Kurdish Diasporas Östen Wahlbeck University of Warwick
An important theoretical contribution to the area of refugee studies, this book is based on ethnographic fieldwork among Kurdish refugees in the UK and Finland. The author has uniquely combined empirical evidence and contemporary sociological theories of diasporas and transnationalism. Vivid ethnographic material is used to introduce new arguments about the process of integration among refugees. The author argues that a study of refugee communities needs to take into account the refugees' relation to both the country of origin and the country of settlement. The concept of diaspora is used to depict the transnational social reality which characterizes the refugee communities. The book provides essential reading for anybody looking for a comprehensive view of refugee resettlement issues and it will be of special interest to anyone concerned with the topical Kurdish question.
Östen Wahlbeck received his doctorate in 1997 from the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick. At present he is Acting Professor of Sociology, Abo Akademi University and a Research Fellow at the Institute of Migration, Turku, Finland. He has extensive experience of refugee-related research and has written several articles and reports on refugee questions.
Contents
List of Figures and Tables / viii
Acknowledgements / ix
Abbreviations and Glossary / x
Introduction / 1
1 Inclusion and Exclusion of Refugees: Rethinking Concepts and Theories / 8 2 Politics and Forced Migration in Kurdistan / 39 3 Resettlement Policies: Two Different Models / 64 4 Towards a Wider Understanding of the Refugee Experience / 88 5 The Process of Integration / 123 6 Kurdish Associations: Community Work and Diasporic Politics / 52 7 Conclusions / 179
Appendix: The Fieldwork / 191
Notes / 196
References / 202
Index / 215
List of Figures and Tables
Figure 3.1 Asylum seekers in the United Kingdom, 1982-96 / 67 3.2 Decisions on asylum applications made in the United Kingdom, 1982-96 / 68 3.3 Asylum applications from Turkey, Iran and Iraq made in the United Kingdom, 1985-96 / 73 3.4 Decisions on asylum applications from Turkey, Iran and Iraq in the United Kingdom, 1985-90 and 1995-96 / 74 3.5 Immigration and emigration in Finland, 1945-97 / 76 3.6 Foreign citizens and refugees living in Finland, 1980-97 / 77 3.7 Asylum seekers and the refugee quota in Finland, 1979-97 / 79
Table 3.1 The estimated number of Kurds and citizens from Turkey, Iraq and Iran living in Finland / 84
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to all the Kurdish refugees and organizations who helped me and gave me information during this study. I want to thank you for your friendship, hospitality and patience during the fieldwork. Unfortunately, because of the situation in Kurdistan today, you all have to remain anonymous.
This book is based on research made for a PhD dissertation at the University of Warwick in the UK. I am grateful to my supervisors, Dr Danièle Joly at the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations and Professor Robin Cohen at the Department of Sociology, whose expertise in this area of study was invaluable. The Institute of Migration in Turku, Finland, provided me with the space and time needed to finish this book. Inspiration and support was given by both staff and students at these two institutions.
Many other persons have been helpful in many different ways and at different stages of the research process. I especially want to thank Professor Robert Burgess, Professor Emeritus Elizabeth Colson, Dr Peter Fairbrother, Dr Clive Harris, Professor Amir Hassanpour, Dr Mark Johnson, Dr Ronald Kaye, Professor Zig Layton-Henry, Dr Mike McDaid, Dr Philip Muus, Professor Emeritus John Rex, Professor Tom Sandlund, Professor Carl-Ulrik Schierup, Mr Omar Sheikhmous and Professor Matti Similà.
The valuable collections in the libraries at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and at the Refugee Studies Programme at Oxford University were of great help during this project. Support for the completion of this study was provided by the Academy of Finland and the KONE Foundation. I am also grateful for the support given from Agneta och Carl-Erik Olins stipendiefond, Svenska Kulturfonden, Oskar Öflunds Stiftelse and the Overseas Research Student Award.
Introduction
According to the United Nations (UNHCR, 1997), there were 14 million refugees world-wide in 1995. In addition, a further 30 million persons were displaced within the borders of their own countries. Most refugees stay in neighbouring countries, but a small number are forced to seek safety far away from their countries of origin. This book is about Kurdish refugees from Turkey, Iraq and Iran. Since the 1970s increasing numbers of Kurds have been forced to flee the various conflicts in Kurdistan. Today, some of these refugees are present in European countries. Contemporary changes in population movements have led to a situation where countries previously unaffected by immigration have received increased numbers of refugees and migrants. These global changes have also altered migration and refugee flows to countries with a long history of immigration (Castles and Miller, 1993). These new population movements and the consequent establishment of new migrant and refugee communities are relatively little studied phenomena.
The arguments presented in this book are based on a study of Kurdish refugee communities in Britain and Finland. Britain, which "for a long time experienced immigration and emigration within the British Commonwealth, has received increased numbers of refugees in recent years from countries with which Britain has very few historical ties. Finland, which traditionally has been a country of emigration, turned into one of immigration during the 1980s. The two countries of settlement are in significant respects different and this study aims, from a sociological and comparative point of view, to analyse the process of ‘integration’ of newly arrived refugees into these two different societies. The refugees’ relation to the countries of origin from which they were forced to flee is also of interest here. Hence, this book describes the social organization of the Kurdish refugee communities and how this is influenced by the refugees’ relation to the country of origin on the one hand and to the country of settlement on the other. The concept of diaspora is utilized here as an analytical framework, which also has a wider theoretical significance within the area of international migration and ethnic relations.
My interest in questions relating to refugee resettlement and …
Östen Wahlbeck
Kurdish Diasporas A Comparative Study of Kurdish Refugee Communities
University of Warwick
Kurdish Diasporas A Comparative Study of Kurdish Refugee Communities Östen Wahlbeck
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First published in the United States of America 1999 by St. Martin’s Press, Inc., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 0-312-22067-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Wahlbeck, Östen, 1965— Kurdish diasporas: a comparative study of Kurdish refugee communities / Östen Wahlbeck. p. cm. — (Migration, minorities, and citizenship) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 0-312-22067-7 (cloth) 1. Kurds—Relocation—Great Britain. 2. Kurds—Relocation- -Finland. 3. Refugees, Kurdish. 4. Kurds—Politics and government. I. Title. II. Series. DS59.K86W34 1999 305.89T597041—dc21 / 98-44644 CIP
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