F. Dispersal policies

F1 Abu-Laban, B., Derwing, T., Krahn, H., Mulder, M. and Wilkinson, L. (1999). The settlement experiences of refugees in Alberta. A study prepared for Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Alberta: Prairie Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Integration and Population Research Laboratory, University of Alberta.

Research focus/aims: This research aimed to find out the geographical mobility of government sponsored and privately sponsored refugees sent to seven destination communities in Alberta, Canada in the period 1992-1997.

Participants: 616 refugees who were destined for one of seven settlements in Alberta; 81 social service/settlement workers; 802 respondents to public opinion surveys in the seven host communities.

Key findings/outcomes: The literature review component of this project was undertaken partly to identify the factors that influence the integration of refugees, positively or negatively, and partly to guide the construction of the data collection instruments.

Findings from the literature review included the following:

• The demographic variables of age, gender, education and occupational skills have generally been found to be important factors in integration. Specifically, immigrants/refugees who tend to integrate more readily into the host society are typically younger (rather than older), males (rather than females), with higher (rather than lower) education and with well developed (rather than less well developed) occupational skills. Length of residence in the host society and family coherence within the household have also been found to be positively related to successful integration.
• A number of factors have been found to be important for successful integration at the community level: presence of facilitative institutional arrangements and government support, awareness of all services provided, size of municipality of residence (inversely related to adjustment), patience with new refugees, helping refugees organise for change (empowerment), presence of a bridging approach where possible (i.e. hiring refugees as social workers or nurses) and presence of social workers who work simultaneously with refugee families and with the larger community (because integration is a two-way process occurring at both levels).
• Many studies showed that economic integration is facilitated immeasurably by host language proficiency, recognition of the refugees' foreign credentials, full-time employment (rather than underemployment or unemployment) and the presence of compatriot communities (ethnic enclaves).
• Research evidence repeatedly underlines the importance of planning for multicultural services in such areas as health and education. This involves, among other things, the use of interpreters; sufficient provision of English language instruction; adaptation to clients' cultural needs; education of healthcare professionals, social workers and teachers; and modifying teaching practices to respond more effectively to cultural diversity in the classroom.

Findings from the interviews, the survey and the official statistics on the geographical mobility of refugees included the following:

• Sixty percent of the refugees destined to the seven host cities between 1992 and 1997 were still living in these communities in mid-1998 when this study was completed. The refugee retention rate was highest in the largest cities and lowest in the smallest cities. 'Leavers' tended to move on to other larger cities.
• Over half the reasons given for leaving related to insufficient employment or educational opportunities, while 20 percent of reasons related to 'quality of life' issues, and proportions focused on dissatisfaction with services for refugees in the first host city or a desire to be closer to family, friends and compatriots. Almost nine out of ten 'leavers' were happy with their decision to move on to another community.
• Service providers emphasised employment and education opportunities as the most important reasons for refugees leaving their first host community as well as size of a compatriot community. In contrast, other residents of the seven host cities (interviewed in the public opinion survey) were more likely to mention social factors (for example, the presence of others from the same ethnic/cultural background and the presumed greater friendliness and slower pace of life) than employment factors when asked why refugees and immigrants adjust better in different size communities.

Recommendations: Recommendations included the need for:

• more accurate and complete information regarding destination communities by both citizenship and immigration personnel and by refugees themselves prior to entry into Canada
• additional funding to provide English language instruction at a higher level to facilitate refugees getting employment commensurate with their qualifications
• culturally sensitive services that are fair to all refugee groups, particularly in centres where there are very few people from a particular ethnic group and in centres where refugees frequently experience racism
• improved employment preparation programmes and job-finding assistance
• settlement services to those who need them after the first year in Canada and settlement agencies to be funded on the basis of the number of sessions per client rather than the total number of clients served - the current funding structure puts refugees with multiple barriers at a disadvantage, as well as the agencies that serve them
• implementation of an employer-government cost-sharing programme to ensure that refugees have opportunities to gain Canadian work experience and references
• review of processes for recognising foreign qualifications.
• review of the costs borne by refugees for travel loans, living expenses and citizenship applications, as some of the expectations with regard to payment schedules are unrealistic given the life circumstances of refugees.

Scope: This study had five components including:

• face-to-face interviews with a sample of 616 refugees originally destined for seven communities
• 72 semi-structured interviews with 81 settlement workers, educators, Citizenship and Immigration Canada staff, and other social service providers in the host communities
• public opinion surveys in the seven host communities (total sample of approximately 800)
• a literature review of previous research (primarily in Canada) on the geographic mobility and integration of immigrants and refugees
• analysis of Census data and other official statistics regarding ethnic, immigrant, language status and labour market characteristics of five smaller host communities, in comparison with Edmonton and Calgary.

