Desperately Seeking Asylum
Desperately Seeking Asylum

Author: Helen T. Boursier

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-11-19

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 1538128349

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Told through heart-wrenching testimonies, photographs, and artwork of refugees fleeing their homelands, Desperately Seeking Asylum describes firsthand accounts of the harrowing and dangerous journey immigrants are willing to endure knowing that they might not even make it onto US soil. Desperately Seeking Asylum prioritizes the testimonies of refugee families and unaccompanied children who are seeking asylum in the United States from Central America, primarily Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. Their desperate and heart-wrenching stories disclose why they fled their homelands, their experiences along the treacherous overland journey, and the harsh reality of how the United States treats these families and children upon arrival to the United States. It critiques US complicity to the violence they are fleeing and discloses how national leadership shapes US immigration policies and practices, including the blatant documented violations against asylum seekers at the US–Mexico border. Most notably, it offers transparency on US immigration practices at the US–Mexico border which violate existing US and international laws that are intended to protect asylum seekers, including the current official practice of blocking bridges with “turnbacks” to prevent “inadmissibles” from applying for asylum in the United States. It explains protections mandated by US law for unaccompanied children who are in US custody, and discloses violations which keep these children detained excessive lengths of time in substandard for-profit facilities which are overseen by the government and funded by taxpayers. Boursier also deconstructs the complicated asylum process, including examining the credible fear for asylum procedure, showing how technical terms and language are used to justify injustice at the border. Desperately Seeking Asylum offers hope for a new vision with alternative options and practical actions which assist migrants through humanitarian aid on both sides of the border. The witness for compassionate and responsible response by people of conscious becomes an antidote to injustice against asylum seekers. Instead of the current administration manipulating US laws to support its ulterior motives and political agenda, Boursier asks readers to hold US elected officials accountable to the same “Rule of Law” that the United States demands of refugees. Ultimately, Boursier suggests a spectrum of options for practical ways to make the political personal through public witness and civic engagement to transform the broken immigration process for refugees who are desperately seeking asylum.

Desperately Seeking Asylum
Desperately Seeking Asylum

Author: Helen Kimble

Publisher: Wild Goose Publications

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 54

ISBN-13: 9781901557121

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The author of this pamphlet is a member of Asylum Welcome, a registered charity working with asylum seekers and refugees to provide companionship, advice and practical support. She provides a succinct description of the difficulties and indignities these often terrified and disoriented people have to face and the legal problems they encounter in their struggle to be recognised as genuine refugees in the UK. Some 'modest proposals' are suggested for alleviating the situation in the future, to provide at least a minimum of welcome for those who place their trust in us to save them from persecution.

The Ungrateful Refugee
The Ungrateful Refugee

Author: Dina Nayeri

Publisher: Catapult

Published: 2019-09-03

Total Pages: 368

ISBN-13: 194822643X

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A Finalist for the 2019 Kirkus Prize in Nonfiction "Nayeri combines her own experience with those of refugees she meets as an adult, telling their stories with tenderness and reverence.” —The New York Times Book Review "Nayeri weaves her empowering personal story with those of the ‘feared swarms’ . . . Her family’s escape from Isfahan to Oklahoma, which involved waiting in Dubai and Italy, is wildly fascinating . . . Using energetic prose, Nayeri is an excellent conduit for these heart–rending stories, eschewing judgment and employing care in threading the stories in with her own . . . This is a memoir laced with stimulus and plenty of heart at a time when the latter has grown elusive.” —Star–Tribune (Minneapolis) Aged eight, Dina Nayeri fled Iran along with her mother and brother and lived in the crumbling shell of an Italian hotel–turned–refugee camp. Eventually she was granted asylum in America. She settled in Oklahoma, then made her way to Princeton University. In this book, Nayeri weaves together her own vivid story with the stories of other refugees and asylum seekers in recent years, bringing us inside their daily lives and taking us through the different stages of their journeys, from escape to asylum to resettlement. In these pages, a couple fall in love over the phone, and women gather to prepare the noodles that remind them of home. A closeted queer man tries to make his case truthfully as he seeks asylum, and a translator attempts to help new arrivals present their stories to officials. Nayeri confronts notions like “the swarm,” and, on the other hand, “good” immigrants. She calls attention to the harmful way in which Western governments privilege certain dangers over others. With surprising and provocative questions, The Ungrateful Refugee challenges us to rethink how we talk about the refugee crisis. “A writer who confronts issues that are key to the refugee experience.” —Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Sympathizer and The Refugees

