Framing asylum seekers: the uses of national and cosmopolitan identity frames in arguments about asylum seekers

Dilemmas around how to deal with asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat have been a key driver of political and public discourse for over a decade. In 2012, an ‘Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers’ was established to provide advice to the Australian government about how to deal with the increasingly embarrassing issue of asylum seekers drowning at sea and a parliamentary stalemate on the matter. Using frame analysis to understand how national and post-national identities are being recruited in this debate, this paper analyses submissions to the Panel. We demonstrate how arguments for and against asylum seekers are constructed around nationalism, regionalism and globalism (cosmopolitan). Australia was variously framed as having an alternative national character from that promoted by politicians, as having a key regional role, and hence identity, and as a global citizen (both in reality and in appearance). Contrary to expectations, we found that each frame served as a vehicle through which progressive arguments were articulated, indicating the utility of each in arguing for more humane treatment of ‘Others’.     

Collaboration and conflict between agencies and clients

Public relations agencies are an important part of the public relations industry, but their relations with client organizations are rarely studied. There is more literature and studies in agency-client relations in advertising than in public relations. This paper reviews literature and reports results of an empirical study into perceptions of public relations agencies and their clients on the reasons for their cooperation and sources of conflict between them. Results show that agencies misperceive reasons for which they are hired and the sources of conflict in the relationship. The paper offers several suggestions about how to tackle the problem: notwithstanding rebranding into consultancies and firms, public relations agencies-client relations should be studied as a particular example of a broader family of agency-client relations. Also agencies should study and strategically manage relations with their clients, while being realistic about client organization’s needs – sometimes they just need additional arms and legs.     

Rejected asylum seekers: the problem of return

During this decade the return of rejected asylum seekers has become an issue of increasing concern to major asylum states in the industrialized world. This article exposes the various political and legal approaches taken by returning states as well as the constraints emerging from human rights law.
As a rigid control paradigm and related enforcement practices entail a considerable risk of human rights violations, it seems reasonable to focus on measures enhancing the voluntary compliance of all actors involved with norms governing return.
This means negotiating a broad political consensus between returning states and countries of origin, specifying the legal framework with a view to securing the human rights of the rejectee, arranging for impartial monitoring of return practices and rendering voluntary forms of return more attractive.     

The deprivation experienced by disabled asylum seekers in the United Kingdom: symptoms,causes, and possible solutions

Disabled asylum seekers have been found to often experience extreme deprivation. Possible causes and solutions are explored, drawing on the experiences of disabled asylum seekers themselves as well as on a series of interviews with people working in the asylum and immigration sector. It is suggested that action is required to reduce immediate suffering, but that systemic change is needed to address the causes of this deprivation.     

International law and the detention of refugees and asylum seekers

The detention of refugees and asylum-seekers throughout the world remains a serious issue, currently affecting thousands of individuals. This article examines national concepts, powers, and practices of detention and these with individual right of refugees and asylum-seekers under international law. The general role of international law, in conjunction with the UN High Commission for Refugees, is to protect refugees. International law requires that access to detainees be granted and information given whenever refugees and asylum-seekers are detained. Detention itself is no solution, in either the remedial or the preventive sense. It is symptomatic of a variety of real problems and needs covering the broad range of movements of people, and cannot be separated from causes or from the necessity to find appropriate durable solutions. Principles of international solidarity and burden-sharing may offer a basis for the improvement of the lot of refugees and asylum-seekers.     

Beyond control: the criminalization of African asylum seekers in Israel

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes the discursive process of criminalization of African asylum seekers in Israel. The Israeli case illuminates the way that marginalized social groups are constructed as a criminal threat, thus becoming a focal point of moral panic. Using content analysis, in-depth interviews and observations, we assert that the criminalization of asylum seekers is facilitated by their portrayal as ‘infiltrators’ who are beyond state control. State authorities’ ostensible inability to keep asylum seekers under surveillance is dialectically constructed along two main axes: the private space axis and the public space axis. On the private space axis, the asylum seekers are portrayed as unidentified people living beyond the authorities’ field of vision whose largely unreported criminality is directed against vulnerable asylum seeker women and children in the private sphere. At the same time, asylum seekers are portrayed as a prominent, faceless and animalistic presence in public space, a presence that breaches physical-spatial borders as well as social-cultural boundaries, thereby undermining the social order. Thus, asylum seekers are viewed as conspicuously invisible. This rhetoric connects border violation with criminal activity; emphasizes the pent-up potential for violence by asylum seekers; and blurs the lines between criminal threat and security threat.     

