Hist 386C
Summer 2024
Week1/Module1
Seriyye Akan
Definition of a refugee
Arendt, “We Refugees,” 1943
Agier, Bruised Population, 2008
Loescher et al, “Intro & The Origins of
International Concern for Refugees,” 2008
(2) General definition in the 1951 Convention 34.
According to Article 1 A (2) of the 1951 Convention the
term “refugee” shall apply to any person who: “As a
result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 and
owing to well founded fear of being persecuted for
reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a
particular social group or political opinion, is outside the
country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such
fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that
country; or who, not having a nationality and being
outside the country of his former habitual residence as a
result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is
unwilling to return to it.”
“Is the distinction between
migrant and refugee
meaningful?” Dina Nayeri’s
opinion.
Arendt, “We Refugees,” 1943
“Before this war broke out we were even more sensitive about being called refugees.
We did our best to prove to other people that we were just ordinary immigrants.
We declared that we had departed of our own free will to countries of our choice,
and we denied that our situation had anything to do with “so-called Jewish problems.”
Yes, we were “immigrants” or “newcomers” who had left our country because, one fine
day, it no longer suited us to stay, or for purely economic reasons. We wanted to rebuild
our lives, that was all. In order to rebuild one’s life one has to be strong and an optimist.
So we are very optimistic.” p. 1
“The less we are free to decide who we are or to live as we like, the
more we try to put up a front, to hide the facts, and to play roles. We
were expelled from Germany because we were Jews. But having
hardly crossed the French borderline, we were changed into
“boches.” We were even told that we had to accept this designation
if we really were against Hitler’s racial theories. During seven years
we played the ridiculous role of trying to be Frenchmen—at least,
prospective citizens; but at the beginning of the war we were
interned as “boches” all the same. In the meantime, however, most
of us had indeed become such loyal Frenchmen that we could not
even criticize a French governmental order; thus we declared it as
all right to be interned. We were the first “prisonniers volontaires”
history has ever seen. After the Germans invaded the country, the
French Government had only to change the name of the firm;
having been jailed because we were Germans, we were not freed
because we were Jews.” p. 5.
“Man is a social animal and life is not easy for him
when social ties are cut off. Moral standards are much
easier kept in the texture of a society. Very few
individuals have the strength to conserve their own
integrity if their social, political and legal status is
completely confused. Lacking the courage to fight for a
change of our social and legal status, we have decided
instead, so many of us, to try a change of identity. And
this curious behavior makes matters much worse. The
confusion in which we live is partly our own work.” p.
6
“Some day somebody will write the true story of this Jewish emigration from
Germany; and he will have to start with a description of that Mr. Cohn from Berlin
who had always been a 150% German, a German super-patriot. In 1933 that Mr. Cohn
found refuge in Prague and very quickly became a convinced Czech patriot—as true
and loyal a Czech patriot as he had been a German one. Time went on and about 1937
the Czech Government, already under some Nazi pressure, began to expel its Jewish
refugees, disregarding the fact that they felt so strongly as prospective Czech
citizens. Our Mr. Cohn then went to Vienna; to adjust oneself there a definite
Austrian patriotism was required. The German invasion forced Mr. Cohn out of that
country. He arrived in Paris at a bad moment and he never did receive a regular
residence-permit. Having already acquired a great skill in wishful thinking, he
refused to take mere administrative measures seriously, convinced that he would
spend his future life in France. Therefore, he prepared his adjustment to the French
nation by identifying himself with “our” ancestor Vercingetorix. I think I had better
not dilate on the further adventures of Mr. Cohn. As long as Mr. Cohn can’t make up
his mind to be what he actually is, a Jew, nobody can foretell all the mad changes he
will have to go through.” P. 6
Agier, Bruised Population, 2008
Methodology: Anthropology
Regions and time: Late 20th century Colombia, Kenya
Micro narratives of people are linked to grand narratives.
E.g. Analysis starts with Leon Montana’s story. Author than
links it to social, political and economic causes.
Agier, Bruised Population, 2008
Important points:
“Exodus in war is not a simple migration?” p. 23-4.
Would he agree with Dina Nayeri?
“It is often hard to locate displaced by force, to meet them
and have a dialogue…the sole characteristic that unifies this
entire population scattered across the planet: displaced
people and refugees find themselves for a time placed
outside the nomos, outside the ordinary human
law...’Refugee’ itself denotes a temporary shelter, while
waiting for something better.” p. 29-30. compare with Chatty
Agier, Bruised Population, 2008
Important points (cont):
“It is often hard to locate displaced by force, to meet them
and have a dialogue. This is because displaced people seek
to melt into the popuation as discreetly as possible...Their
existence is based on the loss of a geographical place, to
which were attached attributes of identity, relationship and
momory, and likewise on the absence of any new social
place... a gap (in the life of each refugee) made up of
distance and waiting” p. 29. compare with Arendt, the
willingness of the Jew to become a patriot in his 2nd, 3rd
country.
Loescher et al, “Intro & The Origins of International
Concern for Refugees,” 2008
Institutional History of UNHCR
Critical Approach
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) was created in
1950 to protect refugees and find a solution to their plight.
Loescher et al, “Intro & The Origins of
International Concern for Refugees,” 2008
(cont)
“The scope of UNHCR: (1) to ensure refugees’
access to protection; (2) refugees would have
access to durable solutions and would either be
reintegrated within their country of origin or
permanently integrated within a new country” p.
2
Loescher et al, “Intro & The Origins of
International Concern for Refugees,” 2008
(cont)
Additionally, “UNHCR is also the guardian of the wider
global refugee regime, the main parts of which were
created during the same period as the Office.” p. 3
“During the late 1990s and early 21st century UNCHR
took on greater responsibility for the protection of
internally displaced persons (IDPs), who, unlike refugees,
have not crossed an international border.” p. 3
Loescher et al, “Intro & The Origins of
International Concern for Refugees,” 2008
(cont)
“The organization has not, however, simply
been a mechanism through which states act.
While UNHCR is constrained by states, the
history of the organization makes clear that it is
far from a passive mechanism with no
independent agenda.” p. 3
Loescher et al, “Intro & The Origins of
International Concern for Refugees,” 2008
(cont)
The most important challenge that UNHCR
confronts: “the need to reconsider and adapt the
Office’s mandate, organization and approach in
response to the changing nature of forced
displacement over the past half century.” p. 4
Loescher et al, “Intro & The Origins of
International Concern for Refugees,” 2008
(cont)
“While the challenge of refugees is global, some
regions of the world are more affected than
others. In fact, the great majority of the world’s
refugees are now located in global South
compared to the less than 5 percent who seek
asylum in the North” p. 4
Loescher et al, “Intro & The Origins of
International Concern for Refugees,” 2008
(cont)
This inequality (see statistics) brings the next challenge
because “this concentration of refugees in some of the
world’s poorest countries has made international
cooperation more difficult.” p. 4
UNHCR’s second challenge: “The difficulty to improve
its relationship and collaborate with a wide array of actors
within and beyond the UN system.” p. 4
