“I Have to Start All over Again.” The Role of Institutional and Personal Arrival Infrastructures in Refugees’ Home-making Processes in Amsterdam

Abstract

In this study, we take the concept of arrival infrastructures as a starting point to explore refugees’ home-making processes in Amsterdam. This concept allows us to look beyond formal infrastructures set up for refugees and to take a closer look at all (f)actors playing a role in refugees’ processes of “starting all over again”. Drawing on participatory ethnographic research in a community centre for refugees, we describe the role of institutional as well as personal infrastructures in material and affective terms and show how these are related to refugees’ sense of belonging in the city. We illustrate that refugees become entangled in a web of reception/asylum seekers centres and civic integration requirements that facilitate and constrain their home-making processes in a new place. It is more the informal, personal infrastructures that enable refugees to build social and affective ties in the city. Nevertheless, refugees are still struggling with social isolation and a lack of participation due to their limited opportunities and the relatively closed character of Dutch society. This impacts their sense of belonging and comes at the cost of their integration in the city. These insights raise not only questions on the current organisation of arrival infrastructures for refugees, but also show the need to move towards a multidimensional integration model that includes the role of (civil) society in the destination society in the refugees’ integration processes.
 * This article belongs to a special issue on "Refugee Migration to Europe – Challenges and Potentials for Cities and Regions".

Migration Status, Class, Race and Home

“…For example, Howlett-Southgate (2021) demonstrates the complexities of home-making for people who have achieved refugee status in Ireland, because of the ongoing effects of having spent long periods of time in the asylum system along with broader processes of exclusion experienced by refugees. Kox and Van Liempt (2022) make a similar argument based on their research with refugees in the Netherlands. Howlett-Southgate (2021) argues that problems in accessing housing and work, together with experiences of racism, and separation from family members, mean that creating a new sense of home for refugees in Ireland is extremely challenging.…”

The Inclusionary Potential and Spatial Boundaries of (Semi-)Public Space: Refugee Youth’s Everyday Experiences in the Urban Fabric of Amsterdam

“…This becomes apparent straight after arrival when respondents had to use Google Translate for every single question, including asking someone in the street where they could find the police station or where they could claim asylum. We illustrate elsewhere how refugees deal with these insecurities and language barriers straight on arrival (Kox and van Liempt, 2022), but here we want to emphasise its impact on their use of public spaces in the Netherlands. Lofland (1998) points at different elements that constitute 'strangers'.…”

Recriando Lugares Para Si: Sociabilidade E Autorreconhecimento De Migrantes Lgbti+ No Rio De Janeiro

“…No capítulo anterior, chamei atenção para o fato de que as leis e políticas para migrantes geram direitos cujos significados precisam ser preenchidos, sendo justamente ali, nesse preenchimento de significados, onde a cidadania é performada, vivida e transformada. Usufruir da condição de cidadã pode ser, enquanto performance, um ato individual -e Isin (2017) faz entender que algumas vezes é intencional, principalmente quando se mostra através de atos de protesto -, ou pode ser resultado de mecanismos institucionais de participação política, de efetivação de políticas e da geração de acesso às políticas através de vínculos sociais, o que é feito, principalmente através de atores da sociedade civil.. LGBTI+fobia; e fazer morada ou home/home-making (Boccagni, 2017;Staring, 2021;Kox, 2022), na medida em que, para migrantes, viver…”

“…Além disso, não apenas as pessoas, como as infra-estruturas de chegada governamentais e nãogovernamentais, assim como artefatos materiais e materiais, podem fazer alguém sentir-se em casa, como, literalmente, a própria casa, a comida, a higiene, os serviços de saúde, os cheiros e os sons (Van Liempt; Kox, 2022) . Há, portanto, uma série de fatores, de diferentes naturezas 80 Modern life is full of uncertainties.…”

“…A integração, a construção da cidadania a partir de efetivação de direitos e os atos de pertencimento, foram, portanto, três dos pontos nodais desta tese. As infra-estruturas de chegada (Van Liempt; Kox, 2022) são parte da cidadania, mas não a garantem se forem escassas ou se não forem acessíveis. Para isso, as conexões sociais (Ager;Strang), 2008) servem tanto de promotores de afeto e pertencimento, como de acesso a direitos que formalmente existem, mesmo que de forma vaga, pela forma como são prescritos em leis, decretos, portarias interministeriais, etc.…”