The past decades have shown an increase in recourse to international legal bodies to address disputes over land distribution, uses and rehabilitation. This raises the question as to whether and to... Show moreThe past decades have shown an increase in recourse to international legal bodies to address disputes over land distribution, uses and rehabilitation. This raises the question as to whether and to what extent international law offers a coherent framework for addressing land as part of environmental peacebuilding. Since land issues have played a role in most armed conflicts that occurred over the past decades, addressing such issues in peace processes is essential for the resolution of these conflicts and for maintaining the peace that has been so hard won. This chapter therefore first examines how international law impacts on decisions with respect to land uses, distribution and rehabilitation in peace processes. This chapter then explores whether and how the notion of environmental peacebuilding can be instrumental in mainstreaming international legal responses for the purpose of achieving a sustainable peace. Show less
What about the legislative process and discretion at the implementation level of the national legal arrangement of refugee treatment in Indonesia?My PhD research deals with the national legal... Show moreWhat about the legislative process and discretion at the implementation level of the national legal arrangement of refugee treatment in Indonesia?My PhD research deals with the national legal arrangement of refugee treatment in Indonesia. It focuses on two aspects: the lawmaking process and discretion at the implementation level, which it perceives as dialectical or cyclical, rather than separate processes. I look at three national legal instruments in particular:the right to asylum provision in the Constitution, the 2011 Immigration Law, and Presidential Regulation (PR) 125/2016 on the Treatment of Foreign Refugees. These legal instruments are important, but as I will show later, they are also problematic to deal with refugees in the context of Indonesia as a non-signatory state to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention or the 1967 Refuge Protocol. Show less
Shaev, B.; Hackett, S.; Brunnström, P.; Nilsson Mohammadi, R. 2023
The vital role that cities play in the governance of migration is increasingly recognized, yet migration scholars still perceive this ‘local turn’ as a recent phenomenon. This article presents a... Show moreThe vital role that cities play in the governance of migration is increasingly recognized, yet migration scholars still perceive this ‘local turn’ as a recent phenomenon. This article presents a cross-country and cross-city comparative analysis of three mid-size European cities during the post-war period: Bristol, Dortmund and Malmö. It analyses administrative cultures and local policy arenas, exposing the complexity of local migration policy-making and the crucial importance of historical perspectives. It reveals the inherent local variation in policies and practices, and argues that traditional national-level studies do not fully capture how urban actors responded to migration. Show less
Een eeuw geleden kwam er een einde aan meer dan twee millennia Griekse aanwezigheid in Klein-Azië. In dit herdenkingsjaar wordt op veel plaatsen stilgestaan bij die dramatische gebeurtenissen.... Show moreEen eeuw geleden kwam er een einde aan meer dan twee millennia Griekse aanwezigheid in Klein-Azië. In dit herdenkingsjaar wordt op veel plaatsen stilgestaan bij die dramatische gebeurtenissen. Diverse tentoonstellingen reflecteren op de wereld die verloren ging, maar ook op de impact van de enorme vluchtelingenstroom op het moderne Griekenland. Het Benaki Museum bracht meer dan 1000 objecten en 500 foto’s uit museale - en privécollecties bijeen voor een groots retrospectief. Show less
This book explores the effects of war and displacement on the South Sudanese Zande, a people frozen in time by the classical anthropology of Edgar Evans-Pritchard. The research started in Western... Show moreThis book explores the effects of war and displacement on the South Sudanese Zande, a people frozen in time by the classical anthropology of Edgar Evans-Pritchard. The research started in Western Equatoria State, South Sudan, at a time of hopeful reconstruction (2014-2015). Yet after war resumed in 2015, nearly a million South Sudanese refugees fled to neighbouring Uganda – and so the study continues with South Sudanese Zande refugees there (2015-2019). Based on hundreds of inter views with refugees and stayees, chiefs and elder s, government officials and former combatants, and ordinary people, this book places conflict, confusion, and the search for continuity at the heart of the historical ethnography of the South Sudanese Zande. The book focuses on the ties between people, between people and land, and the competing efforts to control those ties. These three foci relate to proto-legal questions that underpin human society: Who are we? To whom and where do we belong? And whose authority do we accept? This study shows that these foundational questions gain new salience in times of crisis, as people turn to nostalgia and utopia to escape present despair. Show less
