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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Moving on. Somali-Danish dreams and strategies of migration
| Panel |
8. Refugees and the Law in Europe
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| Paper ID | 363 |
| Author(s) |
Kleist, Nauja
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | Repatriation is one of the three ideal solutions of refugee situations. The saying goes that when war-torn countries become peaceful, refugees wish to – and should – return and help in the reconstruction process. This mantra appears to be central in European refugee and asylum regimes where return and temporal leave to remain have become ever more present policies during the later years. This is not the least the case in Danish asylum and immigration legislation where return of rejected asylum seekers as well as voluntary repatriation plays a key role. The rationale behind the importance of repatriation ranges from notions of refugees’ ideal senses of belonging and obligations towards their countries of origin to the allegedly ‘limited capacity’ of the Danish welfare state to integrate non-Europeans. Somalis constitute one of the most marginalized groups of third country citizens in Denmark and they have often been portrayed by media, politicians, and public officials as ‘difficult to integrate’. Many Somali-Danes claim that they would like to leave Denmark and the group has been one of the special target groups of the voluntary Danish repatriation efforts. However, statistics show that very few Somali-Danes use the option. Their strategies of mobility and livelihood do not seem to fit with policy ideals.
This paper analyses strategies and dreams of mobility and return to Somaliland among Somalis in Denmark. It is based on fieldwork among Somali-Danes, carried out in 1999 and 2003 in Copenhagen, London and Somaliland. While it outlines the development of Danish repatriation politics, its main focus is on how Somalis in Denmark articulate and practice mobility and return. The paper argues that while official repatriation politics emphasize ideal senses of belonging to the country of origin and portray repatriation as the realization of such belonging, Somali migration strategies are transnational in nature and facilitated by Western citizenship. The questions of securing a livelihood and the education of children and youth are of a primary importance, making return a complicated and multi-stepped process where families often are scattered in different locations. Furthermore, many Somali-Danes dream of moving to the UK and in recent years quite a significant number have relocated to London, Birmingham or other large cities in the UK. The paper offers a case study of Somali-Danish migration trajectories and strategies, following the expression of migration dreams in 1999 and how these dreams have – or have not – been realized. It links migration strategies with responses to the situation in Denmark as well as to struggles for recognition.
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