Plan International, especially in Gambella, this study looks at the macro, internal, and civil spaces of the organization. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/70983/ Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:01 GMT <div>Toyoda, Moet</div> Exploitation of migrant workers has been happening all over the world. Investigating labour migration policy with the lens of colonial matrix of power, I argue that concurrent labour migration policy is used as a tool to sustain historically created power hierarchies. This paper expands decolonial perspectives into Asia by starting from Japan as a former colonial power to expose coloniality in migration policy and explore its implication. Drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews as well as a focused group discussion and program documents of Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) in Japan, I elucidate how historically informed racial ideology has been (re)produced and is articulated through migration policy. Moreover, this paper explicates how division of labour is deeply intertwined in capitalism and is operated by exploiting invented racial and gender categories that are articulated through domination via the dehumanization of the Other. The analysis takes its departure from the idea of ‘trainee’, demonstrating how TITP is used to reinforce colonial matrix of power, systematically putting migrants into ‘low-skilled’ positions, which reproduces the idea of ‘Japaneseness’ as superior to Other Asian countries. Throughout the research, by integrating decolonial approach, this paper aims to hold their multiple selves not just as ‘migrant workers.’ https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/70982/ Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:01 GMT <div>Uzowuihe, Chidiebere Ann</div> This research delves into the perceptions of highly skilled Nigerian migrants towards returning to their home country and the role of social media in shaping and influencing their decisions. Through a qualitative approach, this study uses a semi-structured interview to elicit and investigate the narratives of twelve highly skilled Nigerian migrants in the Netherlands. The findings indicate that the motivation for migration encompasses professional, economic, and personal factors. Returning to Nigeria is perceived as a retirement option after the achievement of personal and professional goals or as a viable alternative to illegal stay. Return visits serve as a practical alternative to permanent return, given the current economic, political, and security challenges in Nigeria. Social media has a significant influence on the non-return decisions of these migrants. Platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter enable them to stay connected with family and friends across the globe while also providing real-time information on migration pathways, settlement guidance, and the state of the home country. The study concludes that social media plays a crucial role in shaping return perceptions by influencing aspirations, capabilities, and social networks. The findings bear direct implications for policy for both the origin and host country. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/70984/ Wed, 20 Dec 2023 00:00:01 GMT <div>Cohee, Sydney Catherine</div> The term ‘battleground’ (Campomori & Ambrosini, 2020) has been adopted as a more realistic conceptualization of the collaborative and conflictual relations between multileveled actors who are involved in the governance of migration (Campomori & Ambrosini, 2020; Dimitriadis et al., 2021; Ambrosini, 2021). Humanitarian workers provide care to migrants which governments are unable or unwilling to. Many go beyond offering lifesaving essential aid to perform acts of solidarity, which makes relationships in battlegrounds more complex. Based on virtual qualitative interviews with humanitarian workers at multiple locations in Mexico and the U.S. in addition to document analysis, this research illustrates the relationships between humanitarian workers, government authorities, society, and migrants to gain a deeper understanding of the Americas’ migration management regime. It finds that while operating within systems of control which securitize and criminalize migration beyond the physical border, humanitarian workers find themselves at a nexus of protection/promotion. Here, humanitarian protection risks presenting as if it is promoting irregular migration. This research demonstrates how humanitarian workers and international and national NGOs navigate this nexus as well as the ‘battlegrounds’ of migration governance in Mexico and the U.S. to endure, confront, and/or escape systems of control. While the humanitarian principle of humanity is relevant, upholding the principle of neutrality is a struggle in this context in which migration is perceived as a policy-induced crisis founded upon the idea of national security. It ultimately provides insights into how the humanitarian sector along the U.S. and Mexico borderscape is shifting towards an unprincipled, human-rights based approach to bring about a more human-centered migration system. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/75699/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 00:00:01 GMT <div>Malini Murugesan, Mira Srinidhi</div> This paper unveils the lived experiences of women in Chennai resettlement areas of Pe-rumbakkam and Semmencherry encountering continuous disasters, focusing on how they navigate their lives through the multitude of challenges and adapt to the risks. Using feminist ethnographic method along with interactions, the study captures the realities of everyday lives of women, tracing the experiences from evictions to resettlements and how the gendered aspects of inequalities exacerbate the existing social vulnerabilities. Within the context of disasters and resettlements, understanding the gentrification and challenges faced by women that are intertwined with the social, economic and political structures, reveals the difficulties in accessing the resources, family issues, health and security concerns. The paper also emphasis on the critical aspects of imposing resilience, which further leads to reproduction of vulnerability in terms of overlooking the larger systemic errors. By employing a gender lens, the study highlights the need for amplifying women’s voice and agency in resettlement and disaster polices. This work contributes to the deeper understanding of lived experiences and calls for more gender-inclusive policies. Overall, the study suggests that rather than underlining the individual adaptation strategies, its needs for a better systemic support. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/75695/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 00:00:01 GMT <div>Bekele Tafere, Alemu</div> Since 2018 , Ethiopia faced high number of IDPs due to natural and man-made factors in which multiple forms of conflict takes the lion share .Significant number of ethnic Amharas were displaced from Oromia region to neighboring Amhara region. The government of Ethiopia tried to address the problems of such IDPs through a massive program of return to their home village. This study is focused on the return of Amhara IDPs who were displaced from Wollega and West Shewa zones of Oromia region and sheltered in IDPs camps in Amhara region between three to four years. The government implemented a return in three rounds between February and May 2024.However, significant comments are raised on the return project mainly on IDPs interests and their security. This study took China camp which has 12,000 Amhara IDPs located in Debre Birhan city of Amhara region as a representative of other IDPs sites. It explored the experiences of refused and re-joined IDPs and their perceptions towards state-led returns. The necessary data were collected by a research assistant and camp coordinator