Based on ethnographic research among Burundian refugee boys and young men in Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda, we explore how boys and young men in the camp, guided by the longing for a better... Show moreBased on ethnographic research among Burundian refugee boys and young men in Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda, we explore how boys and young men in the camp, guided by the longing for a better life, aspire for onward migration and develop strategies based on their knowledge of relevant legal frameworks. Given that onward migration under the UNHCR framework is possible for onlythe most ‘vulnerable’, we highlight the negotiation strategies adopted by some boys and youngmen to support their ‘process’ ,based on sexual vulnerability related to being in same-sex relationships. Notwithstanding the deprivation and bleak prospects, we thus propose to look at the refugee settlement also as a space opening chance for vital transformation. At the same time, we point out that the restricting frameworks seeking to foster protection of refugees, may, in an environment hostile to same-sex relations, unintentionally render refugee boys and young men more vulnerable to gendered exploitation. Show less
For this research, I looked at how the position of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in international refugee policy debates changed over time. I analysed if, how and when NGOs influenced... Show moreFor this research, I looked at how the position of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in international refugee policy debates changed over time. I analysed if, how and when NGOs influenced refugee policies in twentieth century Europe. I identified three types of authority that NGOs can have: expert authority, moral authority, and logistical authority. The different types of authority determined what kind of political role NGOs had and what their position was in international refugee debates. The in-depth description of NGOs’ advocacy showed which choices NGOs made regarding campaigns and strategies. NGOs were not only dependent on the socio-economic and political context but also always had room to manoeuvre and make choices. These choices had an impact on their advocacy and influence. Show less
In this dissertation I have explored contemporary modes of displacement and citizenship in India. Rather than large-scale spectacular dislocations which are a focus of ‘refugee’ studies or set... Show moreIn this dissertation I have explored contemporary modes of displacement and citizenship in India. Rather than large-scale spectacular dislocations which are a focus of ‘refugee’ studies or set patterns of ‘voluntary’ population movement which come under the rubric of ‘migration’ studies, I am interested in low-key everyday forms of displacements which fall through these categories of understanding, are invisible, and remain undiscussed. I have explored everyday forms of displacement through Oren Yiftachel’s (2020) concept of displaceability. I draw on two case studies of two different displaced groups in Calcutta and North 24 Parganas in West Bengal: i) East Bengali dalit refugees coming from East Bengal (present day Bangladesh) to West Bengal and ii) a group of peripatetic impoverished rural people coming from the villages of Bangladesh and West Bengal to the urban agglomeration around Calcutta. The time frame of the dissertation is from the beginning of the Second World War in 1939 till the present. I have utilised the concept of displaceability to show how these groups are kept in a condition of permanent temporariness through deliberate state policies and how this erodes their citizenship. Displaceability expands understanding of displacement from an act to a systemic condition of informal urban living. In displaceable conditions actual displacements or the potential threats of it are utilised as an administrative tool to extract services from the urban poor and coerce them into participating in unequal political exchanges. My study shows that while these refugees and migrants become displaceable through state mechanisms, they negotiate this condition through their own brands of politics from below. Show less
This article explores how Dortmund’s municipal government propagated a concept of city-citizenship and belonging for new arrivals by mediating between expellee, refugee and migrant communities and ... Show moreThis article explores how Dortmund’s municipal government propagated a concept of city-citizenship and belonging for new arrivals by mediating between expellee, refugee and migrant communities and ‘native’ civil society in the 1940s-1950s. The devastation of Dortmund during the Second World War, and the housing and energy shortages that followed, meant that the arrival of over a hundred thousand expellees and refugees in 1945–1960 placed severe strains on municipal resources while exacerbating conflicts between ‘native’ Dortmunders and new arrivals. The success of the Social Democratic Party (spd) in building a hegemonic position in postwar politics and administration by the late 1940s facilitated the coordination of municipal efforts to foster inter-community relations and introduce new populations to city life. Within the city council and government, in expellee meetings, and in municipal events we observe sustained municipal efforts to 1) exert social control over expellee/refugee arrivals to deflect anger at the poor conditions of the reconstruction period away from municipal officials and 2) inculcate taboos based on peace and democratic norms to delegitimise the politics of inter-community resentment. It concludes by tracing how official narratives and municipal practices constructed in the 1940s-50s were redeployed during the arrival of guest workers in the 1960s. Show less
