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.     

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.     

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’.     

Migrants and asylum seekers: policy responses in the United States to immigrants and refugees from Central America and the Caribbean

This article analyzes the complex political environment of US immigration and refugee policies in which tensions exist, especially with regard to Central America and the Caribbean. Recommendations for managing it more effectively in the future are discussed. Several western countries, including the US, have implemented stricter restriction policies as a result of the perceived threats to their economies and cultural homogeneity. In general, US immigration policy has addressed both economic concerns and domestic pressures, whereas US refugee policy has reflected foreign policy concerns. As a result of these policies, there has been an increasing number of immigrants from Mexico, as well as huge numbers of refugees from Cuba and Nicaragua. Yet, there has been limited acceptance of asylum seekers from Haiti, El Salvador and Guatemala. Among the policies passed by the US Congress to reduce illegal immigration and limit assistance to legal immigrants were the Welfare Reform Act, Illegal Immigration Reform, Immigration Responsibility Act of 1996, and the Proposition 187 movement. Revisions in the procedures of the Immigration and Naturalization Service were also made.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Ferry quarantine: The pandemic as a pretext to deny healthcare access to undocumented migrants and asylum seekers in Italy

The outbreak of COVID-19 forced national governments and health authorities worldwide to adopt measures aimed at protecting population health, most of which resulted in prolonged restrictions to individual freedom(s) and fundamental rights. In some cases, the pandemic represented a pretext for macroscopic and unjustified human rights violations, as in the case of the “ferry quarantine,” that is the use of commercial boats by the Italian Government to forcibly isolate migrants and asylum seekers from the rest of the population. Such a measure does not have any rationale at the epidemiological level and poses serious obstacles to the provision of adequate care to vulnerable people such as migrants and asylum seekers. The pandemic has been used as a pretext to implement discriminatory and disproportionate measures whose effect has been denying healthcare access to undocumented migrants and asylum seekers.     

Children's experiences of disability: pointers to a social model of childhood disability

The social model of disability has paid little attention to disabled children, with few attempts to explore how far it provides an adequate explanatory framework for their experiences. This paper reports findings from a two-year study exploring the lived experiences of 26 disabled children aged 7-15. They experienced disability in four ways—in terms of impairment, difference, other people's behaviour towards them, and material barriers. Most young people presented themselves as similar to non-disabled children: it is suggested they may have lacked a positive language with which to discuss difference. It is further argued that Thomas's (1999) social relational model of disability can help inform understandings of children's experiences, with 'barriers to being' having particular significance.     

Health,social integration and social support: The lived experiences of young Middle-Eastern refugees living in Melbourne,Australia

Based on the therapeutic landscape theory, this paper examines how young Middle-Eastern refugee individuals perceive their health and wellbeing and addresses the barriers they face in their new homeland and the means that helped them to form social connections in their new social environment. Qualitative methods (in-depth interviews and mapping activities) were conducted with ten young people from refugee backgrounds. Thematic analysis method was used to analyse the data. Findings suggested that the young refugees face various structural and cultural inequalities that significantly influenced their health and wellbeing. Mental wellbeing was their greatest health concern. All participants reported the significant influence of the English language on their ability to adapt and form connections with their social environment. The presence of positive social support in their new social environment had a great impact on the health and wellbeing of the participants. The findings of this study contributed to the role of therapeutic landscapes and social support in helping young refugees to feel that they belonged to the society, and hence assisted them to better adapt to their new living situation.     

Physical and social barriers to social relationships: voices of rural disabled women in the USA

Through exploring the lived experiences of disabled women, this study investigates how physical and social barriers affect their social relationships. In‐depth tape‐recorded interviews investigating a variety of social and interpersonal issues were conducted with 24 women with physical or visual impairments who lived in a rural region of the midwestern USA. Using content analysis, the researchers examined interview data for common themes and patterns relating to social relationships. The findings indicate that physical barriers, related to the physical environment and personal physicality, along with social barriers, involving preconceptions of others about impairment and restrictions in personal networks, hamper the initiation and maintenance of social relationships. Further, the experiences of this group of disabled women corresponded most closely with the premises of a social relational understanding of disability.     