Analysing the creation of apartheid for asylum seekers in the UK

This article provides an examination of the contradictory conceptions of community and the misrepresentation of economic migration which have informed the UK Labour government's ‘modernisation’ of immigration and asylum policy. It does so by providing an outline of the provisions of the 1999 UK Immigration and Asylum Act‐in particular the new support system for asylum seekers‐and by examining the thinking which informs and justifies the legislation. It argues that UK immigration and asylum policy has continued to draw on notions of community which, in an unacknowledged way, relate to the categories of nation and ‘race’. It also argues that asylum policy is built on an ideological construction of the ‘economic migrant’ which is wholly misleading and lacks any serious evidential support. The article concludes that there is a continued, although unacknowledged, adherence to a version of British nationalism based on an ‘imagined community’ of nation which has long racialised particular groups of migrants and their descendants. The result is to maintain and modernise the racism of UK immigration controls. Este artículo ofrece una examen de los conceptos contradictorios de comunidad y de la tergiversación de la migración por razones económicas que han informado la modernización de la política del gobierno laborista del Reino Unido en cuanto a inmigración y asilo. Facilita el examen por un resumen de las disposiciones de la ley 1999 UK Immigration and Asylum Act‐en particular el nuevo sistema de apoyo para los que buscan asilo‐y por un examen del pensar que informa y justifica la legislación. Sostiene que la política del Reino Unido en materia de inmigración y asilo sigue haciendo uso de nociones de comunidad que, de una manera no reconocida, están relacionadas con categorías de nación y raza. También sostiene que la política en cuanto a asilo se basa en una construcción ideológica del ‘migrante por razones económicas’ que es a la vez engañosa y falta de pruebas serias. El artículo concluye que existe una adhesión continua, pero no reconida, a una versión de británico que se basa en una ‘comunidad imaginada’ de nación que por mucho tiempo ha discriminado por raza a ciertos grupos de migrantes y a sus descendientes. El resultado es el mantener y modernizar el racismo del control de immigración del Reino Unido.     

The role of critical social work education in improving ethical practice with refugees and asylum seekers

ABSTRACT

This paper uses critical reflection as its primary methodology to research one Master of Social Work student’s former practice experiences as an Australian immigration officer. The paper contextualizes the study by offering a critical analysis of hegemonic constructions of asylum seekers in Australia, which are reflected in Australian law and policy, as well as potentially influencing social work practice. Critical reflection on one of the author’s practice provides a rich case study that reveals the tensions of government-employed social workers in restrictive environments, and the espoused social justice values of the profession. The findings hold implications for both social work education and practice, suggesting that critical social work education, and in particular, the use of critical analysis and reflection, can improve ethical practice with refugees and asylum seekers.     

Digital Storytelling: putting young asylum seekers at the heart of the story

Abstract

As new stories from asylum seekers and refugees permeate the reality of European societies today, a whole new set of challenges and opportunities arise for building a common sense of belonging. Spaces for intercultural dialogue become crucial in connecting us all in a way that allows us to discover ‘the other’ through our own process of self-reflection and self-discovery. This paper presents our experience in working with a method of digital storytelling with a group of young asylum seekers and refugees living in Belgium and Sweden. It explores the need for adopting an intercultural perspective to our diverse societies by offering opportunities to get to know each other through our personal stories, going beyond the surface, and thus puts the focus on the potential of ‘the other’ in being an active part of the development of our common society.     

Participatory action research with asylum seekers and refugees experiencing stigma and discrimination: the experience from Scotland

Using evidence from a participatory action research process with over 100 asylum seekers and refugees in Scotland, this study explores participants’ views on mental health problems, stigma and discrimination. The study found that migration can have adverse effects on mental health and well-being, due to racism and the asylum process, and this is worsened by stigma and discrimination. This stigma is influenced by both social and cultural causal factors, including fear, past trauma, isolation, racism and the stress of the asylum process coupled with negative cultural beliefs about mental health problems. The paper considers the international relevance of this approach and the value of a model grounded in principles of community development and grassroots action.     

'All Doors are Closed to Us': a social model analysis of the experiences of disabled refugees and asylum seekers in Britain

In this article we undertake a social model analysis of the experiences of disabled refugees and asylum seekers, who are among the most socially and economically disadvantaged members of society in the UK today. The statuses of disability, refugee and minority ethnic group are each linked to discrimination and oppression (Oliver, M. (1990) The Politics of Disablement (London, Macmillan Press); Robinson, V. (1999) Journal of Refugee Studies, 12(1), pp. 78-87; Vernon, A. (1996) in: J. Morris (Ed.) Disability Studies: past, present and future (London, Womens Press), yet little consideration has been paid to the particular cumulative constellation of oppressions experienced by disabled refugees and asylum seekers.