Asylum Denied
Asylum Denied

Author: David Ngaruri Kenney

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2009-08-17

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0520261593

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This book, told by Kenney and his lawyer Philip G. Schrag from Kenney's own perspective, tells of his near-murder, imprisonment, and torture in Kenya; his remarkable escape to the United States; and the obstacle course of ordeals and proceedings he faced as U.S. government agencies sought to deport him to Kenya. As we travel with Kenney through the bureaucracies that regulate immigration, we learn that despite this country's claim to welcome political refugees, our system is too often one of arbitrary justice highly dependent on individual public officials. A story of courage, love, perseverance, and legal strategy, Asylum Denied brings to life the human costs associated with our immigration laws and suggests policy reforms that are desperately needed to help other victims of human rights violations.

Bosnian Refugees in Chicago
Bosnian Refugees in Chicago

Author: Ana Croegaert

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2020-10-14

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1793623074

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Bosnian Refugees in Chicago: Gender, Performance, and Post-War Economies studies refugee migration through the experiences of survivors of the 1990s wars in former Yugoslavia as they rebuild home, family, and social lives in the wake of their displacement. Ana Croegaert explores post-1970s Yugoslav-era socialism, American neoliberal capitalism, and anti-Muslim geopolitics to examine women’s varied perspectives on their postwar lives in the United States. Based on more than a decade of fieldwork, Croegaert takes readers into staged performances, coffee rituals, protests, memorials, homes, and non-governmental organizations to shine a light on the pressures women contend with in their efforts to make a living and to narrate their wartime injuries. Ultimately, Croegaert argues that refugee women insist on understanding their wartime losses as simultaneously social and material, a form of personhood she labels “injured life.” At a time of mass displacement and heated political debates concerning refugees, Croegaert provides an engaging portrait of a lively and diverse group of women whose opinions on citizenship and belonging are needed now more than ever.

Whatever Happened to Asylum in Britain?
Whatever Happened to Asylum in Britain?

Author: Louise Pirouet

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2001-07-01

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1782388834

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Refugees and asylum-seekers are high up on many people's political agenda. Even so, there is a remarkable lack of information. Who are these asylum-seekers? Aren't they almost all "bogus"? How do western immigration authorities decide whether or not they are genuine? Is the UN convention on Refugees out of date and in need of renegotiation? This book brings insider knowledge to the study of asylum in Britain today. It is based on visits to places where asylum seekers are detained, on working with lawyers representing asylum-seekers and on a close knowledge of many of the refugee organisations. It argues passionately that Britain shall not throw away, through ignorance and misunderstanding, a reputation for providing a place of safety for the persecuted, and the chance of welcoming people who have much to contribute to national life and culture.

Seeking Asylum
Seeking Asylum

Author: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

Publisher: Black Inc.

Published: 2021-11-30

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 1743822189

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The voices Australia should hear This beautifully illustrated book captures the stories of those who have lived the experience of seeking asylum. In their own voices, contributors share how they came to be in Australia, and explore diverse aspects of their lives: growing up in a refugee camp, studying for a PhD, changing attitudes through soccer, being a Muslim in a small country town, campaigning against racism, surviving detention, holding onto culture, dreaming of being reunited with family. There are stories of love, pain, injustice, achievement and everything in between. Accompanied by beautiful portrait photographs, they show the depth and diversity of people’s experience and trace the impact of Australia’s immigration policies. Seeking Asylum also includes a foreword by Liliana Maria and an essay by Abdul Karim Hekmat on the human, social and political impact of Australia’s treatment of people seeking asylum over the last fifty years. With an afterword by Kon Karapanagiotidis and supporting material demystifying Australia’s current policies from Julian Burnside, Seeking Asylum redefines assumptions about people who have sought asylum and inspires readers to take action to create a more welcoming Australia. 100% of the proceeds from Seeking Asylum: Our Stories will be reinvested by the ASRC to fund projects that build people’s capacity to tell their story in their own way and provide opportunities to amplify their voices. One area of investment will continue to be the ASRC’s Community Advocacy and Power Program (CAPP). The CAPP training program, offered nationally, provides participants with skills in advocacy, community organising / mobilising, public speaking and effective media engagement.

