A LITERATURE REVIEW OF REFUGEES IN MALAYSIA AND THE LEGISLATIONS GOVERNING THE REFUGEES IN MALAYSIA.

The arrival of refugees and asylum seekers to Malaysia from several countries to get protection from persecution had urged Malaysia to provide a proper protection to these people as our government had decided to let the refugees stay in Malaysia on humanitarian basis. This study focuses on the history of refugees and asylum seekers arrival to Malaysia and the development of legislation that governs them. The study uses qualitative method, where it is done through reading materials from library such as books, journals, articles and newspapers. It mainly were designed based on historical type of qualitative research design. The purpose of this study is to find out problems of refugees in Malaysia and the need to design a proper and solid legislation for them so that they, while staying in Malaysia are humanely treated and not violated in any way, shape or form. This paper provides an extensive literature review on refugees and asylum seekers’ all around the world. The findings indicate that there is a lot of issues and problems regarding refugees which don’t only affects them individually but also indirectly affects Malaysian economy and increases domestic violence in Malaysia. The significant role or the involvement of UNHCR agencies and the reports from their experts were taken into account for a more thorough analysis on refugee status and problems in Malaysia. Finally, the study concludes with a discussion on the need to first identify the legal status of refugees in Malaysia and the urgency to design a solid legal framework to the refugees located in Malaysia before they are either integrated, repatriated or resettled to the third country as stated in the long term solution for refugees.

Distribution and cost of Syrian refugees operated on in Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey

Background: As a result of the Syrian civil war, > 5 million Syrian citizens have fled to neighbouring countries, particularly Turkey, under refugee status. Aims: To analyse the cost and justification for surgery of Syrian refugees treated in a secondary care hospital in Sanliurfa, Southeastern Turkey, close to the Syrian border. Methods: We enrolled 1458 Syrian refugees who were operated upon between 2012 and 2015. The data were obtained through a retrospective search of the hospital information system. Patients were divided into traumatic and nontraumatic cases. Injured body regions, anaesthetic technique, duration of operation, length of hospital stay, sociodemographic features and treatment cost were recorded and analysed. Results: Length of the hospital stay was 7.66 (0.31) days for all 1458 patients. The most common operations were orthopaedic, urological and cranial surgery. The total healthcare costs while patients stayed in hospital was ~US$ 2 million, and cost per patient was US$ 1400. Conclusions: The number of trauma operations performed has declined between 2012 and 2015. Health spending on refugees is an indicator of the economic burden on the country

English Language Learners, Labels, Purposes, Standard English, Whiteness, Deficit Views, and Unproblematic Framings: Toward Southern Decoloniality

This paper argues for revisiting ways in which English Language Learners (ELLs), and the learner labels attributed to them, are negatively, racially, and pathologically framed and constructed based on, putatively, their English language competence, or their lack of it. It contends that this framing tends to give rise to a raciolinguistic profiling of these learners, as they end up being classified by their race, pan-ethnicity, nationality, immigrant/refugee status, regionality, and at times, by their skin color, in addition to their language abilities. This raciolinguistic framing often engenders other framings such as White, deficit, and poverty framings, and sub-framings like an othering framing (e.g., the racial others and the linguistic others). These framings, together with the normative ways in which ELLs’ language problems are constructed, have been characterized in this paper as misframings. Additionally, employing southern decoloniality, the paper problematizes and critiques the way ELLs are constructed and labeled, and the appropriation of Standard English (SE) as the sole touchstone of acceptable English in the midst of the other varieties of SE and of pluriversal speakers of English. Finally, the paper calls for the provincialization/localization or the deparochialization of English in keeping with its southern decolonial approach.

Refugees without Assistance: English-Language Attainment and Economic Outcomes in the Early Twentieth Century

The United States has admitted more than 3 million refugees since 1980 through official refugee resettlement programs that provide temporary assistance. Scholars have highlighted the success of refugee groups to show the positive impact of governmental programs on assimilation and integration. In the past, however, refugees arrived without formal selection processes or federal support. We examine the integration of historical refugees using a large archive of recorded oral history interviews to understand linguistic attainment and economic outcomes of migrants who arrived before 1940. Using detailed measures of vocabulary, syntax and accented speech, we find that refugee migrants achieved higher levels of English proficiency than did economic migrants, a finding that holds even when comparing migrants from the same country of origin or religious group. This study improves on previous research of immigrant language acquisition, which typically rely on self-reported measures of fluency, and on studies of refugees, which typically assign refugee status based on country-of-birth alone. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that refugees, being unable to immediately return to their origin country, may have had greater incentive to learn or be exposed to English, which increased their linguistic attainment. Our results provide an optimistic historical precedent for the incorporation of refugees into American society.

