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Livelihoods, Integration & Transnationalism in a Protracted

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Livelihoods, Integration & Transnationalism in a Protracted | I LIVELIHOODS, INTEGRATION & TRANSNATIONALISM IN A PROTRACTED REFUGEE SITUATION CASE STUDY: BURMESE REFUGEES IN THAILAND Dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for a Ph.D. degree in Political and Social Sciences, option Political Sciences. INGE BREES Ghent University August 2009 Thesis director: Prof. Dr. Koen Vlassenroot | II | III LIVELIHOODS, INTEGRATION & TRANSNATIONALISM IN A PROTRACTED REFUGEE SITUATION CASE STUDY: BURMESE REFUGEES IN THAILAND Dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for a Ph.D. degree in Political and Social Sciences, option Political Sciences. INGE BREES Ghent University August 2009 Thesis director: Prof. Dr. Koen Vlassenroot | I CONTENT LIST OF TABLES, MAPS AND FIGURES .......................................................................... IV ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................. V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. IX INTRODUCTION: HOW THIS RESEARCH FITS INTO THE DEBATES IN REFUGEE STUDIES AND POLICY ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Two settlement options: Refugee camps or self-settlement ............................... 3 1.2 The livelihoods approach ................................................................................... 7 1.3 Transnationalism and its impact ........................................................................ 9 1.4 Integration ...................................................................................................... 10 1.5 Repatriation as the best durable solution? ....................................................... 13 1.6 The migration- asylum nexus ........................................................................... 20 1.7 Structure thesis ............................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 2: SELECTION OF CASE STUDY AND METHODOLOGY ................................... 27 2.1 Case study: Burmese refugees in Thailand ....................................................... 27 2.2 Methodology and personal experience field work ............................................ 29 2.2.1 Methodology ........................................................................................... 29 2.2.2 Difficulties encountered at different stages during the research period .... 38 CHAPTER 3: BURMESE REFUGEES IN THAILAND ......................................................... 52 3.1. Conflict in Burma: a historical overview .......................................................... 53 3.2. Root causes of flight and migration patterns ................................................... 60 3.3. The formal legal framework: the Thai refugee and foreign labour policy ......... 70 3.3.1 The Thai refugee policy ............................................................................ 70 3.3.2 The Thai foreign labour policy and its impact on access to work for refugees ......................................................................................................................... 79 3.4. Refugees in camp and migrants outside camp? The migration-asylum nexus on the Thai- Burmese border. .................................................................................... 86 3.5 Being a refugee on the Thai- Burmese border: setting the scene ...................... 93 | II 3.5.1 Refugee camps ......................................................................................... 93 3.5.2 Self-settlement....................................................................................... 100 CHAPTER 4: DISPLACED LIVELIHOODS: A STORY OF VULNERABILITY, ADAPTATION & AGENCY .................................................................................................................. 107 4.1 Protection strategies ..................................................................................... 117 4.2 Subsistence strategies ................................................................................... 120 Camp refugees ................................................................................................ 121 Self-settled rural refugees ............................................................................... 127 Self-settled urban refugees ............................................................................. 129 4.3 Property strategies ........................................................................................ 134 4.4 Strategies to improve access to goods and services ....................................... 136 Health care ..................................................................................................... 137 Education ....................................................................................................... 139 4.5 Civic strategies .............................................................................................. 140 4.6 Concluding remarks ....................................................................................... 143 CHAPTER 5 : INTEGRATION AND TRANSNATIONALISM: THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL .................................................................................................................. 150 5.1 Refugee integration in a situation of mass influx ............................................ 154 5.1.1 The impact of security and physical factors on refugee integration ......... 156 5.1.2 Economic integration ............................................................................. 158 5.1.3 Social integration ................................................................................... 160 5.1.4 Structural integration ............................................................................. 165 5.1.5 Preference ............................................................................................. 166 5.1.6 Concluding remarks ................................................................................ 167 5.2 Refugees and transnationalism on the Thai-Burmese border ......................... 170 5.2.1 Transnational engagement in the context of the Thai-Burmese border region ............................................................................................................. 175 5.2.2 Economic transnational activities ........................................................... 178 5.2.3 Socio-cultural transnational engagement ................................................ 184 5.2.4 Political transnational engagement......................................................... 192 5.2.5 Concluding remarks: Refugees in the South as transnational actors ........ 201 CHAPTER 6: REFUGEES AS AGENTS OF CHANGE ....................................................... 207 | III 6.1. Burmese refugee transnationalism: What is the effect? ................................ 208 6.1.1 Financial remittances and their multiple effects ...................................... 210 6.1.2 The impact of social engagement ........................................................... 214 6.1.3 Directly or indirectly challenging the junta: any effect? ........................... 216 6.1.4 Concluding remarks: The influence of the diaspora on conflict, peace building and development in Burma ................................................................ 226 6.2. ‘Burden’ or ‘boon’? The impact of Burmese refugees on host country Thailand ........................................................................................................................... 233 6.2.1 Impact on security and politics ............................................................... 235 6.2.2 Environmental and economic impact ...................................................... 242 6.2.3 Concluding remarks ................................................................................ 253 CHAPTER 7: WORKING TOWARDS DURABLE SOLUTIONS .......................................... 256 7.1 Convention Plus ............................................................................................ 257 7.2. The promotion of local integration as a durable solution .............................. 260 7.3 What are the policy options for Burmese refugees in Thailand?: thinking out of the box ............................................................................................................... 269 7.3.1. Resettlement ........................................................................................ 270 7.3.2 What do the refugees want? .................................................................. 273 7.3.3 Repatriation ........................................................................................... 274 7.3.4. Local integration ................................................................................... 277 7.3.5 A segmented approach: Different durable solutions for subgroups of refugees ......................................................................................................... 280 GENERAL CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................... 289 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. i ANNEX A: Questionnaire regular................................................................................. xli ANNEX B: Questionnaire political refugees ..............................................................
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