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Book part
Publication date: 18 June 2020

Abstract

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Refugee Crises and Third-World Economies
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83982-191-2

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 10 July 2017

Omar Ahmad Kachkar

This paper aims to propose cash waqf (endowment) to develop a conceptual model that can be utilised to extend microfinance for refugees.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to propose cash waqf (endowment) to develop a conceptual model that can be utilised to extend microfinance for refugees.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative method is used in this research. An extensive review of the literature has been conducted. Latest literature on refugees, microfinance has been critically examined beside the current cash waqf models.

Findings

Empirical studies have shown that many refugees are equipped with marketable skills and talents that can be utilised to improve their socio-economic situations. The proposed model – cash waqf refugee microfinance fund (CWRMF) – is structured to extend microfinance to potential refugee micro entrepreneurs. To address the lack of collateral, which is a requirement to gain any microfinance, CWRMF has been incorporated with a takaful unit (cooperation) by which refugees may guarantee each other. Additionally, the model has also been structured to address the challenge of sustainability of the institution that would provide microfinance. Hence, a reserve fund has also been integrated into the model.

Practical implications

CWRMF represents a potential model to be implemented by humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and aid agencies to support livelihood of refugees in particular for Muslim refugees. Positive outcome is expected from the implementation of this model. This is because of the various advantages of microfinance programs not only on refugees but also on concerned NGOs, host populations and donor parties. Additionally, this paper is a set of primarily thoughts aims to open the door wider for more researchers to explore the potential of cash waqf as one of the instruments to finance refugee microenterprises and business activities.

Originality/value

Recently cash waqf has been into several models for socio-economic development and poverty alleviation. This paper is proposing cash waqf as a source for a microfinance fund that can contribute in the improvement of socio-economic situations of millions of refugees around the world.

Details

ISRA International Journal of Islamic Finance, vol. 9 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0128-1976

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 6 March 2017

Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp

Asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants’ access to healthcare vary in South Africa and Cape Town due to unclear legal status. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the…

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Abstract

Purpose

Asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants’ access to healthcare vary in South Africa and Cape Town due to unclear legal status. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the source of this variation, the divergence between the 1996 South African Constitution, the immigration laws, and regulations and to describe its harmful consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on legal and ethnographic research, this paper documents the disjuncture between South African statutes and regulations and the South African Constitution regarding refugees and migrants’ access to healthcare. Research involved examining South African jurisprudence, the African Charter, and United Nations’ materials regarding rights to health and health care access, and speaking with civil society organizations and healthcare providers. These sources inform the description of the immigrant access to healthcare in Cape Town, South Africa.

Findings

Asylum-seekers and refugees are entitled to health and emergency care; however, hospital administrators require documentation (up-to-date permits) before care can be administered. Many immigrants – especially the undocumented – are often unable to obtain care because of a lack of papers or because of “progressive realization,” the notion that the state cannot presently afford to provide treatment in accordance with constitutional rights. These explanations have put healthcare providers in an untenable position of not being able to treat patients, including some who face fatal conditions.

Research limitations/implications

The research is limited by the fact that South African courts have not adjudicated a direct challenge to being refused care at healthcare facility on the basis of legal status. This limits the ability to know how rights afforded to “everyone” within the South African Constitution will be interpreted with respect to immigrants seeking healthcare. The research is also limited by the non-circulation of healthcare admissions policies among leading facilities in the Cape Town region where the case study is based.

Practical implications

Articulation of the disjuncture between the South African Constitution and the immigration laws and regulations allows stakeholders and decision-makers to reframe provincial and municipal policies about healthcare access in terms of constitutional rights and the practical limitations accommodated through progressive realization.

Social implications

In South Africa, immigration statutes and regulations are inconsistent and deemed unconstitutional with respect to the treatment of undocumented migrants. Hospital administrators are narrowly interpreting the laws to instruct healthcare providers on how to treat patients and whom they can treat. These practices need to stop. Access to healthcare must be structured to comport with the constitutional right afforded to everyone, and with progressive realization pursued through a non – discriminatory policy regarding vulnerable immigrants.

Originality/value

This paper presents a unique case study that combines legal and social science methods to explore a common and acute question of health care access. The case is novel and instructive insofar as South Africa has not established refugee camps in response to rising numbers of refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants. South Africans thus confront a “first world” question of equitable access to healthcare within their African context and with limited resources in a climate of increasing xenophobia.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 21 September 2017

Bayes Ahmed

“No climate change, no climate refugees”. On the basis of this theme, this paper aims to propose a method for undertaking the responsibility for climate refugees literally…

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Abstract

Purpose

“No climate change, no climate refugees”. On the basis of this theme, this paper aims to propose a method for undertaking the responsibility for climate refugees literally uprooted by liable climate polluting countries. It also considers the historical past, culture, geopolitics, imposed wars, economic oppression and fragile governance to understand the holistic scenario of vulnerability to climate change.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is organized around three distinct aspects of dealing with extreme climatic events – vulnerability as part of making the preparedness and response process fragile (past), climate change as a hazard driver (present) and rehabilitating the climate refugees (future). Bangladesh is used as an example that represents a top victim country to climatic extreme events from many countries with similar baseline characteristics. The top 20 countries accounting for approximately 82 per cent of the total global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are considered for model development by analysing the parameters – per capita CO2 emissions, ecological footprint, gross national income and human development index.

