Accommodating Conflict: Is a separation of asylum seekers and refugees on the basis of their ethnic background and origin a reasonable and desirable tool to prevent violence within refugee accommodations?

Konfliktakkommodering: Er adskillelsen af asylansøgere og flygtninge på baggrund af deres etniske baggrund og hjemland et rimeligt og ønskværdigt redskab til prævention af vold i flygtningelejre?

Kunert, Nico Jurgen

4. term

Global Refugee Studies, Master

2016

2016-08-01

88

This thesis examines whether separating asylum seekers and refugees by ethnic background and origin is a reasonable and desirable way to prevent violence in refugee accommodations. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in three accommodations in Nuremberg, Germany, and integrating theories of liminality and Agamben’s concept of bare life with social identity and conflict dynamics, it develops a conflict model to explain how identity processes, frustration, stress, and aversive living conditions can escalate into confrontation. The findings indicate that ethnicity itself is rarely the primary driver of violence; rather, conflicts stem from the frustrating situation and adverse conditions in the accommodations, including crowding, heat, noise, deprivation, bureaucracy, limited agency, boredom, and competition under scarcity. Consequently, separation by ethnicity is unlikely to solve the problem. Instead, the thesis outlines measures to reduce violence: improving physical and psychosocial conditions, reducing dependency by enabling meaningful activities and progress, streamlining administrative procedures, fostering positive inter-ethnic contact, and strengthening language skills.

Denne afhandling undersøger, om adskillelse af asylansøgere og flygtninge efter etnisk baggrund og oprindelse er en rimelig og ønskelig måde at forebygge vold i flygtningeindkvarteringer. Med udgangspunkt i etnografisk feltarbejde i tre indkvarteringer i Nürnberg, Tyskland, kombineret med teorier om liminalitet og Agambens begreb om “bare life” samt social identitet og konfliktdynamikker, udvikles en konfliktmodel, der forklarer, hvordan identitetsprocesser, frustration, stress og belastende rammer kan eskalere til konfrontation. Fundene peger på, at etnicitet i sig selv sjældent er den udløsende årsag til vold; snarere opstår konflikter af den frustrerende livssituation og de aversive forhold i indkvarteringerne, herunder trængsel, varme, støj, afsavn, bureaukrati, begrænset handlemulighed og kedsomhed samt konkurrence under knappe vilkår. Derfor vurderes etnisk adskillelse ikke at løse problemet. Afhandlingen peger i stedet på tiltag, der kan reducere vold: forbedring af fysiske og psykosociale forhold, mindre afhængighed gennem meningsfulde aktiviteter og mulighed for fremdrift, mere smidige administrative processer, styrket positiv interetnisk kontakt og bedre sprogkompetencer.

[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]

refugee ; ethnicity ; camp ; aggression ; violence ; conflict ; liminality ; social identity ; frustration ; aversive conditions

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