Norms and Values in Refugee Resettlement: A Literature Review of Resettlement to the EU

Abstract

As a result of the refugee reception crisis in 2015 the advocacy for increasing resettlement numbers in the overall refugee protection framework has gained momentum, as has research on resettlement to the EU. While the UNHCR purports resettlement as a durable solution for the international protection of refugees, resettlement programmes to the European Union are seen as a pillar of the external dimension of the EU’s asylum and migration policies and management. This paper presents and discusses the literature regarding the value transmissions taking place within these programmes. It reviews literature on the European resettlement process – ranging from the selection of refugees to be resettled, the information and training they receive prior to travelling to their new country of residence, their reception upon arrival, their placement and dispersal in the receiving state, as well as programs of private and community sponsorship. The literature shows that even if resettlement can be considered an external dimension of European migration policy, this process does not end at the border. Rather, resettlement entails particular forms of reception, placement and dispersal as well as integration practices that refugees are confronted with once they arrive in their resettlement country. These practices should thus be understood in the context of the resettlement regime as a whole. In this paper we map out where and how values (here understood as ideas about how something should be) and norms (expectations or rules that are socially enforced) are transmitted within this regime. ‘Value transmission’ is here understood in a broad sense, taking into account the values that are directly transmitted through information and education programmes, as well as those informing practices and actors’ decisions. Identifying how norms and values figure in the resettlement regime aid us in further understanding decision making processes, policy making, and the on-the-ground work of practitioners that influence refugees’ lives. An important finding in this literature review is that vulnerability is a central notion in international refugee protection, and even more so in resettlement. Ideas and practices regarding vulnerability are, throughout the resettlement regime, in continuous tension with those of security, integration, and of refugees’ own agency. The literature review and our discussion serve as a point of departure for developing further investigations into the external dimension of value transmission, which in turn can add insights into the role of norms and values in the making and un-making of (external) boundaries/borders.

Reproductive agency and the value of reproductive choice among migrants from the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa living in Sweden–a cross-sectional analysis of the Migrants World Values Survey

“…Both perspectives capture different facets of this complex issue and are vital to our understanding of reproductive decision-making. In addition, other implicit norms and values in uence SRHR, such as social hierarchy and political beliefs, and these are frequently overlooked or unacknowledged when migrants resettle in a new country [49]. Placing greater emphasis on integration in the resettlement process can have several bene ts for migrants and healthcare providers.…”

Values and Organizing Principles in the Swedish Resettlement System: Exploring the Benefits of an Ethnographic Regime Approach

“…UNHCR 2018), it excludes numerous people on account of their degree of vulnerability. In our literature review we found that vulnerability shows up in contrast and connection to several other values and considerations within resettlement (Böhm et al 2021). So, while vulnerability can be understood as an organizing principle of the international resettlement system on account of UNHCR's standpoint of vulnerability and need as the basis for beneficiary selection, this principle seldom works alone, neither in selection, nor beyond.…”

“…In our literature review (Böhm et al 2021), the perhaps most prominent value related theme found was that of receiving states' selection criteria for potential beneficiaries. This research showcases several aspects which reflect key principles of societal and social organization within different receiving states, that in turn are transmitted through their respective resettlement systems in the selection process and the resources offered to resettlement beneficiaries.…”

“…Even when they are not framed as explicit criteria, values and principles play important roles in the resettlement practices, including selection (cf. Böhm et al 2021). For instance, values and norms greatly affect the lives of queer potential resettlement beneficiaries in Turkey, Koçak (2020) shows.…”

“…The interviewee underlined that it is up to the Government if any changes are to be made when it comes to such criteria. Nonetheless, as seen in the literature review above, how the criterion of vulnerability is interpreted and practiced varies, and, as a criterion it seldom works alone (Böhm et al 2021). In the selection process of different countries, friction occurs between vulnerability and other considerations.…”