scholarly journals The Ethical and Practical Challenges of Archiving Refugee Accounts: Reflections from Two Research Projects in the UK

2021 ◽  
Vol 150 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-69
Author(s):  
Emma Stewart ◽  
Marnie Shaffer
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Sensitive Material ◽  
Relative Paucity ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

Since the 2015 ‘refugee crisis’, the lens of researchers has been increasingly focused upon asylum seekers and refugees around the world. Nevertheless, working in the field of refugee studies poses several methodological and data challenges. For example, there is a relative paucity of detailed statistical data on refugee stocks, which has led to researchers favouring the collection of personal, qualitative stories from refugee populations. Although this produces a substantial volume of rich narratives, these can be geographically and temporally specific. The collection of qualitative data is also expensive, time consuming, and labour intensive. Therefore, alongside the increasing institutional and mandatory demands to deposit qualitative material in open access repositories, there is growing recognition of the value of archiving refugee accounts. There are also significant challenges in archiving refugee interview transcripts to enhance broader knowledge. In this paper, we discuss the process of archiving refugee accounts to highlight the practical and ethical challenges of depositing sensitive material. Specifically, we draw upon the archival process that was required upon completion of two Research Council funded projects in the UK. This involved the preparation and depositing of interview transcripts from over 100 refugees. Key challenges that arose included the need to uphold interviewees’ confidentiality, the process of anonymisation, and determining the level of access to grant future users. Subsequent issues have involved responding to data requests, permitting selective release of data, and stipulating conditions for release. We then reflect more widely upon the tensions we encountered between procedural and micro-ethics, namely the difference between decisions based upon rules rather than judgement. In doing so, we consider key processes and highlight best practice to be adopted in the future archival of refugee stories.

scholarly journals Strategies and action points to ensure equitable uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations: A national qualitative interview study to explore the views of undocumented migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Deal ◽  
Sally E Hayward ◽  
Mashal Huda ◽  
Felicity Knights ◽  
Alison F Crawshaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Qualitative Interview ◽  
Vaccine Hesitancy ◽  
Undocumented Migrants ◽  
Accessible Information ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees ◽  
Roll Out

Introduction Early evidence confirms lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake in established ethnic minority populations, yet there has been little focus on understanding vaccine hesitancy and barriers to vaccination in migrants. Growing populations of precarious migrants (including undocumented migrants, asylum seekers and refugees) in the UK and Europe are considered to be under-immunised groups and may be excluded from health systems, yet little is known about their views on COVID-19 vaccines specifically, which are essential to identify key solutions and action points to strengthen vaccine roll-out. Methods We did an in-depth semi-structured qualitative interview study of recently arrived migrants (foreign-born, >18 years old; <10 years in the UK) to the UK with precarious immigration status between September 2020 and March 2021, seeking their input into strategies to strengthen COVID-19 vaccine delivery and uptake. We used the Three Cs model (confidence, complacency and convenience) to explore COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, barriers and access. Data were analysed using a thematic framework approach. Data collection continued until data saturation was reached, and no novel concepts were arising. The study was approved by the University of London ethics committee (REC 2020.00630). Results We approached 20 migrant support groups nationwide, recruiting 32 migrants (mean age 37.1 years; 21 [66%] female; mean time in the UK 5.6 years [SD 3.7 years]), including refugees (n = 3), asylum seekers (n = 19), undocumented migrants (n = 8) and migrants with limited leave to remain (n = 2) from 15 different countries (5 WHO regions). 23 (72%) of 32 migrants reported being hesitant about accepting a COVID-19 vaccine and communicated concerns over vaccine content, side-effects, lack of accessible information in an appropriate language, lack of trust in the health system and low perceived need. Participants reported a range of barriers to accessing the COVID-19 vaccine and expressed concerns that their communities would be excluded from or de-prioritised in the roll-out. Undocumented migrants described fears over being charged and facing immigration checks if they present for a vaccine. All participants (n = 10) interviewed after recent government announcements that COVID-19 vaccines can be accessed without facing immigration checks remained unaware of this. Participants stated that convenience of access would be a key factor in their decision around whether to accept a vaccine and proposed alternative access points to primary care services (for example, walk-in centres in trusted places such as foodbanks, community centres and charities), alongside promoting registration with primary care for all, and working closely with communities to produce accessible information on COVID-19 vaccination. Conclusions Precarious migrants may be hesitant about accepting a COVID-19 vaccine and face multiple and unique barriers to access, requiring simple but innovative solutions to ensure equitable access and uptake. Vaccine hesitancy and low awareness around entitlement and relevant access points could be easily addressed with clear, accessible, and tailored information campaigns, co-produced and delivered by trusted sources within marginalised migrant communities. These findings have immediate relevance to the COVID-19 vaccination initiatives in the UK and in other European and high-income countries with diverse migrant populations.

