The Ethical and Practical Challenges of Archiving Refugee Accounts: Reflections from Two Research Projects in the UK

Emma Stewart,Marnie Shaffer

doi:10.1177/0759106321995707

Abstract

Since the 2015 ‘refugee crisis’, the lens of researchers has been increasingly focused upon asylum seekers and refugees around the world. Nevertheless, working in the field of refugee studies poses several methodological and data challenges. For example, there is a relative paucity of detailed statistical data on refugee stocks, which has led to researchers favouring the collection of personal, qualitative stories from refugee populations. Although this produces a substantial volume of rich narratives, these can be geographically and temporally specific. The collection of qualitative data is also expensive, time consuming, and labour intensive. Therefore, alongside the increasing institutional and mandatory demands to deposit qualitative material in open access repositories, there is growing recognition of the value of archiving refugee accounts. There are also significant challenges in archiving refugee interview transcripts to enhance broader knowledge. In this paper, we discuss the process of archiving refugee accounts to highlight the practical and ethical challenges of depositing sensitive material. Specifically, we draw upon the archival process that was required upon completion of two Research Council funded projects in the UK. This involved the preparation and depositing of interview transcripts from over 100 refugees. Key challenges that arose included the need to uphold interviewees’ confidentiality, the process of anonymisation, and determining the level of access to grant future users. Subsequent issues have involved responding to data requests, permitting selective release of data, and stipulating conditions for release. We then reflect more widely upon the tensions we encountered between procedural and micro-ethics, namely the difference between decisions based upon rules rather than judgement. In doing so, we consider key processes and highlight best practice to be adopted in the future archival of refugee stories.

Highlights

In recent years, there has been a marked increase of secular and academic interest in refugee migration driven by the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015
There is a lack of practical guidance available to researchers on the process of curating, depositing and archiving refugee accounts, which this paper aims to address
This is important since the mandatory requirement to archive data leads to researchers and funding institutions facing everyday challenges caused by the practicalities of archiving, and the inevitable tensions that arise between procedural and micro-ethics

Summary

Introduction

There has been a marked increase of secular and academic interest in refugee migration driven by the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015. The methodological, ethical, and data challenges facing academic and independent researchers in this field have been well documented (Stewart, 2004; Pittaway et al, 2010; Block et al, 2013; Dona, 2007). There is a lack of practical guidance available to researchers on the process of curating, depositing and archiving refugee accounts, which this paper aims to address. This is important since the mandatory requirement to archive data leads to researchers and funding institutions facing everyday challenges caused by the practicalities of archiving, and the inevitable tensions that arise between procedural and micro-ethics. Our aim is to reflect upon our personal experiences of depositing refugee accounts with the purpose of illuminating how this reflexive approach can inform national archiving guidelines for vulnerable populations

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion