Resettlement Schemes Research Articles

Mapping Women’s Memories of Britain’s Forced Resettlement Scheme in Late Colonial Kenya, c. 1953–1960

Abstract This article maps the memories of Gĩkũyũ women and girls who were forcibly concentrated during the 1950s emergency period in Kenya. Using Britain’s strategy of ‘villagization’, it considers the unique forms of surveillance and violence deployed against women understood as the ‘backbone’ of the anti-colonial Mau Mau movement. By analysing colonial records and women’s oral testimonies, the article examines civilian relationships to coercively designed counterinsurgency environments. It situates these ‘villages’ into a longer tradition of Britain’s carceral landscape across colonial states, offering fresh insights to established histories of violence, gender, and colonialism.

From the Translocal to the Multi‐Sited Transnational: Tracing Rohingya Refugee Networks in India

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the transnational and translocal experiences of the Rohingya in India, a stateless, refugee community forcibly displaced from Myanmar, onward migrants from Bangladesh, who currently occupy a legally precarious space in India. Drawing on approximately 90 interviews conducted with refugees, community leaders and NGOs across three Indian cities, along with informal group discussions and field notes, this paper makes two arguments that shed light on the complex, multi‐factorial ways in which networks are rebuilt in displacement as well as the emerging characteristics of Rohingya onward migration in Asia. First, that early generations of Rohingya in India leveraged translocal network building spaces and encounters to rebuild their networks with others in the community and create translocal networks of care and support with local civil society actors, cementing the notion of a ‘Rohingya refugee community’ in India. Second, that the gradual internationalisation of the Rohingya crisis as well as the transnationalisation of the Rohingya diaspora in the last decade through multiple waves of displacement, onward migration and resettlement schemes has prompted a shift towards multi‐sited transnationalism, particularly reflected in the emergence of multi‐sited transnational families, digital transnational spaces among younger refugees and extended diasporic networks.

The UK's ‘Safe and Legal’ Humanitarian Routes: from Colonial Ties to Privatising Protection

AbstractIn this article, the UK's ‘safe and legal (humanitarian) routes’ are evaluated by examining how they are positioned in the post‐Brexit migration regime, and how these domestic provisions compare to those underwritten by international protections. The Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas)—HK BN(O)s—and Ukraine visa schemes are an area of focus which, combined, account for the vast majority of those arriving in the UK for the purposes of humanitarian protections since Brexit. Despite being formally presented under the same banner, the schemes have significant differences in terms of eligibility criteria, costs, rights and entitlements. Moreover, on closer inspection, while they share an overarching policy vision informed by foreign policy priorities, these new provisions are underpinned by different genealogies and policy logics. While the HK BN(O) scheme is rooted in the tradition of ancestry visas and colonial entanglements and requires that potential beneficiaries pay for protections, the Ukrainian schemes are more closely aligned with recent refugee resettlement schemes and share with them the push towards greater involvement of private and community stakeholders in humanitarian protection.

The Principle of Substitution: The Argentine Contribution to Private Sponsorship Schemes?

This paper provides a critical review of the first private sponsorship scheme to be introduced into Latin America in the last decade, the Syria Program, which has been in place in Argentina since 2014. Though the national and international bodies involved in the initiative (including the International Organization for Migration, UNHCR, and the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative) have described it as a good practice, a content analysis of their publications indicates that their interpretations may be overly rosy. Unlike refugee sponsorship schemes that have appeared in other countries, the Argentine private sponsorship program does not complement a public state resettlement scheme but rather appears to replace it.

