Closing pathways: refugee-background students and tertiary education

Abstract

Recent changes to policies and funding for tertiary education are exacerbating an already difficult situation for refugees aiming to earn university degrees. No one intended to create the barriers that the refugee-background community faces; government agencies continue attempts to improve educational outcomes for those who arrive as refugees. The root causes of this situation are the complexity of the refugee situation and a lack of holistic knowledge about this diverse group of New Zealand residents among policy makers and educators. In addition, the complexity of interactions among policy changes and refugee situations has prevented any single agency from predicting outcomes of its policies for refugee-background students. In this paper, I discuss how new policies interact with a range of existing barriers faced by refugees pursuing degrees and how, without urgent attention, this will constrict or close pathways into and through university study. I further suggest that the strongest foundation for an effective program to provide equitable access to university education is including refugee-background students among those groups who receive equity consideration.     

Family separation and the impacts on refugee settlement in Australia

In recent years, governments, researchers, non‐government organisations, service providers and international institutions have become increasingly concerned with how to best support the settlement of refugees in UNHCR resettlement nations. Anxieties about the formation of a refugee underclass and the intergenerational impacts of social stratification motivate such inquiries. Settlement is often viewed through either of two lenses; the biomedical frame or the social inclusion frame. These frameworks are complementary rather than exclusive. It is from this combined theoretical perspective that this paper explores the impacts of family separation on the settlement of refugees in Australia. Drawing on focus groups and in‐depth interviews across three refugee background communities in metropolitan Melbourne, the paper finds that family separation has pervasive impacts on the wellbeing of the participants and on their capacity to participate and direct their own futures. Family separation is found to be a barrier to settlement and therefore a crucial consideration for the design and provision of settlement services to people with refugee backgrounds.     

An intervention strategy for improving social adaptation among female North Korean refugees

This study investigated the effect of TSL (Thank you, Sorry, Love) family therapy on social adaptation and health among female North Korean refugees in South Korean society. A quasi-experimental design was used to test the programme's effects as measured by changes in female North Korean refugees' scores on a test of social adaptation and in SDNN (Standard Deviation of heart rate Normal-to-Normals) scores. Results suggest that the programme intervention for the treatment group caused a significant increase in social adaptation, relative to a comparison group. Health improvements were also observed as changes in SDNN scores were significant.     

Environmental Refugees? Classifying Human Migrations Caused by Environmental Change

What distinguishes environmental refugees from other refugees—or other migrants? Are all environmental refugees alike? This essay develops a classification to begin to answer these questions and facilitate future policies and research on environmental refugees. Environmental refugees may have considerable control over the decision to migrate, but this varies by the type of environmental disruption. The origin, intention, and duration of environmental disruptions shape the type of refugee. Refugees from disasters and expropriations have limited control over whether environmental changes will produce migration. Gradual degradation allows “environmental emigrants” to determine how they will respond to environmental change.     

论清代对灾后流民的防范和安置

清代对灾后流民的预防大体可分为未赈之前和已赈之后两种情形，其办法是劝告和清查户口，但由于救济不力和人口的压力，灾民外流的现象仍很普遍。为了让灾民尽快回原籍恢复生产，清政府采取了资送和留养的政策，对那些愿意回籍的灾民给予一定的费用，由官府派员护送回籍；对那些一时难以回籍的灾民先留养再资送。由于大量无业流民冒充灾后流民领取资送和留养费用，再加上有些灾民回原籍后仍会复出，致使这一政策的效果大打折扣。乾隆皇帝曾经想废止这一政策，但各地对流民的资送和留养并未真正停止。     

欺骗与屠杀——南京大屠杀期间日军对南京难民的统治措施

日军在南京沦陷后,一方面采取了野蛮的大屠杀,另一方面又对南京难民进行了种种的欺骗,包括舆论欺骗,难民登记,发放良民证等。在这屠杀与欺骗的背后,既是日军战时体制的自然延伸,又包含有国际与国内对日军认识不清而导致对日举措失当。正是这种种原因致使南京难民们经历了空前的梦魇与痛苦,成为国人心中永远的痛。     

Educating refugee-background students in Australian schools and universities

The Australian federal government recently set a challenging national aim: By 2020, 20% of higher education enrolment at the undergraduate level will include students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Although refugee-background students are often members of the targeted sub-population, their educational journeys frequently require special forms of support to ensure academic success. This article reports and discusses the findings of a multisite, qualitative study of refugee-background learners across three regional areas. Based on semi-structured interview data, participants from three universities and six high schools identified three primary domains that educators must address to promote student success: prior life experiences, language development and the culture of learning environments.     

Making good citizens: local authorities’ integration measures navigate national policies and local realities

ABSTRACT

Using the case of Odense (Denmark), this article explores how, in the process of devising and implementing integration measures, local authorities mitigate between the demands of national-level integration policies and the local realities. It shows that Odense's local authorities combined local resources into a variety of horizontal governance structures geared towards supporting refugees’ integration, and engaged in vertical interactions responding to local priorities. The study finds that new governance structures emerging at sub-national create opportunities for refugees and help their integration. However, inequalities between national and sub-national levels may have negative consequences for refugees’ integration outcomes.