Essays & Articles – The Journeys Project

Financial Inclusion in Refugee Economies

February 28, 2017April 7, 2021 Lori Zimmermann 384 Views 0 Comment Afghanistan, Algeria, Burundi, denmark, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Family, Friends and Networks, Gender, Greece, Humanitarian aid, Identity and documents, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Money and finance, Palestine, Senegal, Syria, Technology, Turkey

An essay by Kim Wilson and Roxanne Krystalli. Financial inclusion as a term and topic has become popular in humanitarian settings. A mounting global refugee crisis has brought financial access into the focus of donors and practitioners. In this paper, we ask questions that concern both donors and practitioners: Is digital, formal finance – at the heart of most financial inclusion strategies – suited to the needs of refugees, migrants, and displaced populations? Must financial inclusion approaches be tailored for maximum relevance in contexts of protracted displacement or resettlement?

Central and South Asia Essays & Articles Europe Long-Distance Journeys Middle East-North Africa Middle East-North Africa Publications

‘I followed the flood’: A Gender Analysis of the Moral and Financial Economies of Forced Migration

December 31, 2017April 7, 2021 Lori Zimmermann 392 Views 0 Comment Afghanistan, Dangers and trouble, denmark, Family, Gender, Greece, Humanitarian aid, Iraq, Jordan, Smuggling, Syria, Turkey

An article by Roxanne Krystalli, Allyson Hawkins, and Kim Wilson, published in “Disasters.” What would a gender analysis of refugee crises reveal if one expanded the focus beyond female refugees, and acts of physical violence? This paper draws on qualitative research conducted in Denmark, Greece, Jordan, and Turkey in July and August 2016 to spotlight the gendered kinship, hierarchies, networks, and transactions that affect refugees. The coping strategies of groups often overlooked in the gender conversation are examined throughout this study, including those of male refugees and those making crossings outside of the context of a family unit. The analysis is theoretically situated at the intersection of critical humanitarianism and the politics of vulnerability, and rooted in debates about the feminisation of refugees and corresponding protection agendas. A key contribution of this work is the ethnographic tracing of how refugees embody these politics along their journeys.

Central and South Asia Essays & Articles Middle East-North Africa North America Publications Putting Down Roots Sub-Saharan Africa

Financial Integration of Refugees in Dallas, Texas

February 28, 2019April 7, 2021 Lori Zimmermann 323 Views 0 Comment Afghanistan, Barriers, DRC, Financial health, Friends and Networks, Humanitarian aid, Integration, Iraq, Language, Livelihoods, Money and finance, Syria, Technology, usa

By Julie Zollmann, Airokhsh Faiz-Qaisary, Kenza Ben-Azouz, Kim Wilson, and Radha Rajkotia. Refugees resettled in the United States are typically supported quite closely early in their transition as support agencies help them settle into new homes, open bank accounts, get their first jobs, and register their children in school. Agencies monitor whether refugees are “self-sufficient,” meaning that their incomes cover their most essential expenses as quickly as possible. However, little is known about the next stage of refugees’ financial and economic transitions, once refugees are no longer interacting regularly with resettlement agencies. In July 2018, we interviewed 29 refugees who had been resettled two to three years earlier to understand the phases of their financial transition and identify possible opportunities to accelerate refugees’ financial gains.

Central and South Asia Essays & Articles Middle East-North Africa North America Publications Putting Down Roots Sub-Saharan Africa

“I’m the Everything”: The Overlooked Heroism of Refugee Youth in the United States

February 28, 2019April 5, 2021 Lori Zimmermann 318 Views 0 Comment Afghanistan, Coping and thriving, DRC, Family, Integration, Iraq, Language, Livelihoods, Money and finance, Syria, usa

By Julie Zollmann. Nine voluntary agencies have the official responsibility for resettling refugees into communities throughout the United States. They find their clients new housing, schools, and jobs. They help them get social security numbers and open bank accounts. They play an indispensable role in helping refugees settle into their new homes. But the work of integration, of truly building a life in a new country with a new language, new transportation system, new labor market, and a whole new set of social norms is a much bigger job, one that in many families is being done stoically, even heroically, by young refugees in their teens and early twenties.

Central and South America Central and South Asia Essays & Articles Long-Distance Journeys Publications

Origins Breed Commonalities, Camaraderie, and Conflict

March 31, 2019April 5, 2021 Ellysse V. Dick 446 Views 0 Comment Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Friends and Networks, India, Language, Nepal, Pakistan, Smuggling, sri lanka, The journey

By Aastha Dua and Subin Mulmi, under the supervision of Kim Wilson. The authors observed the South Asian identity play out in interesting and diverse ways among the migrants interviewed. The dynamic between the general populations of these countries—oscillating between brotherly love, jealousy, and rivalry—was reflected in full, as if in a microcosm, among the South Asian migrants traveling to America in their interactions with each other. This essay is an attempt to describe this dynamic, culled from the interviews that were conducted by the authors with the migrants and from their own observations in the CATEMs (Temporary Care Centers for Migrants) and the surrounding areas in Costa Rica.