Between Land Reform and Postcolonial Frustration: Understanding the Social Roots of Local Opposition to the PAIGC/PAICV in Santo Antão, Cabo Verde, 1975–91

AbstractThis study discusses the processes of increasing social malaise and an “oppositional mood” in the Cape Verdean island of Santo Antão, where growing frustration between 1975 and 1990 led to the building of massive political opposition against the single-party regime in the archipelago. Early scrutiny of the shortcomings of independent administration, anger about the installation of a new police force, resettlement schemes, a failed agrarian reform, regime violence to achieve that reform, and a generalised mood of decline in the second half of the 1980s, constitute different elements explaining the unrest in that island. Based on newly available, local archives as an innovative source, the interpretation of a remote Cape Verdean opposition island also addresses the potential of studying opposition against “winning parties” and regimes after independence in wider regional frameworks, referring to discontent and “oppositional mood” elsewhere in postcolonial (Lusophone) Africa.

Exploring Imagined Temporalities in Resettlement Workers’ Narratives: Renegotiating Temporal and Emotional Boundaries in Post-Brexit Britain

This paper develops the concept of ‘imagined temporalities’ to explore multiple temporal subjectivities, time cultures, ‘myths’, and realities evident in interviews with resettlement workers who were part of the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) in Merseyside, United Kingdom (UK). Conducted in 2019, the interviews took place as the triggering of Article 50 signalled the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (EU). This period of unprecedented social, economic, and political changes formed a crucial backdrop framing our interviewees’ narratives. The views of resettlement workers have been little explored and are employed here to complement the insights provided by work undertaken by others with refugees and asylum seekers. This research provides important insights into their perceptions of the interplay of factors that affect belonging and access to supports for refugees and asylum seekers, revealing wider, largely underreported, concerns.1 These include, their own personal experiences working in support services and system changes, driven by growing socio-political pressures that impact on community-building among refugees during their resettlement. Significantly, debates about “Brexit” and the UK’s political future, as well as heated public discussions of the historical legacies of colonialism which underpin the present treatment of migrants, are reflected in these resettlement workers’ views as well. Subsequently, this paper employs the concept of ‘imagined temporalities’ to explore how support workers understand the treatment of migrants by social and political systems—and their own personal struggles and hopes,—against this wider, divisive post-Brexit backdrop. Overall, the paper underlines the highly politicised space the resettlement workers operate in, where they balance the needs of service users in the midst of constraints imposed by overly rigid time regimes.

Resettlement and land rights: Implication on land use and land cover change in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, resettlement schemes have been widely implemented in response to famine and food insecurity. Since 2003, planned resettlement initiatives have been carried out, considering farm households’ willingness as a pivotal factor. To enhance the attractiveness of the resettlement program, the Amhara regional state attempted to offer resettlers dual landholding rights. These rights encompassed perpetual landholding in the new settlement and a three-year guarantee against losing their landholdings in the old settlement if they chose to leave due to discomfort. This study aimed to address conceptual and empirical gaps in understanding the relationship between the resettlement process, land rights/tenure, and changes in land use and land cover (LULC) within this new approach. The goal was to provide policy directions. Employing a socio-spatial research methodology, data was generated using GIS techniques, questionnaires, and focus group discussions. The study found that unrestricted encroachment into woodlands and grazing lands has led to severe LULC changes in the study area. The land use land cover change analysis between 2003 and 2016 indicated that the forest cover and bushland decreased by 3,879.18 ha and 2,810.16 ha respectively, and conversely farmland has increased by 5,814.09 ha. Furthermore, due to the absence of clear property rights definitions and the provision of dual land rights, many resettlers opted to maximize benefits from both land possessions rather than establishing a settled life in the new settlement area. Despite the innovative nature of the resettlement program with its focus on providing dual land rights to relieve pressure in degraded highlands and transform livelihoods in more productive lowland areas, the initiative faced challenges in controlling land rights and management issues in both the old and new resettlement areas. Observations in these areas contradicted the presumption of the new resettlement policy, aiming to bolster farmers' livelihood security and environmental protection. This study underscores the intricate and multi-dimensional nature of the relationship between resettlement, land rights/tenure, and LULC changes in Ethiopia. To ensure the success of innovative resettlement programs, robust institutions supported by policy frameworks that comprehensively consider social, economic, political, and technical elements impacting resettlement are imperative. The study also recommends the implementation of a consolidated land governance system from the outset, complemented by a strong monitoring and evaluation system, to effectively address resettlers' land rights and obligations, thereby improved livelihoods and efficient land use and management could be advanced in the settlement areas.