In this article, several models are presented that demonstrate that disabled refugees and asylum seekers experience barriers to health and safety in their country of origin, such as impairment-creation through torture and war. Once in the UK barriers to social services, benefits and social contact prove similarly insurmountable.     

Forgiveness as a positive contributing factor on the mental wellbeing of Congolese refugees and asylum seekers post-war experience

ABSTRACT

The ongoing political violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has exposed female Congolese to traumatic events and adverse situations such as sexual violence, genocide, torture, political persecution, and the loss of loved ones, which have made them to leave their country. These traumatizing experiences negatively affect the mental wellbeing of Congolese. The study explored the impact of forgiveness on mental wellbeing among Congolese refugees and asylum seekers post-war experience. Ten female Congolese refugees and asylum seekers with post-war experience were purposely selected and interviewed through semi-structured interviews. Key findings of the study showed that forgiveness resulted in the improved mental wellbeing of Congolese female refugees and asylum seekers, with reduced anger, anxiety, depression, stress, and rumination. Forgiving participants reported that their mental wellbeing improved compared to those who found it difficult to forgive rebels and state forces causing war in DRC. These findings indicate the importance of incorporating forgiveness in mental wellbeing interventions to improve the mental wellbeing of war survivors. The study provides recommendations on how mental health practitioners can incorporate forgiveness in mental wellbeing interventions.     

In liberty's shadow: the discourse of refugees and asylum seekers in critical race theory and immigration law/politics

This article addresses the potential that a kind of engaged research can have in current battles for social justice and in the transformation of college curricula as a way to recover the original critical spirit of ethnic studies. Building on critical race theory, I discuss the work of NGOs such as Human Rights First and Americans for Immigrant Justice on behalf of Haitian refugees and the role of literature in inspiring human rights actions that might redefine practices of citizenship and belonging. At a time when the United States recognises the rights of refugees but criminalises the search for asylum, coalition building between ethnic studies discourse, the legal academy and the community is vital to affirm and protect the internationally recognised rights of refugees. Crucial in this process is the role played by stories as a way to humanise the often impersonal topic of the immigration debate.     

An exploration of gender differences in the relationship between work family conflict and gambling problems

The current study is an examination of gender differences in the experience of problems as a result of gambling. Using the framework of work–family conflict, this study compares men and women in terms of how their participation in work and family life relates to gambling problems as measured by the Problem Gambling Severity Index. Data from the 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey, a large representative sample of 28,687 participants in three Canadian provinces, is analysed with generalized linear modeling. The findings of this study show that simultaneously occupying the roles of married spouse and working spouse is associated with more gambling-related problems for women, but fewer for men. The study concludes with a discussion of how the intersection of problem gambling and important aspects of social life presents different problems for men and women due to gendered expectations surrounding work and family life. Implications for the findings in relation to trends of increased use of electronic gaming machines by gambling providers are also discussed.     

Radiological emergency response for community agencies with cognitive task analysis, risk analysis, and decision support framework

Radiological nuclear emergency responders must be able to coordinate evacuation and relief efforts following the release of radioactive material into populated areas. In order to respond quickly and effectively to a nuclear emergency, high-level coordination is needed between a number of large, independent organizations, including police, military, hazmat, and transportation authorities. Given the complexity, scale, time-pressure, and potential negative consequences inherent in radiological emergency responses, tracking and communicating information that will assist decision makers during a crisis is crucial. The emergency response team at the Angra dos Reis nuclear power facility, located outside of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, presently conducts emergency response simulations once every two years to prepare organizational leaders for real-life emergency situations. However, current exercises are conducted without the aid of electronic or software tools, resulting in possible cognitive overload and delays in decision-making. This paper describes the development of a decision support system employing systems methodologies, including cognitive task analysis and human-machine interface design. The decision support system can aid the coordination team by automating cognitive functions and improving information sharing. A prototype of the design will be evaluated by plant officials in Brazil and incorporated to a future trial run of a response simulation.     

A longitudinal analysis of mergers and acquisitions patterns of U.S. public relations agencies between 1984 and 2004

This study was designed to examine the trends of M&As (mergers and acquisitions) in the public relations industry from 1980 to 2004. The results revealed that although M&A activities in the public relations industry increased in the decade between the early 1980s and early 1990s, they began to drop in the early 1990s. Also, it was found that public relations firms acquired or were acquired by other public relations firms.