ABSTRACT

Regional settlement of refugees is a federal, state and often also local government agenda in Australia. It is increasingly welcomed by regional employers seeking to plug labour shortages and by non-government organisations facilitating their refugee clients’ relocation from cities. This paper investigates the role of secondary movements in refugee settlement and the tensions between a dominant vision of regional settlement as the final destination, which frames retention as settlement success and problematises secondary migration, and an alternative understanding as a stage in a social and spatial trajectory that includes mobility. Drawing on former refugees’ own reflections on their regional settlement in qualitative interviews, we investigate four themes: tensions between local interests in refugee retention and refugee interests in mobility; navigating the freedom of movement and settlement dreams and objectives over time and space; making sense of barriers in regional places and in the wider Australian society (including racism and discrimination); and considering place and mobility in the context of family and community. We conclude that the success of regional refugee settlement policies in Australia will depend on taking seriously former refugees’ right to be mobile, their search for happiness and their resourcefulness, as well as racism and discrimination.

摘要

难民的区域安置是澳大利亚联邦、州和地方政府的议程。它越来越受到寻求解决劳动力短缺问题的地区雇主和帮助其难民客户从城市搬迁的非政府组织的欢迎。本文调查了二次流动在难民定居中的作用，以及将区域定居作为最终目的地的主流观点与另一种理解作为社会和空间轨迹中的一个阶段的替代理解之间的紧张关系这包括流动性。根据前难民在定性访谈中对其区域定居的反思，我们调查了四个主题：难民保留方面的当地利益与流动方面的难民利益之间的紧张关系；在时间和空间上导航行动自由和定居梦想和目标；了解地区和更广泛的澳大利亚社会中的障碍（包括种族主义和歧视）；在家庭和社区的背景下考虑位置和流动性。我们的结论是，澳大利亚区域难民安置政策的成功将取决于认真对待前难民的流动权、他们对幸福的追求和他们的足智多谋，以及种族主义和歧视。