From Promised Land to Perilous Plight: Unpacking Tensions, Contestations and Marginalisation in Resettlement Schemes of Zimbabwe

Phase 1 of the Land Reform Programme soon after independence redistributed land previously owned by white farmers to the majority of black Zimbabweans. In understanding this phase, previous studies have emphasised on how it was structured, the tenure systems, the beneficiaries and land use patterns. However, the existing socio-political landscape, livelihoods and well-being of resettled farmers have been understudied. This article examines tensions between resettled farmers and illegal settlers using empirical qualitative data from a case study in the Nyajezi resettlement scheme, Nyanga District. The article presents new forms of conflicts, contestations and marginalisation in resettlement schemes.

Refugee Integration Outcomes cohort study: Evidence for policy and planning

Evidence on refugee integration outcomes in the UK is lacking, partly due to an absence of datasets which permit refugees to be identified. The RIO longitudinal cohort study designed in collaboration with the Home Office aims to address this by linking administrative data longitudinally.
 RIO covers cohorts granted asylum and refugees resettled in England & Wales via the Vulnerable Persons and Vulnerable Children’s resettlement Schemes between 2015 and 2020. Linked data include the Personal Demographics Service from the NHS and Exit Checks from the Home Office. Census 2021 data have also been linked to the study. Deterministic linkage algorithms addressed different naming conventions across a wide set of cultures and administrative data quality. Associative linkage methods were developed to match residuals from the deterministic stage to their corresponding household if present. We conducted our own internal quality analysis to assess the quality of our linkage algorithms to improve our methodology ahead of incorporating new administrative data such as HMRC and DWP data.
 Experimental analysis has looked at social and economic outcomes for these refugee cohorts. Linkage to NHS data helps us understand access to health services and time taken to access these services once resettled. Census 2021 data provide a rich understanding of integration outcomes up to 6 years after arrival or grant of asylum. We demonstrate the potential of linked census data to provide evidence on housing, education, health, access to the labour market, education, households and secondary migration but also how this varies for asylum and refugee cohorts but also by age, sex and geographical region.
 RIO is aligned to the ONS strategic objective of inclusivity and recommendations made by the UK National Statistician’s Inclusive Data Task Force. RIO will ultimately help inform local authorities, government, charities and other organisations with resource allocation for these vulnerable populations. We are planning to make this dataset available to Accredited Researchers via the ONS Secure Research Service and the Integrated Data Service (IDS).

The Social and Cultural Impact of Post-War Measures on the Zimunya and Bvumba Communities, Colonial Zimbabwe, 1940s–1970s

Abstract This study investigates the social and cultural effects of post-war measures on Zimunya and Bvumba communities of colonial Zimbabwe (then known as Southern Rhodesia). Guided by a combination of primary and secondary sources, the article argues that dispossession and forced relocations of Africans who had continued staying on the so-called European land after the passing of the Land Apportionment Act (LAA) of 1930 became acute in the immediate years after the Second World War. The granting of vast tracts of land in the Zimunya community to veterans of World War II by the colonial government under the Ex-Servicemen Land Resettlement Scheme and the purchasing of land for a timber estate in Bvumba by the Rhodesian Wattle Company (RWC) in the immediate post-Second World War period dispossessed rural residents of their land and curtailed the growth and development of peasant agriculture. People affected were forcibly displaced to “native” reserves where they responded to challenges they faced by resorting to various coping mechanisms such as hunting, foraging, and, attending to riverine gardens.

