refugee accommodations

In the aftermath of the rapidly increasing number of refugees arriving in Europe following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, nonprofit organizations, private companies, and also public institutions have promoted homestay initiatives: That is, local households hosting refugees. In order to reflect on the political issues that homestay accommodation for refugees raises, the article charts and synthesizes the available research on homestay produced in 75 works written in English, French, German, and Italian, and with a particular focus on the European context. Most of those texts were published in the second half of the 2010s and focused on the homestay initiatives that developed in the context of the so-called 2015 "refugee crisis." We analyzed this material by focusing on three different levels: First, hospitality as an inter-individual relationship within the domestic sphere (micro level); second, refugee homestay as diverse accommodation arrangements, implemented by informal groups, nonprofit organizations, and public institutions (meso level); and, third, the (non-) contentious dimension of homestay accommodation (macrolevel). The review also identifies theoretical, methodological, and empirical perspectives for future studies on homestay. We call for more attention to be given to the intersectional inequalities and power relations between hosts and guests; to the life trajectories of refugees; and to the interplay between homestay initiatives and political

Since early 2016, in the context of the so-called ‘refugee crisis’, a series of accommodation policies for asylum seekers were developed in Greece under the regime of ‘emergency’, consisting of two pillars: On the one hand, the ‘campisation’ of accommodation in the mainland and, on the other hand, urban apartments. This article sheds light on the uneven geographies of accommodation policies for asylum seekers in metropolitan Athens, by investigating in a complementary way the aforementioned distinct – yet intertwined – types of accommodation. Through the lens of ‘precarity of place’, it argues that asylum accommodation in Athens reproduces multiple geographies of precarity through (a) filtering mechanisms based mainly on vulnerability categorisations, (b) socio-spatial isolation and segregation, and (c) a no-choice basis and extensive control of everyday habitation. The article explores the impact of the above on the everyday lives, socio-spatial relationships, and processes of belonging of asylum seekers, as well as on how they experience – and sometimes contest – precarity of place. The research, conducted in metropolitan Athens, is based on a mixed-methods approach that includes critical policy analysis and interviews with asylum seekers accommodated in camps and apartments, and representatives of institutional actors involved in the accommodation sector.

In addition to existing institutional barriers in European societies, refugee settlement and integration also faces numerous social challenges, such as discrimination and stigmatisation towards refugee groups. Family hosting is a bold refugee accommodation solution promoted by social workers across the European continent, which draws attention to the complexities of refugee support. This study examines family hosting in France to assess its influences on refugee integration in the host society. Through in-depth interviews with 34 multi-stakeholders (20 refugees, 10 hosting family members and 4 social workers) from different family hosting projects, family hosting has been proven to bring comprehensive influences to refugee integration, such as accumulation of social connection and cultivation of the sense of belonging. Nonetheless, it has also revealed potential limitations alongside the cohabitation process, for instance, the risk of negatively impacting refugees’ privacy and experience of independence. In terms of the implication for future social work practice, the evidence showed that family hosting is not a once-and-for-all solution; it depends on the refugee’s situation and requirements. In addition, for those refugees who are ready to be hosted, the research shows that different hosting schedules, either long-term or short-term, impact on how each case functions, with pros and cons.

Die Zuwanderung von über einer Million Geflüchteten im Jahr
2015 stellten Politik und öffentliche Verwaltungen vor vielfältige Herausforderungen.
Dazu gehörte auch der Umgang mit religiöser Diversität und Praxis in Flüchtlingsunterkünften.
Ziel des Beitrages ist es, zu untersuchen, wie die Mitarbeitenden
der Unterkünfte mit religiösen Bedürfnissen und Konflikten umgehen und wie ihre
Deutungen und Orientierungen das organisationale Handeln prägen. Dabei bauen wir
auf einer explorativen, qualitativen Untersuchung in Unterkünften in Niedersachsen
auf, die in den Jahren 2016–2017 durchgeführt wurde. Drei Themenbereiche werden
im Beitrag in den Vordergrund gestellt: die Handhabung religiöser Neutralität vor
dem Hintergrund einer großen Zahl an muslimischen Bewohnerinnen und Bewohnern,
der Umgang mit religiöser Praxis und Festen sowie die Deutung und Regulierung
religiöser und ethnisch-nationaler Konflikte.Wir kommen zu dem Schluss, dass
der Umgang mit religiöser Diversität in den meisten Fällen auf einem distanzierten
Verständnis religiöser Neutralität beruht, wobei die Mitarbeitenden weitreichende
Handlungsspielräume haben. Religiöse Konflikte spielten eine untergeordnete Rolle.
-
The immigration of over a million refugees in 2015 posed various challenges
for politics and public administration, which included finding a way of dealing
with religious diversity and practices in refugee accommodations. Our goal is to examine
how employees of these accommodations handle religious needs and conflicts
and how their interpretations and orientations shape organizational behavior. In so
doing, we build on an explorative qualitative survey on refugee accommodations in
Lower Saxony, Germany, which was conducted in the years 2016–2017. There are
three main focal points: of the handling of religious neutrality against the backdrop
of a substantial number of Muslim residents; the approach to religious practices
and holidays; and the interpretation and regulation of religious and ethnic-national
conflicts. In conclusion, we find that the handling of religious diversity is, in most
cases, based on a restrictive understanding of religious neutrality wherein the employees’
scope of action is (quite) extensive. Religious conflicts, meanwhile, tend
to play only a minor role.