The role of municipalities in migrant integration in post-war European history has largely slipped below the radar in previous migration research. Our special issue presents case studies on how... Show moreThe role of municipalities in migrant integration in post-war European history has largely slipped below the radar in previous migration research. Our special issue presents case studies on how Bristol, Dortmund, Malmö, Mannheim, Stuttgart and Utrecht managed migrant influxes from the mid-1940s to 1960s. Following interdisciplinary advances in local migration studies, our urban histories take a diversity of approaches, present diverse temporalities, and uncover municipal responses that range from generosity to indifference and to outright hostility. In all six cities, despite such diversity in local attitudes and municipal policies, municipal authorities had significant impacts on migrants’ lives. The introductory article explores how our urban perspectives contribute to scholarship on reconstruction and the post-war boom; welfare; democracy and citizenship; and European integration. Using local migration as a lens into postwar European history, we argue, provides important new insights for the historiography of postwar Europe. Show less
Refugees’ effect on domestic terrorism is conditioned by host-country social perception (attitude about living next-door to foreigners) and economic competition. These hypotheses are tested cross... Show moreRefugees’ effect on domestic terrorism is conditioned by host-country social perception (attitude about living next-door to foreigners) and economic competition. These hypotheses are tested cross-nationally from 1995-2014 leveraging data from the World Values Survey. The results show social perception matters. When refugee flow to a country increases from the mean to 75th percentile, it does not statistically alter domestic terrorism risk. But when a host-country’s preference to not live next-door to foreigners is accounted for and changes from the mean (20.9%) to 75th percentile (30.3%), the change in refugee flow increases the risk of domestic terrorism by 40%. Show less
This micro-history of Jewish life in Roermond and Middle-Limburg is simultaneously European history. One reason for this is that in the course of time many European peoples or nations played a role... Show moreThis micro-history of Jewish life in Roermond and Middle-Limburg is simultaneously European history. One reason for this is that in the course of time many European peoples or nations played a role in Roermond and its surrounding area. Yet it is also important to note that for centuries similar processes of acceptation and distancing with respect to Jews have occurred in many places in Europe. The central question of this study is: how did the attitude of the environment, strongly determined by Christianity, affect the position and status of the Jews in Roermond and Middle Limburg, from the late Middle Ages to the early twenty-first century? Because the Middle-Limburg region has throughout the centuries been predominantly Roman-Catholic, one of the main questions in this dissertation concerns the attitude of the Catholic Church as an institution over the course of time – and not only during the years 1940-1945 –, and the concomitant attitude of the Catholic press. The developments involved necessitate to address fundamental issues such as the relation between religion and society, and its importance for the status and position of minorities. Show less
How did early modern Dutch people relate to distant suffering? As charitable relief is as much a thing of the present as it is of the past, the question is still relevant in modern aid campaigns.... Show moreHow did early modern Dutch people relate to distant suffering? As charitable relief is as much a thing of the present as it is of the past, the question is still relevant in modern aid campaigns. This dissertation engages with the scholarly debate on early modern solidarity which presupposes that solidarity was confined to one’s own social or religious group. Therefore, aid to foreign fellow believers is commonly explained as religious brotherhood and long-distance solidarity with domestic disaster victims is thought to be absent, especially in the decentralised and particularistic Dutch Republic. This thesis demonstrates, first, that transnational aid to persecuted foreign fellow-believers was not just about confessional brotherhood but also about political interests and, second, it shows that long-distance solidarity with disaster victims was fairly common in the Dutch Republic. By analysing the arguments put forward by the victims in their aid requests, the reasons underlying the decisions of the civil authorities to support of reject these pleas, and the way in which the general public was persuaded to donate, this study reveals the multifaceted character of early modern aid. Furthermore, it provides insight into the emergence of humanitarian argumentation long before the Enlightenments ‘humanitarian revolution’. Show less