The social organization of migration: an analysis of the uprooting and flight of Vietnamese refugees

Using a snowball sampling technic, this study, based on interviews with 70 Indochinese refugees living in a western Canadian city, examines the flight of Vietnamese refugees as volitional and socially purposive behavior. The act of becoming a refugee is usually not perceived to be a process of rational organization or the skillful mobilization of resources. 2 interrelated tasks in the preflight process can be identified as that of material, social, and psychological preparation, and that of the formation of flight groups. These 2 tasks require active deliberation and problem solving in overcoming intervening obstacles. The social ties that people had forced them to organize flight for themselves and others and also provided assistance in preparing for flight. People who faced the same obstacles but failed to become refugees did not flee either because they chose not to or because they were not able to become part of the social organization for flight that made departure possible for so many. Also, the formation of flight groups meant that many more potential refugees were able to take flight than otherwise would have been the case for individuals. The social organization for flight was largely of an ad hoc nature. It is the ability of persons to collectively aggregate resources through transitory teams that translates a refugee situation into actual flight. Access to the resource of migration depends on economic factors, social ties, and entrepreneurial abilities. Refugee flight can represent a creative mobilization of available resources to obtain a deeply desired end.     

Access to higher education for disabled students in South Africa: a contradictory conjuncture of benevolence, rights and the social model of disability

The structures of support services for disabled students in the South African higher education system find themselves in a contradictory conjuncture of rights, benevolence and the social model of disability. To elucidate this argument, this paper (a) outlines the status of support provisions for disabled students in South Africa; (b) compares the state of these support provisions with those of the UK and the USA; (c) compares the different paths taken by South Africa and the developed countries in general towards disability rights. It concludes that South Africa seems to be moving along a contradictory path and that it should make a commitment to prioritize equal access to higher education for disabled students.     

Inclusion in Singapore: a social model analysis of disability policy

A rhetoric of inclusion and increased social spending within a global context of austerity cuts has dominated disability policies in Singapore today. However, there is a lack of academic works that take a critical disability studies view towards the analysis of disability in Singapore. This work aims to address this gap by adopting a critical social model-led analysis of disability policies in Singapore. The article examines the rhetoric of inclusion, how disability is defined and its implementation through various policies in Singapore. It will examine the underpinnings of disability in Singapore today and its impact on the lives of disabled people.     

Behind Closed Doors: An Exploration of Kinky Sexual Behaviors in Urban Lesbian and Bisexual Women

This study of 347 urban, self-identified lesbian (n = 289) and bisexual (n = 58) women examined women's engaging in 4 kinky sexual behaviors: bondage/domination, sadomasochism, photo/video exhibitionism, and asphyxiation/breath play. A cross-sectional, brief-intercept survey was administered at 2 New York City gay, lesbian, and bisexual community events. Over 40% reported engaging in at least 1 of these behaviors, and 25% reported engaging in multiple behaviors. Bisexual women were more likely to have engaged in any kinky sexual behavior and photo/video exhibitionism. White women were more likely than women of color to have engaged in bondage/domination. Compared to older women, younger women were more likely to have engaged in photo/video exhibitionism and asphyxiation/breath play. Participants who were younger when they came out to others, and younger at their same-sex sexual debut, were more likely to have engaged in any and each of the behaviors compared to women who were older at those developmental events.     

Responses of the social work profession to unaccompanied children seeking asylum in the Republic of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland is rapidly developing immigration legislation and policies to respond to its relatively new status as a destination for asylum seekers and refugees within the European Union. New political definitions of asylum seekers and refugees are being constructed in a country with its own history of mass emigration. At the same time, the economic growth that is making Ireland a more attractive destination for asylum seekers and refugees has also fuelled an unprecedented expansion in the employment of social workers. Specialized services are now being developed for unaccompanied children who are seeking asylum. This expansion in the number of social workers and growth in service provision has led to little professional debate about the role of social workers with asylum seekers and refugees. This paper examines the questions raised by the provision of social work services to these children and considers the wider implications for the development of the social work profession and social work practices in Ireland.