Somatisation: illness perspectives of asylum seeker and refugee patients from the former country of Yugoslavia

AbstractIn this paper we explore the use of multimodal and multilingual semiotic resources in interactions between two deaf signing participants, a researcher and an asylum seeker. The focus is on the use of gaze and environmentally coupled gestures. Drawing on multimodal analysis and linguistic ethnography, we demonstrate how gaze and environmentally coupled gestures are effective semiotic resources for reaching mutual understanding. The study provides insight into the challenges and opportunities (deaf) asylum seekers, researchers, and employees of reception centres or the state may encounter because of the asymmetrical language competencies. Our concern is that such asymmetrical situations may be created and maintained by ignoring visual and embodied resources in interaction and, in the case of deaf asylum seekers, by unrealistic expectations towards conventionalized forms of international sign.

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Linguistic, psychological and epistemic vulnerability in asylum procedures: An interdisciplinary approach

Discourse Studies ◽

10.1177/1461445620942909 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 46-66

Author(s):

Simo K Määttä ◽

Eeva Puumala ◽

Riitta Ylikomi

Keyword(s):

Asylum Seeker ◽

Interdisciplinary Approach ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Traumatic Experiences ◽

Psychological Vulnerability ◽

Immigration Service ◽

Asylum Procedure ◽

Central Forces

This article analyzes three video-recorded asylum interviews, their written records and the corresponding decisions by the Finnish Immigration Service. The goal is to identify the causes and consequences of vulnerability in instances that are particularly important when assessing whether the asylum seeker has a well-grounded fear of persecution. A combination of linguistic, psychological and epistemic perspectives on vulnerability shows that these three dimensions are closely intertwined in asylum interviews. Linguistic vulnerability is linked for the most part to interpreting, whereas psychological vulnerability stems from the difficulty in recounting traumatic experiences. Both linguistic and psychological vulnerabilities are central forces that also lead to epistemic vulnerability. Epistemic vulnerability, we claim, gives rise to certain practices within the asylum procedure, which again represents the materialization of the discourses of reporting, truth and credibility.

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Borders and resilience: Asylum seeker reception at the securitized Finnish-Swedish border

Environment and Planning C Politics and Space ◽

10.1177/23996544211000062 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 239965442110000

Author(s):

Eeva-Kaisa Prokkola

Keyword(s):

Asylum Seeker ◽

Forced Migration ◽

Border Crossing ◽

Border Crossings ◽

Cross Border ◽

Everyday Practices ◽

The Everyday ◽

Border Controls ◽

And Control ◽

Cross Border Cooperation

The past decade has witnessed a shift from “open borders” policies and cross-border cooperation towards heightened border securitization and the building of border walls. In the EU context, since the migration influx of 2015–2016, many Member States have retained the re-instituted Schengen border controls intended to be temporary. Such heightened border securitization has produced high levels of anxiety among various populations and increased societal polarization. This paper focuses on the processes underpinning asylum seeker reception at the re-bordered Finnish-Swedish border and in the Finnish border town of Tornio. The asylum process is studied from the perspective of local authorities and NGO actors active in the everyday reception, care and control practices in the border securitization environment enacted in Tornio in 2015. The analysis highlights how the ‘success’ of everyday reception work at the Tornio border crossing was bound to the historical openness of the border and pre-existing relations of trust and cooperation between different actors at various scales. The paper thus provides a new understanding of the significance of borders and border crossings from the perspective of resilience and highlights some of the paradoxes of border securitization. It notes that although border closures are commonly envisioned as a direct response to forced migration, the everyday practices and capacities of the asylum reception at the Finnish-Swedish border are themselves highly dependent on pre-existing border crossings and cross-border cooperation.

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Is there a black and minority ethnic third sector in the UK?

Community Groups in Context ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781447327776.003.0010 ◽

2017 ◽

Keyword(s):

Black Community ◽

Asylum Seeker ◽

Third Sector ◽

Research Community ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Immigrant Community ◽

Faith Based ◽

Community Organisations ◽

The Uk ◽

Minority Ethnic

Can the BME third sector be considered a distinctive sector in its own right? Contributing towards building a foundation of knowledge on the black minority ethnic (BME) third sector, this chapter offers an introductory resource on research in this field. The paper begins with discussion on the contested concept of a BME third sector (BME TS) and its 'distinctiveness' from the wider third sector. It highlights the importance of robust comparative analyses to identify the differences between subsectors, in order to examine the policy implications for these different organisations. The chapter provides brief overviews of material about different types of organisation that might constitute the BME TS. These include: refugee and asylum seeker organisations (RCOs), faith based organisations, diasporic immigrant community organisations, and Black community organisations. In closing, the paper identifies gaps in the current research base that will be of interest to the wider research community.

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