Art As Witness
Art As Witness

Author: Helen T. Boursier

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2021-06-03

Total Pages: 357

ISBN-13: 1793628246

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Art As Witness is an invitation for professors, researchers, clergy, educators, students, and activists to creatively integrate the arts in theology and religious studies for a practical theology of arts-based research that prioritizes public witness. This methodology challenges the traditional written word as being the privileged norm, arguing that this emerging research genre is an excellent, viable, and necessary option for research that supports, promotes, and publicizes liberating theology for the marginalized, victimized, and oppressed. It includes a detailed case study of “Art Inside Karnes,” the all-volunteer arts-based ministry of presence the author facilitated inside a for-profit immigrant family detention center that became the Power of Hope traveling art exhibit for education, advocacy, and public witness. This primer covers practical ethical, legal, and political matters; includes pedagogical examples for how to use arts-based research for student assessment in theology and religious studies; and provides an overview of arts options, including literary genres, visual arts, fabric arts, theater, filmmaking, and new media with digital content. Art as Witness features 40 illustrations, several case studies, and multiple contributing theologian-artists who engage the arts in themes that include immigration, HIV/AIDS, biblical studies, political protest, gender equity, gun law reform, racial justice, and more.

Willful Ignorance
Willful Ignorance

Author: Helen T. Boursier

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2022-04-27

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 1793628270

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Using ethnographic research, Willful Ignorance: Overcoming the Limitations of (Christian) Love for Refugees Seeking Asylum examines the attitudes of clergy and lay leaders regarding their (in)attention to racism as it intersects with the harsh reality of U.S. immigration policies and practices. This multi-faceted work begins with a reality check on the scope of forced migration and its intersection with the historical legacy of racism in America, including testimonies from displaced migrants and immigration advocates who help to alleviate state-inflicted suffering at the U.S.-Mexico border. Helen T. Boursier examines the rationales Christian leaders use to justify the local church’s nominal response, including the discursive buffers and stall tactics they use to deflect their lack of preaching, teaching, leadership and/or ministry with displaced migrants who are their near neighbors. The Christian church’s firm foundation to embody love as social justice provides a historical rebuttal, while case studies of congregations that offer displaced migrants compassionate hospitality model exemplary contemporary response. Closing with practical suggestions for how to begin building bridges with migrants, Boursier argues for a philosophy of religion that embraces resistance to racism and exclusion from asylum, through a missiology of compassion that exemplifies an ecclesiology of love.

Fortress Europe?
Fortress Europe?

Author: Annette Jünemann

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-03-16

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 3658170115

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An unprecedented number of people is currently on the move seeking refuge in Europe. Large parts of European societies respond with anxiety and mistrust to the influx of people. Nationalist, anti-migrant parties from Slovakia over Germany to the UK have gained increasing support among the electorate and challenge the political mainstream. Europe is struggling how to respond. While the search for solutions is ongoing one pattern seems to be emerging: Fortress Europe is in the making. Unfortunately, few of these discussions and measures consider the structural root causes and dynamics of migration, the motives of migrants or societal challenges more thoroughly. This book seeks to address this deficit. Taking migration and asylum policies as a starting point, it analyses the various dimensions underpinning migration. In doing so, it identifies why receiving countries are in many ways part of the problem. To eschew an overtly Euro-centric perspective and stimulate a debate between science and politics, it contains contributions by academics and practitioners alike from both shores of the Mediterranean.