Country research undertaken in: Canada.

Keywords: social capital/networks; citizenship; dispersal policies; economic participation; education/training; language acquisition/ESOL; health/wellbeing; research methods: review; research methods: interviews; research methods: survey; host country/region: Canada; source country/region: mixed ethnicities; refugees.

F2 Fair, L. (2007). 'Impact of spatial dispersal on refugees in Denmark'. Abstract only. Dissertation Abstracts International, A: The Humanities and Social Sciences, 67(11), 4295.

Research focus/aims: The research addresses three questions.

• What are the effects of the 1998 spatial dispersal policy on refugees?
• How does the spatial dispersal policy aid or hinder 'integration?
• Is accelerated spatial assimilation possible?

Participants: Refugees in Denmark from the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Key findings/outcomes: The interviews revealed that, for the most part, spatial dispersal to Northern Jutland was not an effective method of integration. Findings revealed governmental policies at cross purposes. The Danish government states that the best route to integration is via participation in the labour market, yet spatial dispersal is placing refugees in a region of the country where it is difficult to find employment. The Danish government places great importance on imparting to the refugees an understanding of the fundamental values and norms of Danish society, including concepts of democracy and equal rights, yet the spatial dispersal policy lies on the edge of violating human rights by taking away the refugees' rights to choose their own places of residence. Lastly, it appears that spatial dispersal is a politically, and perhaps racially, motivated policy, with refugees being used as scapegoats to solve the 'immigrant problem'.

Recommendations: None in abstract.

Scope: Qualitative work using semi-structured interviews. The size of the sample is unclear but probably modest given that this is a thesis.

Country research undertaken in: Denmark.

Keywords: integration/social cohesion; social exclusion; dispersal policies; economic participation; host country/region: Denmark; source country/region: mixed ethnicities; research methods: interviews; refugees.

F3 Griffiths, D., Sigona, N. and Zetter, R. (2006). 'Integrative paradigms, marginal reality: refugee community organisations and dispersal in Britain'. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 32(5), 881-898.

Research focus/aims: The article addresses the effects of dispersal on refugee community organisations in the United Kingdom.

Participants: 40 refugee community organisations (RCOs) in three locations in the United Kingdom. The majority of the RCOs sampled in each location had been established for different lengths of time - the majority (85 percent) of London-based RCOs had been established before 1999, the majority (66 percent) of the RCOs based in West Midlands had been established since 1999 and over half the RCOs in the northwest had been established since 2001.

Key findings/outcomes: West Midlands RCOs were characterised as 'integrated' with a coherent managerial structure and clear relations between the different partner agencies. The northwest is 'multicentred' with integrated subregions. London is not a dispersal area but it has, nevertheless, been affected by the new reception arrangements. Funding was a fundamental organisational issue. The principal activity of most organisations was providing advice and signposting to statutory authorities. Only a minority of organisations were able to offer more specialised services. Organisational aims and rationales were heavily influenced by funding, and some organisations chose to organise outside mainstream funding channels.

Refugee communities in Manchester and Liverpool were characterised by their diversity rather than their homogeneity. Differentiation appeared to be growing rather than declining in significance. Funding bodies, statutory authorities and NGOs have an instrumental role in promoting particular forms of refugee organisation, based in large part on unified and readily identifiable refugee communities.

The positive role of RCOs for the integration of refugees is a dominant assumption in policy and practice, but lack of resources means that RCOs are rarely able to fulfil that role. Informal networks may be more effective than formal community-based organisations.

Recommendations: No specific recommendations are made.

Scope: A brief literature review on the role of RCOs in the integration and settlement of refugees is followed by development of a theoretical and policy framework in which to compare fieldwork findings from a study of 40 RCOs in three sites.

Country research undertaken in: United Kingdom.

Keywords: integration/social cohesion; social capital/networks; dispersal policies; host country/region: United Kingdom; research methods: interviews; research methods: review; refugees, including asylum seekers.

F4 McDonald, B., Gifford, S., Webster, K., Wiseman, J. and Casey S. (2008). Refugee resettlement in regional and rural Victoria: impacts and policy issues. Report commissioned by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation. Melbourne: VicHealth.

Research focus/aims: Commissioned by the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), this report aimed to increase understanding of the impacts of refugee regional and rural resettlement and relocation programmes on the health and wellbeing of refugees and on regional communities. The study also aimed to contribute to the development and evaluation of national, state and local government policies and programmes relevant to the resettlement of refugees in regional areas.

