About this course
Global North states have all undertaken to provide asylum and related human rights protections to people forcibly displaced from their homes in the Global South, however these legal obligations are normally only triggered when people seeking asylum reach the borders of these states.
Global North states have no legal obligation to provide safe transit for those seeking asylum, and they are legally entitled to extend and externalize their border control regimes, often into maritime geographies, in order to deter and prevent as many non-citizens as possible from entering their territory.
This course will interrogate this legal ‘protection gap’ and the state policies of ‘non-entrée’ that it enables, as they not only call into question the post-war concept of the refugee and the continuing relevance, efficacy, and universality of ‘the right to be recognized as a refugee’ but they increasingly imperil the lives of those seeking security and refuge in the Global North.
Syllabus
Short Study Tour
About this tour
Among the Scandinavian states, Sweden has long been a preferred destination for those seeking refuge in Europe and traditionally has sought to include refugees within the generous and universally applicable provisions of the welfare state. However, in Sweden, the inclusive policy began to change after the ‘refugee crisis’ of 2015 when over 160,000 people claimed asylum in Sweden, and border controls were reintroduced.
The short study tour will encourage students to reimagine the border not as a boundary fixed in space and time, but as a fluid set of practices that not only demarcate space but ‘order’ and ‘other’ those who move through that space. Through visits with academics, refugee support groups, government agencies, NGOs and international organizations, and most importantly, those who have experienced Sweden’s new bordering practices first hand, you will gain valuable insight into how the Nordic states have contributed to the emerging ‘global border regime.’
Learning outcomes
- Explain, analyze, and discuss the legal and political circumstances under which people are granted or refused asylum in Sweden
- Reflect on the lived experiences of refugees in Sweden since 2015, and the impact of evolving refugee policy and practice on their experience of settlement in Sweden
- Reflect on the role played by local refugee support groups, international organizations and NGOs, Swedish political and administrative actors, and refugees themselves, in constructing and contesting Swedish refugee policy since 2015
Possible activities
- Visit neighborhoods at the forefront of the evolving refugee policy in Sweden
- Meet with a range of actors including academics, journalists, and legal practitioners
- Meet refugees and those who work with them to provide support and advice
About this tour
The short Study Tour in Denmark consists of a wide range of academic and experiential visits. We will hear from scholars, practitioners, activists, volunteers, lawyers, historians, and those seeking refugee status in Denmark. Each of the visits will engage with the core themes of the course and, together, will provide a snapshot of the contemporary Danish refugee system.
We will engage with many pressing issues within the field: the complex and laborious refugee status determination system, the ‘paradigm shift’ in Danish refugee policy and the turn to ‘temporary protection’; the ongoing controversy surrounding the Danish determination that returns to Syria are safe; the policy of requiring all those claiming asylum to reside in the ‘refugee camps,’ and the deleterious impacts of life in those camps; and debates around the externalization of borders and proposals to transfer all those claiming asylum to third states such as Rwanda.
By the end of the Study Tour, you will have acquired a critical insight into the Danish refugee system and the evolution of Danish bordering practices, be able to interrogate that system from a decolonial perspective, and be prepared to situate their analysis in a broader understanding of the contemporary evolution of European and international refugee law and policy.
Learning outcomes
- Explain, analyze, and discuss the legal and political circumstances under which people are granted or refused asylum in Denmark, and the conditions of their containment during and after their claims have been processed
- Reflect on the lived experiences of refugees in Denmark since 2015, and the impact of evolving refugee policy and practice on their experience of settlement and integration in Denmark
- Reflect on the role played by local refugee support groups, international organizations and NGOs, Danish political and administrative actors, and refugees themselves, in constructing and contesting Danish refugee policy since 2015
Possible activities
- Danish refugee policy and bordering practices, and the national refugee museum, recently opened on the site of a WWII refugee camp
- Meet with a range of actors including practitioners, activists, volunteers, lawyers, historians and those providing support and solidarity to people seeking refugee status in Denmark
- Meet with people on the move, those claiming asylum and those awaiting removal from Denmark, and engage in structured discussion in order to understand the lived experience of those caught up in Denmark’s bordering practices
Long Study Tour