The aim of this article is to understand why the EU opted to conclude the ‘EU–Turkey refugee deal’ in March 2016 in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis, despite the fact that the agreement... Show moreThe aim of this article is to understand why the EU opted to conclude the ‘EU–Turkey refugee deal’ in March 2016 in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis, despite the fact that the agreement deeply contradicts fundamental EU values and norms. The article seeks to explain the outcome—the conclusion of the EU–Turkey refugee deal—by analysing not only the ability of EU institutions to shape decisions, but also their motivations, ideas and preferences in justifying the EU’s actions in responding to the refugee challenge. It is argued that the deal results from ideational and power struggles between supranational (the European Parliament and the European Commission) and intergovernmental institutions (the European Council and the Council of the European Union). It is demonstrated that while the former put forward normative arguments, the latter invoked security as a main concern to avoid internal divisions between Member States. This article also reveals that such ideational and power struggles have consequences for the EU’s identity. Theoretically, the article builds on the new intergovernmentalist claims and on the normative/civilian power literature. Empirically, it explores the usage of normative justifications by EU institutions and points to inter-institutional tensions in framing the EU’s response to the refugee challenge. Show less
In the century after the Peace of Westphalia (1648) Europeans witnessed a considerable number of devastating persecutions of confessional minorities. Decisions to punish dissenting religious groups... Show moreIn the century after the Peace of Westphalia (1648) Europeans witnessed a considerable number of devastating persecutions of confessional minorities. Decisions to punish dissenting religious groups were among the most controversial and consequential policies of early modern states. There was therefore a genuine interest in news about religious persecutions among different strata of society, and writers and publishers were keen to meet this demand. Especially in the Dutch Republic, numerous newspapers, pamphlets, and periodicals flowed from the presses to confront news consumers throughout Europe with the plight of foreign communities. To reach and affect their audiences, opinion makers had to answer a fundamental question, which we still grapple with in our own times: Why should we care about distant suffering? This dissertation investigates, first, which arguments were used to communicate religious persecution ca. 1650-1750, a period that is often approached in terms of political secularization. Second, it identifies which stakeholders were engaged in the international production of topical persecution literature, and examines who they saw as their audience. Finally, tying in with the nascent historiography of early modern ‘public diplomacy’, this study explores the role which topical persecution literature played in domestic and international politics. Show less
Conflict mobiles are individuals whose mobility—and lack of mobility—is informed by violence andconflict. Based on personal narratives of those who move across borders within and beyond the Central... Show moreConflict mobiles are individuals whose mobility—and lack of mobility—is informed by violence andconflict. Based on personal narratives of those who move across borders within and beyond the Central African region, this thesis is an ethnography of mobility. By taking mobility as its axiom and placing the lives of people on the move at its centre, the goal of this thesis is twofold. On the one hand, it contests fixed (national) borders and defies static historical readings of Central Africa. On the other hand, it investigates how the multiple trajectories of individuals in Central African give form to the mobility paradigm. There are many avatars of the conflict mobile, the CAR (Central African Republic) refugee-students in Kinshasa (DR Congo), on whom the empirical part of this thesis is based, form only one. It is these students’ journeys, their life stories and means of fending for themselves, as well as their dreams and frustrations, that stand at the core of this thesis. By acknowledging the role of the people (including artists) with whom researchers produce knowledge, this thesis finally invites the reader to ‘un-border’ by looking at the field, and academia, through a mobile lens. Show less
Wind, T.R.; Aa, N. van der; Rie, S. de la; Knipscheer, J. 2017