The contribution of FTO rs9939609 and RETN rs1862513 polymorphisms in predisposing resettled indigenous (Orang Asli) Temiar to metabolic syndrome

PurposeMetabolic syndrome (MetS) is characterized by visceral obesity, elevated blood pressure and fasting blood glucose, increased triglycerides, and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. MetS related with intricate gene-environment interactions. FTO and RETN variants were linked to the occurrence of MetS, but inconsistent results were reported. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the potential role of FTO rs9939609 and RETN rs1862513 polymorphisms and their susceptibility risk to MetS among resettled indigenous or Orang Asli (OA) of Temiar subtribe under resettlement scheme by the Malaysia government.MethodsA cross sectional study was performed involving 123 Temiar volunteers located in Gua Musang, Kelantan. MetS was identified using modified NCEP-ATP III. DNA extraction was done using peripheral blood. Polymerase Chain Reaction–Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) was employed to genotype FTO rs9939609 and RETN rs1862513 polymorphisms. Susceptibility risk of the polymorphisms (FTO rs9939609 and RETN rs1862513) with MetS was determined by binary logistic regression analysis and odds ratios (ORs).ResultsFTO rs9939609 and RETN rs1862513 were associated with risk of MetS susceptibility among the Temiar subtribe with estimated OR 19.9 (P < 0.001) and 20.7 (P = 0.006) for heterozygous (T/A) and homozygous (A/A) genotype at FTO rs9939609 locus, respectively; OR 222.5 (P < 0.001) and 26.2 (P = 0.005) for heterozygous (C/G) and homozygous (G/G) genotype at RETN rs1862513 locus, respectively.ConclusionThe genetic polymorphisms of FTO rs9939609 and RETN rs1862513 were associated with the risk of MetS among the Temiar subtribe. The findings contribute toward the fundamental prevention plan to decrease the probability of MetS development.

Mixed Methods Research in Global Development Studies: State-Sponsored Resettlement Schemes in Ethiopia

This article contributes to mixed-methods research in global development studies. It draws on empirical study of changes in access to livelihood resources ensuing from state-sponsored resettlement schemes in Oromia, Ethiopia. The analysis demonstrates that explaining and understanding processes and outcomes of development interventions can be expanded and deepened by the integration of quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative analysis uncovers the magnitude of changes, whereas qualitative analysis reveals political power relations and contextual meanings of the changes as experienced by affected people. The study shows that mixed-methods approach enables addressing the statistical and substantive significance of the variables in question and the diversity of meanings and experiences associated with development interventions. This strengthens the analytical power of research, providing opportunities to enhance evidence-based comprehension of generic patterns and specific conditions and outcomes of development interventions in diversified situations of the global South.

Socio-Economic Effect of Flooding in Karim-Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State Using GIS Technique

Over the years, flooding has affected numerous aspects of the lives of the people in Karim-Lamido Local Government Area. The study aimed at assessing the effects of flood on socio-economic activities in Karim-Lamido Local Government Area of Taraba State using GIS techniques. The study employed questionnaires, oral interviews, personal observations and descriptive statistics to analyse data using pie charts and graphs to present data. ArcGIS 10.1 was used to analyse the flood vulnerability using LandSat images. The flood vulnerability analysis of Karim-Lamido indicates that about 80% of the area is flood vulnerable and the major stream order in Karim-Lamido is between 3-5. Results also revealed that rainfall received annually in the area and the proneness of the area to flood. In addition, loss of agricultural products, properties and lives were revealed as some of the negative effects of flooding in the study area. The result also revealed that the major effects of flood are the washing away of the community’s farms lands and their businesses equipment. Furthermore, the researchers recommend that the resettlement scheme programs should be embarked on by the government to resettle most of the communities in the study area. Additionally, for good area planning, individuals, corporate entities, and the government should provide adequate funding for disaster management organisations. Furthermore, a local flood warning system needs to be created. This will go a long way towards educating and preparing the people of Karim-Lamido for major flooding.