Kastam: Exploring the Architectural Principles of Exchange and Resilience

<p>The Refugee Resettlement situation on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea is in dire need of a humane intervention. The Manus Island Detention Centre was officially permanently closed on the 31st of October 2017 (ABC News), leaving 600 men with three options; moving back to their countries of origin, relocating to the East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre or moving and resettling in the United States of America on the basis that they get granted refugee status. The option of relocating to the East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre may seem like a viable option to the Australian state but to the 600 men it's a move that would render them vulnerable and in danger. Relocating to the transit centre will only cause more overcrowding and depletion of the already scarce resources. The living conditions of the Manus Island Detention Centrefor refugees and asylum seekers was deemed harsh and inhumane. The conditions of East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre are no different. The lack of bare essentials in these refugee camps such as a constant source of clean water, food, healthcare and accommodation has led to health and psychosocial problems amongst its inmates and if left unaddressed it will worsen further. This has resulted in the refugees becoming increasingly dependent on the Australian and Papua New Guinean states – which treats the centre as a state of exemption. This situation and their isolation from society has also contributed to disempowering the refugees who are increasingly unable to function in day to day life and experiencing difficulty integrating into the Manusian society. This thesis will address this crisis architecturally; its intention is to explore architecture as a medium that will orchestrate the development of better and empowering living opportunities for the refugees and facilitate a sense of community within the Manusian society via a holistic community model. The objective of the model is to firstly enable the refugees to become self-sufficient where they don't have to rely on the resources provided from external sources as the Papua New Guinean and Australian state. Secondly the intention is tofacilitate community integrationby creating opportunities for the refugees and the locals to interact through shared and mutually beneficial opportunities. By developing a sense of community and reliability between the locals and refugees; both parties engaging in a traditional Papua New Guinean practice of Kastam (Otto T.), based on exchange, supportiveness, respect and honour. The thesis aims to test and readdress, through an exploration of architectural principals related to exchange and resilience, the stigma and ideology of refugee resettlement―by moving away from the idea of refugees as reliant on the states that govern them, to the refugees becoming self-sufficient and thereby becoming less of a burdenand more of an asset to the host community.</p>

Kastam: Exploring the Architectural Principles of Exchange and Resilience

<p>The Refugee Resettlement situation on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea is in dire need of a humane intervention. The Manus Island Detention Centre was officially permanently closed on the 31st of October 2017 (ABC News), leaving 600 men with three options; moving back to their countries of origin, relocating to the East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre or moving and resettling in the United States of America on the basis that they get granted refugee status. The option of relocating to the East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre may seem like a viable option to the Australian state but to the 600 men it's a move that would render them vulnerable and in danger. Relocating to the transit centre will only cause more overcrowding and depletion of the already scarce resources. The living conditions of the Manus Island Detention Centrefor refugees and asylum seekers was deemed harsh and inhumane. The conditions of East Lorengau Refugee Transit Centre are no different. The lack of bare essentials in these refugee camps such as a constant source of clean water, food, healthcare and accommodation has led to health and psychosocial problems amongst its inmates and if left unaddressed it will worsen further. This has resulted in the refugees becoming increasingly dependent on the Australian and Papua New Guinean states – which treats the centre as a state of exemption. This situation and their isolation from society has also contributed to disempowering the refugees who are increasingly unable to function in day to day life and experiencing difficulty integrating into the Manusian society. This thesis will address this crisis architecturally; its intention is to explore architecture as a medium that will orchestrate the development of better and empowering living opportunities for the refugees and facilitate a sense of community within the Manusian society via a holistic community model. The objective of the model is to firstly enable the refugees to become self-sufficient where they don't have to rely on the resources provided from external sources as the Papua New Guinean and Australian state. Secondly the intention is tofacilitate community integrationby creating opportunities for the refugees and the locals to interact through shared and mutually beneficial opportunities. By developing a sense of community and reliability between the locals and refugees; both parties engaging in a traditional Papua New Guinean practice of Kastam (Otto T.), based on exchange, supportiveness, respect and honour. The thesis aims to test and readdress, through an exploration of architectural principals related to exchange and resilience, the stigma and ideology of refugee resettlement―by moving away from the idea of refugees as reliant on the states that govern them, to the refugees becoming self-sufficient and thereby becoming less of a burdenand more of an asset to the host community.</p>

Physical Health of Older Canadians: Do Intersections Between Immigrant and Refugee Status, Racialized Status, and Socioeconomic Position Matter?