Participants: Community, government and non-government stakeholders who participated in a roundtable forum.

Key findings/outcomes: The authors highlight findings from the most recent experience of regional resettlement. These findings suggest that key success factors in resettling refugees outside major urban centres include: existence of adequate infrastructure to resettle sufficient numbers of refugees to make the locale viable in both human and economic terms; availability of secure and affordable housing; access to employment opportunities; supportive attitudes and environment in the host community; presence of appropriate cultural and religious support; and commitment to involving refugees in design and development of refugee programmes.

After providing an overview of regional refugee resettlement in Australia and of refugee resettlement policies and trends, the report then focuses on identifying factors relating to refugee health and wellbeing. The authors suggest that health and wellbeing of refugees is significantly influenced by experiences prior to arrival in Australia as well as by the social and economic context in which they live, including access to employment, housing and income. Other important factors include the following:

• Women face a number of challenges on arrival in Australia. They may be sole parents responsible for large numbers of children. They are also more likely than men to have minimal education, to have low English proficiency and to feel isolated from the broader community. Before resettlement, they may have been victims of sexual assault and, in the early settlement period, may be particularly vulnerable to domestic violence.
• Inter-generational issues can place particular pressure on both refugee young people and the older generations, for example, grappling with culture shock, a new language and family pressures.
• Cultural values and traditions that are commonly accepted in refugee homes may not be accepted or understood in Australia.

The authors present a table outlining experiences in countries of origin and in the settlement environment that affect refugee health and wellbeing. This table was originally developed by the Victorian Foundation for the Survivors of Torture. They then outline factors that promote successful refugee resettlement. It is suggested that resettlement is a dynamic process of transition involving readjustment. The first two phases (arrival and reality) are typical for all refugees. However, the nature of the third phase (either negotiation or alienation) and the fourth phase (either integration or marginalisation) experienced is dependent on factors in the person's broader environment that either facilitate or inhibit resettlement. If the factors that facilitate resettlement are present, refugees may experience some form of negotiation and then integration. If such factors are absent, a refugee may experience alienation, then marginalisation. This report identifies three factors as being particularly important for mental health and wellbeing: social inclusion; freedom from discrimination; and access to economic resources such as housing, meaningful employment and income. Literature supporting these findings is presented, as well as literature on features of a supportive host community.

The report also includes a review of international experience in refugee resettlement, setting out the policy framework, procedures, approaches and outcomes in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, four Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands. The report concludes with a review of recent Australian initiatives.

Recommendations: The report makes several tentative propositions about approaches and actions likely to maximise the success of regional refugee programmes. These propositions relate to the need for long-term planning, for consultation processes and for adequate resources and systems for monitoring.

Scope: This report draws on a review of national and international studies of regional and rural settlement and other relevant literature and incorporates feedback provided by a range of community, government and non-government stakeholders at a roundtable forum organised by the authors.

Country research undertaken in: Australia.

Keywords: integration/social cohesion: definitions or models; ethnic/cultural identity; religion; role of host country; social exclusion; dispersal policies; economic participation; language acquisition/ESOL; health/wellbeing; housing; women; children/youth; older refugees; host country/region: Australia; research method: review.

F5 Simich, L., Beiser, M. and Mawani, F. (2002). Paved with good intentions: Canada's refugee destining policy and paths of secondary migration. Canadian Public Policy, 28(4), 597-606.

Research focus/aims: The research explores reasons for secondary migration among government-assisted refugees.

Participants: Refugees from various countries (not specified), officials and counsellors.

Key findings/outcomes: Over 40 percent of the secondary migrants stayed in their assigned destination in Canada from two weeks to one year. The remainder moved more quickly. Decisions are affected by refugees' appraisal of government support services and sources of informal support from family, friends and their own community. The more highly educated were as likely to move to be near family and friends as those with less formal education, who were equally likely to include employment opportunities among reasons for moving.

Recommendations: The destining and matching system needs to be improved. Any settlement strategy should allow refugees to make informed choices. Sites must have the capacity to meet both immediate and long-term needs. Priority should be given to placing refugees close to family and friends.

Scope: A qualitative study based on interviews with 107 officials, counsellors and refugees, carried out in three phases.

Country research undertaken in: Canada.

Keywords: integration/social cohesion; social capital/networks; dispersal policies; host country/region: Canada; source country/region: mixed ethnicities; research methods: interviews; refugees.

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