1. Refugees, Asylum & Exile
Ruba Salih
Gendering Migration & Diasporas
Lecture 3

2. Overview Refugees Asylum & Exile Voluntary & Forced Migration
Migration/Asylum Nexus
Refugee Studies
Women in Forced Migration
Gender & Forced Migration
Readings
Proposed Questions

3. Defining Refugees
1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees: a refugee is “a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution”
1967 Protocol: “include persons who have fled war or other violence in their home country”
Environmental refugees (people displaced because of environmental problems such as drought) are not included in the definition of "refugee" under international law, neither are
Internally displaced people (IDP)

4. Asylum
Right of asylum (or political asylum) is an ancient judicial notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or Church sanctuaries (as in medieval times).
Asylum seeker
Increased vilification of asylum seekers: “illegal alien”, “undocumented” or “irregular” migrants

5. Exile To be away from one’s home & being unable to return
Internal exile
External exile
Deportation
Government in Exile
“State of mind”
“Cultures of exile”, see, for example:

6. Some numbers (2004) Refugees (1951 Convention definition)
9.7 million (recognised by UNHCR)
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
25 m (13 m of them in Africa)
Development Induced Displacement
10 million a year (World Bank)
Environmental change and disasters Numbers unknown

7. Forced vs. Voluntary Migration
Voluntary migration (choice, agency): labour, education, family unification
Forced Migration (no choice, no agency): persecution, war, conflict, violence, environmental disaster
Mixed migration : new forms blurring the boundaries?

8. Forced Migration Paradigm
1. Forced migrants distinctive experience & needs?
2. Focus on the great and increasing numbers of forced migrants
3. Distinction more based in our needs rather than reflecting complex empirical realities
Anthony Richmond (1994)
Nicholas van Hear (1998)

9. Migration/Asylum Nexus
Growing difficulty in separating between forced and economic migration
Closely related causes of forced and economic migration
Increasing similarities in the migratory process for both categories
Common responses: lack of differentiation between asylum seekers and irregular migrants

10. Problems with Refugee Studies
Homogenization & Generalization
Refugee as male
Emphasis on legal & political dimension
Tension between research & practice
Macro-level analysis
Neglect of ‘experience’
Invisibility of women
“Gender” marginalized analytical categories
No intersectional analyses (class, gender, ethnicity, race, sexuality etc.)

11. Women in Forced Migration
Women in Forced Migration (WIFM)
Recognition of special experiences of women
Disadvantages in situations of forced migration
Topics include: women’s experiences of causes for forced migration (war, conflict, political repression, natural disasters); experiences of flight & refugee camps; livelihoods; entry into labour markets
women seeking asylum

12. Gender and Forced Migration
Gender and Forced Migration (GAFM)
“Engendering Knowledge” in the study and practice of forced migration
Relations of power, privilege and prestige informed by situated notions of maleness and femaleness
Topics include motivations/reasons for migration, migration flows, gender-specific violence before, during and after flight, experiences within refugee camps, receiving countries, legal dimensions, impact on identities & sense of self; gender ideologies roles & relations

13. Humanitarian Assistance & Women’s Rights
Developments in law
Impact of major international conferences
Women’s rights as human rights
CEDAW (1979)
UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women
Sexual abuse and rape recognized as war crime
UNHCR adoption of guidelines for the protection of women

14. Excellent Resource http://www.forcedmigration.org/
For short videos, see