with a total of 11 interviewees and two FGD groups each consisting of six discussants differentiated based on sex . The participants of the research were IDPs who were not identified in the return project, IDPs who refused to return and IDPs who returned but later re-joined China camp after staying in temporary shelters in Oromia. They were selected using purposive and snowball sampling techniques. The finding revealed that there were discussions between government representatives, IDPs committee and IDPs regarding the return. At the beginning, IDPs rejected the return plan by referring security, economic and political concerns. Consequently, the government employed coercion strategies like cut off aid, searched by police on strongly resisted IDPs, intimidation to confiscate IDP’s agriculture land and urban houses. While part of IDPs persist their rejection, 4,300 IDPs were returned to save their agriculture land and urban houses and considering the promises of the government. Returnees were received in temporary shelters in woreda towns and visiting their village is not possible due to the presence Shene armed group, which is designated as terrorist by the Ethiopian parliament in 2021. According to the estimation of research participants, half of the returnees are re-displaced to Amhara and other peaceful regions due to worsening insecurity, lack of follow up, insufficient aid and anti-return discourses. The re-displaced IDPs , like refused IDPs, are blocked from accessing services in China camp but camp coordinators informally allow them to stay in the shelter. IDPs seek peace deal and disarmament of Shene armed group, reconciliation with local youths, compensation of their property lost during the conflict, justice for victims and accountability of officials who involved in previous conflict. The study calls to resume a peace talk between the government and Shene to create favorable environment for the return of IDPs. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/75697/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 00:00:01 GMT <div>Brekk, Frida Martine Elverum</div> The idea that femicide is a social problem is deeply linked to political, cultural and legal frameworks. Patriarchal attitudes, migration patterns and the inadequacies of legal frameworks have all had an impact on femicide rates in Turkey. Emphasizing on femicide in the context of rural to urban migration this study investigates the connections within legal institutions, societal views and gender based violence. This research explores how Turkey’s legal frameworks confront and sometimes support patriarchal institutions that sustain violence against women. This research is based on document analysis and qualitative interviews with academics, human rights activists and platforms, and legal professionals. It concludes that although laws are placed to protect women, they are often ineffectively applied and with defenses like “unjust provocation” and emotional distress reducing the responsibility of those who violate them. The study emphasizes how internal mobility affects femicide rates, arguing that migrant women in cities are more vulnerable due to the lack of proper legal protections and support networks. This study contributes on how national governance and cultural norms have established legal and policy frameworks that fail to sufficiently address femicide in Turkey. It promotes a more comprehensive, human rights based strategy for femicide prevention and gender justice by sharing insights into the wider repercussions of migration, gender inequality and the part played by legal institutions in sustaining violence against women. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/75698/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 00:00:01 GMT <div>Edström, Adrienne</div> This study focuses on the social and physical infrastructures in the region of Calais in North of France and how they influence solidarity between the host community and the refugees living in the informal settlement. The study is important because there is increasing border violence and deaths that remain unseen. The main research question: “What is the role of infrastructures, determined or limited by securitization, in shaping interactions, cooperation, and solidarity between the host community and informal migrant settlements?” is addressed through an ethnographic method including observations, informal conversations and semi-structured interviews looking at the case study of Calais. There is a lack of interactions between refugees and the local community due to the hostile environment affecting both. Moreover, when solidarity does emerge it does so through local initiatives that manifest into grassroot humanitarian organizations, characterized by their informality, independence of funding from states and their network of solidarity. The latter intersects with the politics of securitisation visible through Necropolitics that is translated in border violence. This makes it difficult for solidarity’s sustainability, however their infrastructures delegitimize the state’s logic. This paper recommends establishing a legal and safe way to seek asylum in the UK through an asylum center in France where the UK has externalized its borders. Moreover, the investments should be redirected from re-bordering to programmes prioritizing care and inclusion. At last, actors of the borders should be trained to work within this particular context. Implementing these measures would lead the way for a cooperative migration system. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/75700/ Fri, 20 Dec 2024 00:00:01 GMT <div>Alam, Md Sazzadul</div> This study explores the relationship between the state, tourism, development, and migration affecting the Adivasi people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh. Since the peace accord in 1997, the CHT has experienced significant tourism expansion under the state’s and the army’s direct intervention. Although this tourism expansion in the hill region is promoted as a poverty alleviation tool for the Adivasi community, it also intersects past state migration projects, business interests, and sociocultural changes that demand social research. The main question of this research is: How does tourism-driven development (re)shape the socioeconomic and sociocultural landscape of the hill region? This study also aims to understand the relationship between the ‘Peace Accord’ and tourism expansion in the hilly areas after 1997, examining its impact on people’s (im)mobilities and the gap between development narratives and realities. This research uses qualitative methods and conducts fieldwork in Sajek, Rangamati, and Dhaka through a ‘multi-sited’ lens. This research found that the Army stands as the dominant force in hill tourism, transforming it into a lucrative business and investment sector, with permanent and temporary camps established next to each tourist spot under the guise of tourist safety. This tourism has facilitated various forms of mobility (such as seasonal migration and short-term movement) for Bengalis in the hills, effectively ensuring Bengali predominance in these areas. Following the peace accord, local NGOs contributed to tourism promotion, aiming to create positive impacts; however, the benefits have remained limited to certain classes or groups due to the failure to ensure broad participation from local Adivasi communities. Adivasi people in areas like Sajek face and negotiate daily challenges, including eviction, loss of privacy, shifts in occupation, and threats to their language due to the establishment of tourist spots. This economic, cultural, and military exploitation occurs with direct state support against Adivasis in the hilly areas, where ‘tourism’ has now become a significant tool. This exploitation can be viewed as a policy of ‘internal colonization’ intended to control Adivasi groups.