Findings

Results suggest that under present circumstances, Australia and the USA each should take responsibility of 10 per cent each of the overall global share of climate refugees, followed by Canada and Saudi Arabia (9 per cent each), South Korea (7 per cent) and Russia, Germany and Japan (6 per cent each). As there is no international convention for protecting climate refugees yet, the victims either end up in detention camps or are refused shelter in safer places or countries. There is a dire need to address the climate refugee crisis as these people face greater political risks.

Originality/value

This paper provides a critical overview of accommodating the climate refugees (those who have no means for bouncing back) by the liable countries. It proposes an innovative method by considering the status of climate pollution, resource consumption, economy and human development rankings to address the problem by bringing humanitarian justice to the ultimate climate refugees.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 10 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 8 December 2023

Catalina Crisan-Mitra and Gregorio Martín-de Castro

This study aims to examine the entrepreneurship profiles of migrants and refugees relying on a neo-configurational approach that increases understanding of causal complexity…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the entrepreneurship profiles of migrants and refugees relying on a neo-configurational approach that increases understanding of causal complexity, equifinality and causal asymmetry patterns to high entrepreneurial intentions in the two groups.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method, the authors analysed 52 respondents – migrants and refugees. The findings show the existence of equifinality in which different configurations can lead to high and low entrepreneurial intentions, underlying that traumatic experiences have a major role in entrepreneurial intention. It also demonstrates that core conditions are associated with refugee’s configurations and causal asymmetry. The cross-sectional character of this research impedes the searching for a better causal relationship. The lack of studies that approach the subject of refugees makes it challenging to develop a robust theory in this sense.

Findings

The paper highlights five main configurations – two related to migrants’ profile and three related to refugees’ profile – that enable expanding the current knowledge and practices to better customize practices to increase entrepreneurial intention.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research using a configurational approach to explore migrant and refugee entrepreneurship intention profiles.

Details

Journal of Ethics in Entrepreneurship and Technology, vol. 3 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2633-7436

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 March 2018

Marianne Jahre, Joakim Kembro, Anicet Adjahossou and Nezih Altay

An unprecedented scale of human migration has lead humanitarians to view camps as long-term settlements rather than temporary holding facilities. The purpose of this paper is to…

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Abstract

Purpose

An unprecedented scale of human migration has lead humanitarians to view camps as long-term settlements rather than temporary holding facilities. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of and identify challenges with this proposed new approach to camp design.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the camp design literature, the authors developed an interview guide and checklist for data collection. A multi-site case study and within- and cross-case analysis was then conducted.

Findings

The findings suggest that the proposed new approach is implemented only to a limited extent, and mostly in a stepwise manner. As camps mature, there is a shift toward the new approach, but most camps are established using the traditional top-down, temporary, and isolated approach.

Research limitations/implications

The findings are based on four camps in four different countries and do not provide an exhaustive global coverage.

Practical implications

The insights the authors derived and the challenges identified from the empirical evidence can be used to better plan future camps.

Social implications

The results can support improvements in camp design, thus alleviating suffering for both refugees and host communities, particularly in developing countries. In particular, the trade-off between a permanent solution and the temporary must be accounted for.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the literature by developing and proposing a conceptual framework to camp design. The cross-case analysis provides an initial understanding and categorization of challenges with implementing the new approach. It also suggests an evolutionary perspective of camp design.

Details

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6747

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 May 2020

Marwa Sobhy Montaser

This paper aims at contributing to our understanding of how self-settled Syrian refugees (registered and non-registered) use informal practices to forge their non-political agency…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims at contributing to our understanding of how self-settled Syrian refugees (registered and non-registered) use informal practices to forge their non-political agency and how this agency could be considered as political acts.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper was conducted per the qualitative data analysis (in-depth interviews and participant observation), attributed to the critical ethnographic approach, through which refugees’ everyday struggle is explored, additionally, that was incorporated with the analysis of Syrians’ Facebook groups and formal sources.

Findings

The research paper concluded that everyday struggle strategies are considered as political acts by acquiring rights that many self-settled Syrian refugees are stripped of by international humanitarian agencies and host government. Hence, registered and unregistered refugees equally forge what is called “informal citizenship” through their presence via a blend of agency forms ranging from hidden agency to explicit one and via their incorporating into the informal contexts, leading them to carve a position of semi-legality that help them to circumvent the formal structural hardship.