Polish migration to the UK

2019 ◽  
pp. 23-44
Author(s):  
Eva A. Duda-Mikulin
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Statistical Data ◽  
Women Migrants ◽  
Net Migration ◽  
Polish Migration ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Contemporary Britain

Chapter two includes an overview of EU migration to the UK and migrants’ characteristics with the message that migration to the UK is not new. People have been migrating since forever; recently however, the issue of migration has been elevated to a key national concern in the UK and beyond. It is now one of the most contentious and divisive matters in contemporary Britain and globally. Meanwhile, the government continually fails to deliver on its promise to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands, but should it? This chapter presents and discusses most up-to-date existing statistical data in relation to EU migration to the UK and migrant characteristics. These are contrasted with new qualitative data from women migrants from Poland to the UK. This chapter provides an explanation of the current complexities related to EU nationals’ legal status in the UK. Finally, a series of interview extracts are presented to illustrate the abovementioned points.

scholarly journals Socio-legal status and experiences of forced labour among asylum seekers and refugees in the UK

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 182-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Dwyer ◽  
Stuart Hodkinson ◽  
Hannah Lewis ◽  
Louise Waite
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Forced Labour ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

Socio-legal status determines the differential rights to residence, work and social welfare that accrue to migrants depending on their particular immigration status. This paper presents analysis of original empirical data generated in qualitative interviews with migrants who had both made a claim for asylum and experienced conditions of forced labour in the UK. Following an outline of the divergent socio-legal statuses assigned to individual migrants within the asylum system, early discussions in the paper offer a summary of key aspects and indicators of forced labour. Subsequent sections highlight the significance of socio-legal status in constructing such migrants as inherently vulnerable to severe exploitation. It is concluded that immigration policy and, more particularly, the differential socio-legal statuses that it structures at various stages of the asylum process, helps to create the conditions in which severe exploitation and forced labour are likely to flourish among asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.

scholarly journals The Imagination of the Other in a (Post-)Sectarian Society: Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the Divided City of Belfast

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike M. Vieten ◽  
Fiona Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The City ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees ◽  
Do So

This article explores the ways a salient sectarian community division in Northern Ireland frames the imagination of newcomers and the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees. We examine the dominant ethno-national Christian communities and how their actions define the social-spatial landscape and challenges of manoeuvring everyday life in Northern Ireland as an ‘Other’. We argue all newcomers are impacted to some degree by sectarianism in Northern Ireland, adding a further complexified layer to the everyday and institutional racism so prevalent in different parts of the UK and elsewhere. First, we discuss the triangle of nation, gender and ethnicity in the context of Northern Ireland. We do so in order to problematise that in a society where two adversarial communities exist the ‘Other’ is positioned differently to other more cohesive national societies. This complication impacts how the Other is imagined as the persistence of binary communities shapes the way local civil society engages vulnerable newcomers, e.g. in the instance of our research, asylum seekers and refugees. This is followed by an examination of the situation of asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland. We do so by contextualising the historical situation of newcomers and the socio-spatial landscape of the city of Belfast. In tandem with this, we discuss the role of NGO’s and civil support organisations in Belfast and contrast these views with the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees. This article is based on original empirical material from a study conducted in 2016 on the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees with living in Northern Ireland.