Central and South America Essays & Articles Long-Distance Journeys Publications Sub-Saharan Africa

Language Isolation on the Migrant Trail

March 31, 2019April 5, 2021 Ellysse V. Dick 302 Views 0 Comment Barriers, Cameroon, Colombia, Dangers and trouble, Fletcher students’ research experience, Ghana, Language

By Charlie Bentley, under the supervision of Kim Wilson. I connected to most migrants I interviewed using the same first casual topic: “I’m struggling to get around without Spanish. What about you?” Despite having the help of two Spanish-speaking colleagues, I still found that traveling through Colombia without Spanish language skills was an immense challenge.

Central and South America Central and South Asia Essays & Articles Long-Distance Journeys Publication Spotlight Publications Sub-Saharan Africa

In Adjusting to New Labor Markets, Migrants Draw on Past Experience and Retain a Strong Sense of Pride in Being Able to Contribute

March 31, 2019April 5, 2021 Ellysse V. Dick 306 Views 0 Comment Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Dangers and trouble, Forgery bribery and corruption, Friends and Networks, Ghana, Language, Livelihoods, Money and finance, Nepal, nigeria, Pakistan, sierra leone, The journey

By Conor Sanchez, under the supervision of Kim Wilson. Popular notions of migrants as unskilled or uneducated laborers, while sometimes true, are often false. Their jobs back home may not have always ensured adequate income, a factor that could have played a role in their decision to migrate, but they often required some technical knowledge or training. Our subjects had worked as photographers, teachers, accountants, sociologists, and business owners. Some were property owners, tending to farms and livestock or selling various kinds of merchandise out of their home. In many of the interviews, it also became apparent that these jobs had clearly formed an unshakeable part of their identity.

Central and South America Central and South Asia Essays & Articles Long-Distance Journeys Publications Sub-Saharan Africa

Migrants Hold onto Their Religious Identities for Emotional Support and to Build Networks Crucial to Their Journeys

March 31, 2019April 5, 2021 Ellysse V. Dick 466 Views 0 Comment Costa Rica, Dangers and trouble, Ghana, India, nigeria, Pakistan, Religion, The journey

By Lea Abi Zeid Daou and Nidhisha Philip, under the supervision of Kim Wilson. Writings on why religion is of significance to individual migrants have explored themes of religion as a reason for migration, religion as a means of sustenance in difficult circumstances, religion as an identity marker in new socio-cultural contexts, and religion as a source of reconciliation and healing. In this essay, we explore some of these same themes, basing our insights on interviews with trans-continental migrants traveling through Costa Rica and bound for the north.

Central and South America Central and South Asia Essays & Articles Long-Distance Journeys North America Publication Spotlight Publications Sub-Saharan Africa

What Can Hotels Teach Us about Smuggling?

March 31, 2019April 5, 2021 Ellysse V. Dick 639 Views 0 Comment Bangladesh, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Dangers and trouble, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Forgery bribery and corruption, Ghana, Haiti, Host and transition communities, Identity and documents, India, Lodging and food, Money and finance, Nepal, nigeria, Smuggling

By Maria Teresa Nagel, under the supervision of Kim Wilson. There is limited research describing the smuggling industry and its actors, particularly in Central America. Our study hopes to address this knowledge gap by disclosing how human smugglers lodge their clients and the role hotels play in the smuggling ecosystem.

Central and South America Central and South Asia Essays & Articles Long-Distance Journeys North America Publication Spotlight Publications

Tracing the Financial Journeys of Nepali Migrants

April 30, 2019April 5, 2021 Lori Zimmermann 683 Views 0 Comment Costa Rica, Dangers and trouble, Destinations, Fletcher students’ research experience, Forgery bribery and corruption, India, Lodging and food, Money and finance, Nepal, Pakistan, Smuggling, The journey, usa

By Subin Mulmi, under the supervision of Kim Wilson. The 2015 earthquake in Nepal resulted in the deaths of 8,970 people with 22,302 injured. Several reports have estimated that more than one million houses were destroyed, affecting the lives of six million people. Only a handful of families have been relocated to safer places. Even before the quake, the country was reeling from the effects of the decade-long civil war that claimed the lives of 13,236 people and led to the disappearance of thousands more. In June 2009, the Nepal IDP Working Group reported that up to 70,000 people displaced by the conflict had not yet found durable housing. They remained unable to return home, integrate locally, or resettle elsewhere.

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