It is unclear whether racial or nativity health disparities exist among older Canadians and what social and economic disadvantages may contribute to these differences. Secondary analysis of data collected from respondents aged 55 and older in the Canadian General Social Survey 27 was performed. The outcome variable was self-reported physical health. Compared to racialized immigrants, white immigrant and Canadian-born respondents had approximately 35% higher odds of good health. Among racialized older adults, the odds of good health were better if they were younger than 75, more affluent, better educated, had a confidant, had not experienced discrimination in the past five years, and were more acculturated. Racialized immigrants are at a health disadvantage compared to white groups in Canada; however, greater acculturation, social support, and lower experiences of discrimination contribute to better health among racialized older adults.

Understanding attitudes and norms related to sexual and gender-based violence among youth in Jordan: an egocentric social network study protocol

IntroductionSexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is a major public health concern in Jordan, especially among youth. Social acceptance of SGBV is alarmingly high, including among youth. Refugee populations may be at particular risk given limited social support and access to health services combined with increased social and economic pressure and vulnerability. Further research is needed to understand how norms are embodied and reproduced at individual, interpersonal and community levels through relationships between partners, families, peers and community leaders. This study seeks to provide data on attitudes and norms in communities and across youth social networks in order to support gender transformative approaches that seek to change harmful social norms that perpetuate acceptance of SGBV.Methods and analysisThis study will collect egocentric data from 960 youth in Jordan (480 men and 480 women) aged between 18 years and 24 years. Individuals will be asked about their perceptions of norms relating to SGBV in their community as well as their perceptions of the attitudes held by up to 15 individuals within their social network. Data will also be collected on the social, economic and demographic variables, refugee status, experience of depression and anxiety, and social support. We will use multilevel analysis to examine individual and group-level associations. We will also assess other network attributes, such as homophily, the role of social engagement, social learning and social support in the transmission of norms and attitudes.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Boards of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of Jordan. Rigorous ethical protections will be followed with regard to confidentiality and respondent safety. We intend to publish peer-reviewed papers of our findings in addition to a variety of tools and resources targeting diverse audiences, including policy and technical briefs.

“Sexuality” through the Kaleidoscope: Sexual Orientation, Identity, and Behaviour in Asylum Claims in the United Kingdom

The asylum system is a key site in which disputes over “sexuality” are contested. In refugee status determinations, administrative bodies are required to determine the actual or perceived sexuality of a claimant. This article draws on eight semi-structured interviews with refugees who claimed asylum in the United Kingdom based on their sexual diversity to deconstruct the distinct conceptions of sexual orientation, identity, and behaviour prevalent within the asylum system. It argues that the UK system overly privileges identity, falsely construing this as determinative of other aspects of sexuality. In doing so, it proposes a new framework of sexual diversity as a more relativist and inclusive way of making sense of sexual difference.

Refugee Status, Settlement Assistance, and the Educational Integration of Migrants’ Children in the United States

Initial relations between the host society and migrants are likely to influence whether and to what degree migrants receive tangible and intangible settlement support that might affect their children's educational integration. As part of the 1980 Refugee Act, the United States officially began to provide settlement support to one group of migrants - refugees, thus institutionalizing more favorable host-society relations for refugees compared to non-refugee migrants. This article assesses the general idea that post-1980 US refugees will show higher levels of integration than non-refugees by testing the specific hypothesis that refugees’ foreign-born children will attain (by adulthood) higher levels of educational attainment than their non-refugee counterparts. As expected, we find that more schooling is completed among refugees’ children than among non-refugees’ children, all else being equal. We also observe that the level of governmental support at arrival is positively associated with educational attainment among refugees’ children. As expected, schooling differentials also drop in accordance with arrival-period declines in support due to drops in refugee children's schooling. The results highlight the pivotal roles that initial host-society/migrant relations play in fostering refugee integration and underscore the potential societal benefits from adopting and maintaining settlement policies for migrants.