Background: Questionnaires are widely used to assess the mental health status of refugees, whereas their construct validity largely remains unexplored. Objective: This study examined the construct... Show moreBackground: Questionnaires are widely used to assess the mental health status of refugees, whereas their construct validity largely remains unexplored. Objective: This study examined the construct validity of two widely-used instruments for the assessment of PTSD symptoms (Harvard Trauma Questionnaire [HTQ]; 16 items) and symptoms of anxiety and depression (Hopkins Symptom Check list-25 [HSCL-25]; 25 items) among Dutch and refugee patients with different linguistic backgrounds. Method: We applied exploratory factor analyses and measurement invariance analyses to test construct validity.Participants (n =1 256) were divided into five linguistic groups defined by language family, including four non-western linguistic groups (Indo-Iranian [n = 262], NigerCongo [n = 134], Semitic [n = 288], and South Slavic languages [n = 199]) and one western linguistic group (Germanic languages; Dutch [n = 373]). Results: Exploratoryfactoranalysisyieldeda3-factorstructureoftheHTQanda2-factorstructure of the HSCL-25. Measurement invariance 20 analyses on the HTQ showed strong measurement invariance across the groups of refugee patients. However, Dutch patients reported milder symptom severity on most items of the HTQ. Measurement invariance analyses on the HSCL-25 (not conducted in Dutch patients) indicated partial strong measurement invariance across refugee patients. Conclusion: We conclude that mental health constructs measured by the HTQ and the HSCL25 25 are to a large extent interpreted in a similar way by refugee patients. This indicates that these instruments can be applied in non-western refugee patient populations, and that local idioms of distress and inherent response patterns may not play a major role when applying the HTQ and the HSCL-25 in these populations. Yet, whereas meaningful comparisons of observed PTSD and depression scores between groups of refugee patients with different non30 western linguistic background are feasible, comparisons between patients with a western and nonwestern linguistic background, as well as comparisons of anxiety scores, are likely to be biased. Future studies need to establish whether the commonly used cut-off scores of both questionnaires apply for refugee patients with non-western linguistic backgrounds. Show less
Authorities in Western countries, like the Netherlands, believe that after thorough investigation it is possible to separate genuine refugees from non-genuine refugees. Members of the first group... Show moreAuthorities in Western countries, like the Netherlands, believe that after thorough investigation it is possible to separate genuine refugees from non-genuine refugees. Members of the first group deserve admission, because they had a well-founded fear of persecution in their countries of origin. Non-genuine refugees, also called fortune hunters, were rejected, often because of credibility concerns. Individual case files of asylum seekers show which arguments were used to justify rejections or admissions. Case files contain a variety of letters and memos written by civil servants, neighbours, employers, relatives, friends, classmates of the children, churches, family doctors, refugee aid groups, lawyers, and scholars. All these insiders and outsiders explained why a particular asylum seeker deserved admission or not. This dissertation shows that civil servants were sensitive to the pressure of outsiders. In first instance, many asylum seekers were rejected, but if the asylum procedure dragged on, decisions were altered. This research displays the variety of arguments that were used in the period 1945-1994. Often arguments not related to the flight were decisive: humanitarian arguments, personal characteristics of the applicant (special skills), criticism on the asylum procedure (the asylum seeker waited too long) and being beneficial to the Dutch society. Show less
In order to enhance our understanding of the making of colonial identities, the bond to natal land fundamental to the formation of __self,__ its impact on immigration/repatriation, and the... Show moreIn order to enhance our understanding of the making of colonial identities, the bond to natal land fundamental to the formation of __self,__ its impact on immigration/repatriation, and the hegemonic application of the paradigm of Colonialism to highly diverse colonial encounters, this research engages the voice of North American peoples from Indonesia that were resident in the Dutch East Indies at the end of the colonial era. Participants in a __political order that inscribes in the social world a new conception of space, new forms of personhood, and a new means of manufacturing the experience of the real,__ they encountered the Japanese invasion and Occupation from unique perspectives. In all cases, narrators are peripheral to the ongoing dialogues in the Netherlands and Indonesia that constrain or mobilize what ex-colonial subjects in those countries share. Hence, they utilize divergent schemata to frame __how,__ __what,__ and __why__ they remember. These North American life story narratives represent a critical addition to expatriate and academic accounts of colonial and occupied Indonesia, challenging, confronting, affirming, and elaborating other life histories and scholarly investigations. The textual differences expose variations in operative memory; North American life histories, contrasted with those collected from expatriates living in Holland and Belgium, or Indonesians residing in Indonesia, demonstrate the powerful impact a narrator__s current environment exerts on an individual__s perceptions of his/her personal past. That certain themes receive elaboration, and others marginalization, sheds light on how societies and bodies remember, but equally important, how they forget and go on to forge viable practical models to help them endure.__ Show less
