Seeing Like a Refugee Agency: A Short History of UNHCR Classifications in Central Africa (1961–2015)

Glasman, Joël

doi:10.1093/jrs/few044

Cited by 42 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…People are granted with asylum when they "prove" that their "well-founded fear of persecution" is justified. Critically-oriented scholars researching forced migration have tried to go beyond seeing the reality through the lens of the UNHCR and expanded this understanding of force/coercion to other factors such as environmental catastrophes, accelerated development, material deprivation, hunger, and civil unrest (Glasman 2017, Zetter 2007. Others emphasized that non-migration may also be forced and introduced the concept of "involuntary immobility" (Lubkemann 2008).…”

Section: Questioning Force and Coercion In Forced Migration And Border Regime Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forced (im)mobilities en route: ‘Justified’ violence of the border regime in Balkans

Jovanović

2021

Glas Etnogr inst

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In this article, I explore the violent consequences of the post-2015 EU border regime for people from the Global South lingering through the Balkans. I intend to show that securing EU?s external borders through asylum and border management in Balkans is based on coercion and force, despite the efforts of the people on the move to transgress these borders and achieve decent lives. The efforts of people on the move to cross borders - which are officially closed for them - could be understood as force as well. Regardless of the legal status and ?motives? of displacement, people waiting and moving on the ?Balkan route? experience situations characterized by structural, direct, and cultural violence and respond to these situations in different ways. Pointing out to more or less hidden patterns of violence occurring at the EU?s external borders in the Balkans may challenge popular categorizations that at the same time oppress and protect people on the move. These patterns of violence are justified - but not justifiable - by the securitization of EU and national borders. By displacing violence as the so-called ?push? factor from the countries of initial displacement (i.e. countries of the Global South), I aim to acknowledge that it continues to be perpetrated en route. Patterns of violence in the Balkans further produce forced mobilities and forced immobilities. People on the move cope with these forced (im)mobilities in different ways.

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Section: Questioning Force and Coercion In Forced Migration And Border Regime Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forced (im)mobilities en route: ‘Justified’ violence of the border regime in Balkans

Jovanović

2021

Glas Etnogr inst

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“…Politische und bürgerliche Unterdrückung wurden als legitimer Fluchtgrund angesehen, materielle Entbehrungen, Dürre und Hunger hingegen nicht. Auch überrascht es wenig, dass Kolonialismus als legitimer Fluchtgrund nicht aufgeführt wird (Glasman 2017;Nyanduga 2004;Krause 2021).…”

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Universal norms do not fall from the sky

Glasman

2022

Z Friedens und Konflforsch

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ZusammenfassungIn der humanitären Hilfe fungiert das „Lokale“ zunehmend als asymmetrischer Gegenbegriff des „Universalen“: Es bezeichnet den Einzelfall, das Althergebrachte, alles, was nicht als wirklich international und allgemein anwendbar gilt Doch auch universale Werte entstehen in zeitlich und lokal spezifischen Kontexten. Die Geschichte internationaler Institutionen macht deutlich, dass hinter Normen identifizierbare Orte und Personen stehen, die nicht zuletzt ihre eigenen Interessen verfolgen. Der Universalisierung einer Norm gehen stets Machtkämpfe voraus. Dieser Beitrag zeigt anhand von drei Beispielen – Flüchtlingskonvention, Menschenrechten, Grundsatz der Unparteilichkeit – wie Machtkämpfe in der internationalen Hilfe ausgetragen werden. Wer universelle Normen verteidigen will, ist gut beraten, sich über deren Geschichtlichkeit bewusst zu sein.

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“…The present-day demography of Africa's uprooted is quantified by these categories to inform policymakers and purveyors of aid, to solicit funds from donors and to amplify the situation with the urgency of crisis (Glasman 2017). Yet this "crisis" narrative has a decidedly presentist and policy-oriented focus.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such classifications have persisted and become entrenched among government aid agencies, international relief organisations and scholars. Indeed, today's policy categories continue to orient the field of refugee studies (Bakewell 2008;Glasman 2017).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical perspectives on contemporary refuge seeking in Africa

Terretta

Janzen

2021

Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des étud

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This introduction elaborates the aims of the Special Issue, African Refuge | Refuge africain, which are: considering African refuge seeking over the span of a century; moving beyond the classifications that orient annual reporting on refugee statistics; delving into the politics of refuge seeking; and blurring distinctions between refuge seekers and hosts, exiles and humanitarians. The research presented in this issue demonstrates that, whether in the past or in the present, Africa's uprooted are not a problem to be solved. Considered with a broader historical scope, they are people who withdraw from a place they once called home because of circumstances they faced there. Refuge seeking is not a policy category, a legal classification or an international protocol. Rather, it is the practice of defying uniform aid prescriptions engaged by those for whom it is too problematic to remain at home. RÉSUMÉCette introduction expose les objectifs du numéro spécial, African Refuge | Refuge africain, qui sont les suivants : l'examen de la recherche de refuge en Afrique sur une période d'un siècle ; le dépassement des classifications qui orientent les rapports annuels sur les statistiques relatives aux réfugiés ; l'exploration approfondie de la politique de recherche de refuge ; et le brouillage des distinctions entre les demandeurs d'asile et les hôtes, les exilés et les humanitaires. La recherche présentée dans ce numéro démontre que, dans le passé comme dans le présent, les déracinés de l'Afrique ne sont pas un problème à résoudre. Pris en considération dans une perspective historique plus large, ce sont des personnes qui se retirent d'un lieu qu'elles appelaient autrefois leur foyer, en raison de circonstances qu'elles y rencontraient. La recherche de refuge n'est pas une catégorie politique, une classification juridique ou un protocole international. Il s'agit plutôt de la pratique consistant à défier les prescriptions uniformes en matière d'aide engagées par ceux pour qui il est trop problématique de rester chez eux.

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Seeing Like a Refugee Agency: A Short History of UNHCR Classifications in Central Africa (1961–2015)

Cited by 42 publications

References 23 publications

Forced (im)mobilities en route: ‘Justified’ violence of the border regime in Balkans

Forced (im)mobilities en route: ‘Justified’ violence of the border regime in Balkans

Universal norms do not fall from the sky

Historical perspectives on contemporary refuge seeking in Africa

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