This thesis investigates the processes of repression and exclusion of the Palestinian refugee in the Arab host-state. A theoretical framework using theories from Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt,...Show moreThis thesis investigates the processes of repression and exclusion of the Palestinian refugee in the Arab host-state. A theoretical framework using theories from Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt, Giorgio Agamben, Michael Hardt, and Antonio Negri, is used to analyse the situation of the refugee in the three case studies of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. It is argued that biopolitics are employed to control and exclude the Palestinian refugee. The host-state excuses this exclusion through the retoric of the incommensurability of the right of return to Palestine with citizenship of the host-state. Gaining citizenship of the host-state supposedly cancels the right of return to Palestine. This discourse is a tool that is employed by the host-states when he refugee proses a threat to their status quo. This thesis disagrees with this supposed incommensurability argueing that the two can co-exist. Furthermore, an analysis of the situation of the Palestinian refugee in the case studies leads to the conclusion that Hannah Arendt and Giorgio Agamben were right when argueing that the nation-state is the only institution capable of upholding human rights and that without citizenship the refugee is vulnerable and without protection. Because of this, serious steps need to be taken towards citizenship for the Palestinian refugee.Show less
The securitisation of migration can be defined as a shift in discourse in how refugees and asylum seekers are perceived by states and by the public. Whereas first refugees were predominantly seen...Show moreThe securitisation of migration can be defined as a shift in discourse in how refugees and asylum seekers are perceived by states and by the public. Whereas first refugees were predominantly seen as victims of humanitarian crises, they are now regarded as security threats. This research will investigate the causes and effects of the securitisation of the Australian migration system with a particular focus on the development of regulations concerning boat migrants. It concentrates on how political, socioeconomic, and security factors have influenced the shape of Australian immigration policies and what kind of consequences this has had for refugees and asylum seekers. In order to establish this, the research will first examine general characteristics of the securitisation of migration and then perform a chronological case study that examines changes in Australian immigration discourse. Eventually, this paper will argue that the securitisation of the migration system is not primarily caused by political factors, but by socioeconomic elements.Show less
This study is to find the stories of heroes who once were ordinary people that encourage us to dare to keep challenging. Listening to the individual voices of refugees, the paper attempts to shift...Show moreThis study is to find the stories of heroes who once were ordinary people that encourage us to dare to keep challenging. Listening to the individual voices of refugees, the paper attempts to shift the often negative images of them. In doing so, this study aims to remind readers of the importance of poststructuralism to bring more positivity to the seemingly unchangeable images of refugees. The study employs the theoretical guidance of Michel Foucault as a heuristic tool to analyse the media discourse from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and aims to contribute the poststructuralist works for the field of refugee studies.Show less
This dissertation explains why the British government, in 1979, resettled Sino-Vietnamese refugees regardless of Margaret Thatcher’s initial inhospitableness towards them. Based on original...Show moreThis dissertation explains why the British government, in 1979, resettled Sino-Vietnamese refugees regardless of Margaret Thatcher’s initial inhospitableness towards them. Based on original research conducted in the United Kingdom’s National Archives, the dissertation’s findings are used to engage with academic debate on who and what directs refugee policy change. Thatcher’s hostility towards the Sino-Vietnamese refugees is uncovered to be due to personal racism and a fear of restrictive public opinion. Her views were formed by decades of animosity towards black and minority ethnic immigration in Britain by politicians and parts of the public. Meanwhile, Britain’s decision to relocate the refugees is discovered to be a consequence of territoriality. Hong Kong was, at the time, a British colony and Britain’s eventual involvement in the Indochinese crisis was to aid Hong Kong’s own refugee crisis. After the analysis, case studies of other refugee groups are used to make comparisons with the Sino-Vietnamese. These studies prove that legislation can influence refugee policy whilst international pressure and politics are proven to only guarantee success to nation-states that have strong international powers.Show less
