Suchergebnisse

This paper investigates the experiences of children associated with Boko Haram in Northeast Nigeria. The central argument posits that, within highly coercive environments, exploitation and agency are mutually constitutive. While acknowledging the prevalent exploitation of these children, it is crucial to recognise how such exploitation is intimately connected to their agency. As economic, social, and political pressures mount, children may perceive participation in Boko Haram (and self-exploitation) as the only viable means to achieve various goals—from protecting their families and communities to seeking self-significance. Consequently, exploitation—whether orchestrated by group leaders or members—may be consciously embraced by children as a means to create new horizons of possibilities. Simultaneously, by engaging in Boko Haram's activities, children reproduce a system aimed to their own exploitation and vilification. Neglecting the complexities inherent in children's associations with Boko Haram has potential implications for their reintegration and community healing processes.

According to mainstream media and political discourse, human smugglers are among the cruellest figures of our time, individuals who prey on migrants' need for assistance. Motivated by the circulation of this pejorative view in media and political discourse, I carried out ethnographic research with Syrian refugees and smugglers in Turkey, Greece, Jordan, and Lebanon with the ultimate goal of documenting what being a smuggler entails for the very actors of this unfolding drama. Fieldwork showed me how human smuggling was rooted in patterns of cooperation and support. And yet, most if not all my interlocutors, including the "smugglers" themselves, spoke of smuggling in negative terms. What I argue in this paper is that the smuggler, a category functional to the security apparatus, is not only manufactured within law enforcement circles and mainstream media, but even by those very people who are discriminated or targeted by states' migration policies.

This article challenges the categorization of smugglers as wicked villains by exploring smuggling's moral economy. I present findings from two years of ethnographic field research on Syrian refugees and smugglers in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Italy, and along the so-called Balkan route (Greece, Macedonia, and Serbia). The relationship between the smugglers and the migrants appeared to be rich in solidarity and reciprocity and grounded in local notions of morality. Far from the dominant official narrative in the West of reckless criminals driven only by profit, smugglers sought and often found moral legitimation by using long-held notions of morality and religious duties when confronting the risky realities of their illicit enterprise.

Smugglers have earned worldwide notoriety as orchestrators of human massacres, evil geniuses behind criminal trade, or amassers of untold riches made at the expense of their victims. While successful at activating public opinion and policy makers, have consistently failed to address the inner dynamics of the phenomenon. By looking at the structure and modus operandi of human smuggling in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, this paper problematizes mainstream narratives of smuggling networks. In so doing, it argues that an adequate response to the phenomenon requires a response other than the mere militarization of borders.

This research report seeks to shed more light on the current flow of Syrian asylum seekers to Europe.Since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria, it is estimated that millions of people have fled their homes.As of October 2015, 700,000 of them have declared asylum in the European Union. Although most European states that are receiving Syrian refugees have signed and ratified the 1951 Convention, it is a challenge to guarantee refugeesメ basic rights: given the lack of money, the lack of an infrastructure to manage large and sudden influxes; and, above all, unclear political strategies. The flawed response is also generated by a failure to understand the factors that are leading Syrian families to make such a dangerous journey to Europe, factors that push them to waste all their savings and jump on boats leading them to unknown lands. Indeed, despite the high political and humanitarian interest around growing global migration levels, there are very few systems in place to monitor the migration flows, especially in the Middle East and towards Europe. Our knowledge of irregular migration is often plagued with fragmented perspectives on the socio-cultural dynamics of the journey, the smugglertraveller relationship and their community dimensions. Moreover, there is no exhaustive data collection to support humanitarian organization programmes in terms of easing the movement of refugees, safely and with dignity. The lack of systematic investigation of migration in Europe and in the Middle East generates fears and misconceptions among the population at large; while, in order to respond effectively to the emergency, more evidence-based knowledge is urgently needed to share as widely as possible. The present report aims at filling this information gap through systematic and participatory data collection exercises. It reports data and information from Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon about push and pull factors, protection risks and threats, and the availability of information before and during their journey across the Balkans. ; The MPC is co-financed by the European University Institute and the European Union

"Over the past two years, Jordan has adopted harsher polices towards refugees by periodically closing its borders and limiting access to employment opportunities as well as health and educational facilities. Against the backdrop of their deteriorating situation in Jordan, large numbers of Syrian refugees have expressed a desire to leave this host country. Many of them see migration as a way of escaping their hardships in Jordan. However, even when the leaving is not in doubt, the destination is. By focusing on Syrian refugees living in Jordan, this article will look at the consequences of their protracted displacement. What will be argued here is that the refugees' decision to travel cannot be reduced to a mere self-interest or cost-benefit analysis. Seeking refuge has to be understood as the outcome of a complex process of decision making motivated by a range of factors, not least the refugees' affective relationship with their country." (author's abstract)

AbstractThis article explores the complex interplay between masculinity and nationalism among Palestinians living in a refugee camp in Jordan. Youth masculinity in the camp is widely perceived in Jordan as an expression of either immoral behavior or unthinking radicalism, and as a symbol of cultural and political difference and the failure of camp dwellers to embrace assimilation. However, camp dwellers' masculinities are not uniform. I argue that young men's ability to navigate and master diverse and sometimes contrasting registers of manhood enables them to reproduce a Palestinian national identity in exile while achieving socioeconomic integration in Jordan. In pursuing this argument, the article has two goals: to challenge popular stereotypes about Palestinian refugees in Jordan today; and to problematize the discursive mutual dependency between nationalism and hegemonic masculinity in the study of Palestinian masculinity.

Published online on 26 April 2015. ; This article explores the complex interplay between masculinity and nationalism among Palestinians living in al-Wihdat refugee camp. Originally set up in 1955 to host Palestinians who had fled Palestine following the establishment of the State of Israel, the camp is part of Amman, the capital of Jordan. Youth masculinity in the camp is widely perceived in Jordan as an expression of either immoral behavior or unthinking radicalism, and as a symbol of cultural and political difference and the failure of camp dwellers to embrace assimilation. These enduring stereotypes about camp dwellers are involuntarily reinforced by a specific understanding of masculinity in the scholarly literature. However, camp dwellers' masculinities are not uniform. In this article, I explore the complex interplay between masculinity and nationalism among Palestinian refugees living in al-Wihdat. In so doing, I challenge not only popular stereotypes about Palestinian refugees in Jordan today, but also the discursive mutual dependence between nationalism and hegemonic masculinity in the scholarly literature. I argue that young men's ability to navigate and master diverse and sometimes contrasting registers of manhood enables them to reproduce a Palestinian national identity in exile while achieving socioeconomic integration in Jordan. In pursuing this argument, the article has two goals: to challenge popular stereotypes about Palestinian refugees in Jordan today; and to problematize the discursive mutual dependency between nationalism and hegemonic masculinity in the study of Palestinian masculinity.