scholarly journals Methodological considerations when piloting an interview protocol: the example of Syrian asylum seekers in France

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-238
Author(s):  
Inès Saddour
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Question Type ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Interview Schedule ◽  
Interview Protocol ◽  
Methodological Considerations ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

AbstractThis article discusses some methodological issues that arose when analysing data collected in a pilot study of the SOFRA project. We aimed at piloting a semi-structured interview protocol designed to collect qualitative data with nine Syrian asylum seekers and refugees studying French at university, using an interview schedule that targeted, among other things, information about learners’ interaction opportunities and attitudes about their new environment and learning experiences. Analysing the manners in which the interviewer asked the questions and coped with comprehension difficulties, as well as the way the interviewees responded to the questions, led to the identification of a number of problems that are partly related to question type and wording. The article concludes with a reflection on how to elicit relevant answers during a semi-structured interview with migrant learners.

scholarly journals Asylum Seekers’ and Refugees’ Decision-Making in Transit in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 175 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antje Missbach
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Migration Strategies ◽  
Life Story Interviews ◽  
In Transit ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

Abstract Asylum seekers and refugees currently living in Indonesia tend to see Indonesia as a transit rather than a destination country, despite the fact that their stays are increasing in length. Based on contact with Muhamad (not his real name), a young refugee from Iran currently residing in Indonesia whose adjustment and development I observed over four years, I illustrate the changing priorities in his decision-making, the constant flux of circumstances and context, and the extreme complexity of primary and secondary factors that come into play in planning for the future. Combining a macro perspective with a case study, in which I present excerpts from several life-story interviews, helps to exemplify these generic migratory challenges and distil a range of relevant parameters that influence the decision-making of asylum seekers and refugees in transit. A (self-)critical reflection on ethical and methodological challenges underpins my analysis and argument, not least because politicians and policymakers are increasingly interested in influencing migratory decision-making processes to gain political advantage. Of particular interest in my analysis is the role of Australia’s deterrence policies in asylum seekers’ decision-making. Despite the ethical challenges associated with studying migratory decision-making—as public knowledge of migration strategies can also suppress aspirations of mobility—I argue for more in-depth and longitudinal research. At the very least, this is because more intensive, yet considerate studies of decision-making will help us to take seriously the migratory aspirations of people with limited choices.

scholarly journals Access to primary health care for asylum seekers and refugees: a qualitative study of service user experiences in the UK

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (685) ◽  
pp. e537-e545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara Kang ◽  
Louise Tomkow ◽  
Rebecca Farrington
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Primary Health Care ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Healthcare Access ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Primary Health ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

BackgroundAsylum seekers and refugees (ASR) face difficulty accessing health care in host countries. In 2017, NHS charges for overseas visitors were extended to include some community care for refused asylum seekers. There is growing concern that this will increase access difficulties, but no recent research has documented the lived experiences of ASR accessing UK primary health care.AimTo examine ASR experiences accessing primary health care in the UK in 2018.Design and settingThis was a qualitative community-based study. ASR were recruited by criterion-based sampling through voluntary community organisations.MethodA total of 18 ASR completed face-to-face semi-structured recorded interviews discussing primary care access. Transcripts underwent thematic analysis by three researchers using Penchansky and Thomas’s modified theory of access.ResultsThe qualitative data show that participants found primary care services difficult to navigate and negotiate. Dominant themes included language barriers and inadequate interpretation services; lack of awareness of the structure and function of the NHS; difficulty meeting the costs of dental care, prescription fees, and transport to appointments; and the perception of discrimination relating to race, religion, and immigration status.ConclusionBy centralising the voices of ASR and illustrating the negative consequences of poor healthcare access, this article urges consideration of how access to primary care in the UK can be enhanced for often marginalised individuals with complex needs.

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