Apocalyptic urban surrealism in the city at the end of the world

This paper responds to calls for radical experimentation in urban theory in the context of the material and psychological upheavals of Anthropocene. It does so through the development of an apocalyptic urban surrealism, based on a set of principles drawn from surrealist attempts to simulate the experience of reality characteristic of psychotic breakdown. These principles are put to work in the psychogeographical exploration of an urban resettlement scheme on the outskirts of Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon, and the flooded informal settlement that this scheme seeks to replace. Through the relinquishment of established modes of academic sense-making, and their replacement with a surrealist interpretive delirium, alternative meanings emerge within the entrails of cannibal capitalism and the wreckage of state-regulated reality.

R. Chris Davis. Hungarian Religion, Romanian Blood: A Minority’s Struggle for National Belonging, 1920–1945.

R. Chris Davis. <i>Hungarian Religion, Romanian Blood: A Minority’s Struggle for National Belonging, 1920–1945</i>.

Refugee Resettlement Scheme is the Golden Ticket but Very Scarce for Many in Africa: Prospects and Challenges During COVID-19

The refugee resettlement scheme is a window of hope for millions of refugees across the globe. It is an opportunity that grants refugees a durable solution, especially those who cannot voluntarily return to their countries of origin due to fear of persecution. The golden ticket, as seen by many, is resettlement to Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. COVID-19, the reluctance by western countries to commit to responsibility-sharing, along with other constraints confronting the process of granting settlement to refugees generated barriers to resettlement in 2020. Resettlement opportunities have been scarce for many refugees in Africa, particularly those refugees with protracted cases. The consequences are reflected in an increase in the use of irregular migration routes to Europe rather than relying on the established resettlement scheme. This paper aims to provide an overview of the options for a durable solution, exploring and discussing the prospects and challenges during the era of COVID-19. In conclusion, the data derived from the literature review and 12 key informant interviews suggests that the impact of COVID-19 on the resettlement scheme and the implementation of Africa’s first free trade area that promises to increase human mobility provides an opportunity for the international community to reimagine the golden ticket. Supported by the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) and the Global Compact on Refugees, local integration and resettlement within Africa should be the new achievable gold standard.

Immunisation status of UK-bound refugees between January, 2018, and October, 2019: a retrospective, population-based cross-sectional study

SummaryBackgroundWHO's new Immunization Agenda 2030 places a focus on ensuring migrants and other marginalised groups are offered catch-up vaccinations across the life-course. Yet, it is not known to what extent specific groups, such as refugees, are immunised according to host country schedules, and the implications for policy and practice. We aimed to assess the immunisation coverage of UK-bound refugees undergoing International Organization for Migration (IOM) health assessments through UK resettlement schemes, and calculate risk factors for under-immunisation.MethodsWe undertook a retrospective cross-sectional study of all refugees (children <10 years, adolescents aged 10–19 years, and adults >19 years) in the UK resettlement programme who had at least one migration health assessment conducted by IOM between Jan 1, 2018 and Oct 31, 2019, across 18 countries. Individuals' recorded vaccine coverage was calculated and compared with the UK immunisation schedule and the UK Refugee Technical Instructions. We carried out multivariate logistic regression analyses to assess factors associated with varying immunisation coverage.FindingsOur study included 12 526 refugees of 36 nationalities (median age 17 years [IQR 7–33]; 6147 [49·1%] female; 7955 [63·5%] Syrian nationals). 26 118 vaccine doses were administered by the IOM (most commonly measles, mumps, and rubella [8741 doses]). During the study, 6870 refugees departed for the UK, of whom 5556 (80·9%) had at least one recorded dose of measles-containing vaccine and 5798 (84·4%) had at least one dose of polio vaccine, as per the UK Refugee Technical Instructions, and 1315 (19·1%) had at least one recorded dose of diphtheria-containing vaccine or tetanus-containing vaccine. 764 (11·1%) of refugees were fully aligned with the UK schedule for polio, compared with 2338 (34·0%) for measles and 380 (5·5%) for diphtheria and tetanus. Adults were significantly less likely than children to be in line with the UK immunisation schedule for polio (odds ratio 0·0013, 95% CI 0·0001–0·0052) and measles (0·29, 0·25–0·32).InterpretationOn arrival to the UK, refugees' recorded vaccination coverage is suboptimal and varies by age, nationality, country of health assessment, and by disease, with particularly low coverage reported for diphtheria and tetanus, and among adult refugees. These findings have important implications for the delivery of refugee pre-entry health assessments and catch-up vaccination policy and delivery targeting child, adolescent, and adults migrants in the UK, and other refugee-receiving countries. This research highlights the need for improved data sharing and clearer definition of where responsibilities lie between host countries and health assessment providers.FundingUK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR300072) and Medical Research Council (MR/N013638/1).

