Theorizing Hospitality and Integration: Preliminary Insights from Research with Syrian Women in Istanbul
by Dr. Susan Rottman | Özyeğin University
“Eat more. I know you can eat more,” Dana urges with a smile as she serves me a second helping of sautéed green, mint-shaped leaves, soaked in lemon juice and accompanied by tiny pieces of chicken. The leaves are imported dried from Syria and taste like chewy Swiss chard seasoned with lemon-y black tea. It is completely delicious, and I certainly do not mind a second helping. Dana wants me to feel welcome and therefore does not believe my polite protestations of being full. Throughout my research for RESPOND in Istanbul, I was often treated to this exceptional hospitality in Syrian homes.
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Refugee Housing Policy and its Effects on the Lives of Asylum Seekers in Germany
by Dr. J. Eduardo Chemin | Institut für Soziologie, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
Germany has been hailed for its “Refugee Welcome” culture and the efficient and organized manner in which it managed the 2015 migration crisis. One important aspect of reception policy in Germany has been undoubtedly the centralized refugee housing system and the way asylum seekers are systematically “distributed” around the German territory. But although the system is undoubtedly efficient from an institutional perspective, does it offer “adequate living conditions” for the person who is seeking asylum?
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An Intern’s Perspective
by Rebecca Emrick | UPPSALA University
Upon starting the Euroculture program in the Fall 2017, I was always certain that I wanted to complete an internship for my third semester of studies. It wasn’t until I started to explore different research projects, particularly at Uppsala University, that I realized how relevant the RESPOND project was not only to my studies, but also my interests.
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Migration Diplomacy: Readmission Agreement and Turkey-EU Refugee Statement
by Prof. Ayhan Kaya | Bilgi University
The Readmission Agreement (16 December 2013) and the Turkey-EU Refugee Statement (18 March 2016) were signed in a period in which many public discussions were taking place in the background ranging from the issues of Islamophobia, populism, ISIS recruits, radicalisation of Islam, or Islamization of radicalism in Europe to the process of Islamization and the ISIS and PKK threats becoming more visible in Turkey.
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Rounding up the first roundtable discussions in Sweden
A vital part of the data collection and analyses of RESPOND’s country reports is to meet with relevant local and national meso level stakeholders from various fields of practises. This, in order to conduct quality assurance of the analyses, conclusions and policy recommendations in the reports.
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Keeping Refugees’ Hope in Art
During my fieldwork in Şanlıurfa for the RESPOND Project in the summer of 2018, I consistently heard that Syrians’ arrival to the city has contributed to the revitalization of the artistic and cultural landscape of this ancient city.
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Detention and containment on the rise in Austria
Border management and migration controls have become a major political concern in Austria, particularly after the long summer of migration in 2015. The politicization of territorial borders led to a repeated prolongation of Schengen exemption provisions allowing for systematic border controls at two major checkpoints towards Slovenia and Hungary.
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Refugee Immigration and Religious Pluralization in Germany
In early 2017, the world held its breath as US president Donald Trump announced what became known as the #muslimban, an executive order which denied immigration to (Muslim) refugees from Syria and citizens of six other predominantly Muslim countries. The year before, at the height of the so-called refugee crisis,
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