The minority within the minority: Refugee community-based organisations in the UK and the impact of restrictionism on asylum-seekers

Promoting male refugees’ mental health after they have been granted leave to remain (refugee status)

“…Isolation represents a key issue in male refugees, particularly because, as Herrman, Kaplan and Szwarc (2010) indicate, they often arrive alone in the UK with the aim of getting their status and then to reunite the family. Much more therefore needs to be done to support male refugees to build networks as these are essential in promoting and maintaining mental health (Berkman and Glass, 2000), as well as enhancing their sense of belonging, their confidence and self-esteem (Burnett and Peel 2001;Sales 2002;Zetter and Pearl 2000). In this regard, participants indicated that a step towards their integration into society was for them to volunteer in organization such as those from which they were recruited for this study, that male refugees should be provided similar opportunities.…”

Embedded Integration and Organisational Change in Housing Providers in the UK

“…While integration theory emphasises the importance of two-way adaption and the role of institutions, most conceptual attention has focused on the ways in which migrant integration outcomes might be understood or measured (Zetter and Pearl, 2000;Ager and Strang, 2008;Phillimore and Goodson, 2008), rather than how the adaptation of institutions may be understood. In this respect, the concept of mixed embeddedness is useful.…”

Accommodating ‘others’?: housing dispersed, forced migrants in the UK

“…However, it was widely acknowledged by respondents in our study that failed asylum seekers/'overstayers' increasingly rely on other forced migrants, to meet their basic housing needs (cf. Craig et al 2004b;Spencer, 2004 The potentially positive role of refugee community organisations (RCOs) in providing support for forced migrants has been widely noted (Carter & El-Hassan, 2003;Zetter and Pearl, 2000;Carey-Wood 1997) and a number of key informants discussed their growing role in providing basic shelter for destitute forced migrants. It is clear, however, that ad hoc support provided by RCOs is insufficient to meet increasing needs.…”

“…NASS was a hasty solution to pressing problems. The resultant 'fragmentation of service delivery' (Zetter and Pearl, 2000) and the inadequate and substandard housing endured by some asylum seekers are outcomes of a poorly conceived policy, implemented with little strategic direction (Pearl and Zetter, 2002).…”