Taking control and reorienting future aspirations: how young refugees in Denmark navigate life between integration and repatriation

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article offers important empirical insights into young refugees’ resettlement experiences, meanwhile, Danish integration policies underwent a radical turn from integration towards repatriation. Through a qualitative longitudinal study, I followed a group of young refugees (aged 18–24) from two Danish municipalities for a two-year period (2018–2020). Applying photovoice exercises and repeated in-depth interviews, I explored their experiences as they resettled in their new environment. In this article, I zoom in on young refugees’ capacities to aspire and their engagements in future-orientated activities, while trying to create a life for themselves during a policy-induced dilemma, which simultaneously incited their integration and repatriation. While young refugees demonstrated great capacity to act and find new pathways through difficult situations, these tended to be temporary. The political focus on repatriation kept the young refugees in prolonged uncertainty, which affected their capacities to aspire as well as their engagement in future-oriented activities.