Originality/value

This paper endeavors to study how urban refugees as change agents can convert their illegal presence to “probably refugeeness” to unsettle the prominent recognition of them as illegal non-citizens in southern cities.

Details

Review of Economics and Political Science, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2356-9980

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 14 August 2023

Steve Killelea

This chapter presents research and analysis on the Institute for Economics and Peace’s (IEP’s) index in the Ecological Threat Report (ETR). In the analysis, 178 countries are…

Abstract

This chapter presents research and analysis on the Institute for Economics and Peace’s (IEP’s) index in the Ecological Threat Report (ETR). In the analysis, 178 countries are examined at the sub-national level, accounting for 99.9% of the global population. The estimate consists of five indicators that aggregate to yield an index of ecological threats. These five indicators are water risk, the prevalence of stunting, the impact of natural disasters, projected population growth and projected temperature rise. The ETR is a tool that can be used to identify the countries that are at the highest risk of ecological threats. The index identifies that 30 countries facing the highest level of ecological threats as well as low levels of resilience are home to 1.26 billion people. At the end of 2020, in these 30 countries, 68% of the total people were forcibly displaced beyond their borders. As these 30 countries suffer collectively from the highest ecological threats and without the reversal of ecological degradation, displacement is very likely to continue. Without urgent development, ecological threats will continue to create humanitarian emergencies and will likely increase without a sustained effort to reverse the current trend.

Details

International Migration, COVID-19, and Environmental Sustainability
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-536-3

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 September 2020

Linda Vikdahl, Göran Ståhle, David Gunnarsson and Fredrik Saboonchi

In general, newly resettled refugees have poorer physical and mental health than native-born Swedes. This indicates that the society must make special efforts to enable refugees

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Abstract

Purpose

In general, newly resettled refugees have poorer physical and mental health than native-born Swedes. This indicates that the society must make special efforts to enable refugees to attain health that is on a par with the rest of the population. The challenges rest primarily with employees in the public sector. But what resources do professionals need to meet the refugees’ health needs? This paper is about the need to develop strategies for professionals working with diversity and health, with a focus on the establishment of newly resettled refugees in Sweden. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify the needs and obstacles in working with diversity and health for the newly resettled.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on focus group interviews with 40 professionals working in three large municipalities and one County Administrative Board, all of whom work with challenges related to migration and health on a daily basis.

Findings

The needs expressed by the interviewees are primarily about developing and improving communications. Three important areas of communication were expressed: how information can be transferred from sender to receiver, institutionalization and interactions at different levels.

Originality/value

This paper identifies important needs and obstacles when working with diversity and health in Sweden, with a focus on the establishment of newly resettled refugees. It is an important contribution because refugees in general have poorer physical and mental health than native-born Swedes and strategies to improve their health, therefore, need to be further developed.

Details

International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, vol. 16 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9894

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 13 July 2018

Richard Oloruntoba and Ruth Banomyong

This “thought paper” is written by the special issue editors as a part of the five papers accepted and published in response to the special issue call for papers on logistics and…

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Abstract

Purpose

This “thought paper” is written by the special issue editors as a part of the five papers accepted and published in response to the special issue call for papers on logistics and SCM in the context of relief for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on “refugee logistics” and analyse the nature and challenges of displacement from a displaced person’s perspective. The paper also argues for a more critical appreciation of the role and value that research in logistics, operations and supply chain management (LOSCM) can play in the delivery of services and care for refugees and IDPs from the perspective of preparedness and logistics planning of humanitarian organisations. The paper further outlines basic challenges to undertaking innovative, boundary pushing valuable and impactful research on “refugee logistics” given the difficult ideological, political and policy context in which “refugee logistics research” will be undertaken. The paper also advocates for more critical research in humanitarian logistics (HL), that explicitly acknowledges its ontological, epistemological and methodological limitations even when ethically sound. The paper concludes by suggesting a future research agenda for this new sub-field of humanitarian logistics research.

Design/methodology/approach

Conceptual paper utilising viewpoints, literature reviews as well as original ideas and thoughts of the authors.

Findings

The new field ofrefugee logistics research” is important. It has been neglected in humanitarian logistics research for too long. Hence, there needs to be more research in this sub-field of humanitarian logistics.

Research limitations/implications

This is a “thought paper”. It is the basic conceptual ideas of the authors. While it is not based on empirical work or data collection, it is based on a comprehensive literature research and analysis.

Social implications

This paper advocates for the universal human rights of IDPs and refugees and their dignity, and how LOSCM can contribute to upholding such dignity.

Originality/value

It contributes indirectly to logistics policy and refugee policy as well as logistics service quality and advocacy for human rights and human dignity.

Details

Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-6747

Keywords

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