Trauma and resettlement: lessons learned from a mental health screening and treatment programme for Syrian refugees in the UK

Resettlement schemes can offer refugees an opportunity to rebuild their lives and to heal from loss and trauma. Mental health services in host countries may have an important role to play in aiding refugees in this journey to recovery. However, facilitating the process of healing for refugees raises challenges for mental health services working within Western medicalised settings. Recovery and wellbeing for resettled refugees also depends upon an interaction of variables at a wider systemic level, that go beyond the direct remit of mental health services. Based on the experience of delivering a mental health screening and treatment programme for resettled Syrian refugees in the UK over a 5-year period, this paper reflects on these challenges and suggests that future resettlement schemes in the UK be designed in accordance with the principles of trauma-informed care. This means putting safety, trust, choice, collaboration, empowerment and respect for inclusion and diversity at the core of the services provided for resettled refugees.

Policy paradoxes and the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme: How welfare policies impact resettlement support

The Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) comprised the UK government's primary response to persons forcibly displaced by the Syrian civil war. Recipients were granted immediate recourse to public funds and a locally-based 12-month integration support plan, designed at the discretion of practitioners. Drawing on forty in-depth interviews with refugees and practitioners in two areas with contrasting local approaches, this article explores the tensions that emerged when broader central government policies (distinct from the VPRS), intersected with resettlement support in recipients’ lives. Two current welfare reforms are identified and evaluated as having impacted resettled families’ housing experiences: firstly; the Two-Child Limit and secondly; the Benefit Cap. The article demonstrates how the financial precarity produced by both policies undermined local practitioners’ resettlement support. In doing so, the article challenges dominant policy narratives of exceptionality, locating those resettled within the routinised systems of precarity and conditionality embedded in the welfare system.

Hundred fifty years of soil security research in Indonesia: Shifting topics, modes of research and gender balance

In Indonesian development policy, soil security is primarily understood as part of food security, expansion of the plantation economy, and resettlement schemes rather than as soil-related Sustainable-Development-Goal concerns for health, water, energy, jobs, protection from disasters, changing climates, life in water and life on land. A recent paper reported a shift of Indonesian soil science towards equal participation by men and women. Here we explore a parallel change in focus. in the scientific analysis of (1) the ‘what/where/when’ of soil patterns, (2) the ‘how’ of soil processes and functions, (3) the ways soils can be managed and used, and (4) the ‘so what’ and ‘who cares’ of related to societal interests. We compared shifts in soil science research in literature from the colonial period, with the themes discussed in Indonesian soil science meetings of the past 40 years. Four research themes (patterns, processes, management, environment) were reflected in 29, 21, 49 and 2% of the 1406 publications in the 1890–1963 soil bibliography. In Indonesian soil science meetings of the past 40 years the themes formed 10, 28, 53 and 9% of the 1703 publications, respectively. Gender balance emerged in the past 20 years, with almost a 50:50 ratio of men and women as authors in 2019. However, women's participation is still uneven, with underrepresentation in the soil survey fieldwork and overrepresentation in laboratory-oriented soil process research. International publications about soils in Indonesia shifted earlier to these parts of the sustainable development agenda, but the national discussion followed the trend.