Overview

A new understanding of state-based refugee reception that reflects the complex dynamics of contemporary refugee arrival. It is no longer realistic (if it ever was) to understand persons who flee across a border as a homogeneous group whose movement abruptly ends once they arrive in a host state or refugee camp. Through a comparative analysis of the politics surrounding the welcome afforded to refugees, this book offers an original perspective on refugee hosting in Southern Africa. Using the cases of Zambia and South Africa, the book explores why some countries maintain encampment reception policies for refugees, and others use more liberal ‘free settlement’ approaches, whereby refugees are granted freedom of movement and permitted to settle in cities and towns. While state-based reception is frequently framed as one-off moments, such as registration, Refugee Reception in Southern Africa examines reception as a complex and ongoing process of negotiations between refugees and state, with reception policies vital in shaping a refugee’s ability to settle and engage with local communities and labour markets. With its new ‘refugee reception’ framework and in-depth case studies full of concrete examples, this book is a significant theoretical and methodological contribution to migration studies more broadly.

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9781908590756

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'This is a timely and important book that makes a critical contribution to the literature on the politics of asylum in Africa. The book’s discussion of methodology and positionality are especially compelling and will serve as a template for a new generation of scholarship.' —James Milner, Associate Professor of Political Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada Refugee Reception in Southern Africa by Nicholas Maple challenges us to rethink the concept, politics and practice of refugee reception and its impacts. Far more than just a legal and technical process, through two meticulously researched and contrasting case studies – Zambia and South Africa – Maple shows how reception is a highly politicised and long-term determinant of the lives, livelihoods, protection, and the rights of refugees. –Roger Zetter, Professor Emeritus, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

'This is a timely and important book that makes a critical contribution to the literature on the politics of asylum in Africa. The book’s discussion of methodology and positionality are especially compelling and will serve as a template for a new generation of scholarship.' —James Milner, Associate Professor of Political Science, Carleton University, Canada Refugee Reception in Southern Africa by Nicholas Maple challenges us to rethink the concept, politics and practice of refugee reception and its impacts. Far more than just a legal and technical process, through two meticulously researched and contrasting case studies – Zambia and South Africa – Maple shows how reception is a highly politicised and long-term determinant of the lives, livelihoods, protection, and the rights of refugees. –Roger Zetter, Professor Emeritus, University of Oxford, UK

Author Information

Nicholas Maple is a Lecturer in Refugee Studies at the Refugee Law Initiative, School of Advanced Study. Prior to taking on this position, he undertook a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow position at the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS), University of the Witwatersrand. He is also the Co-Editor in Chief at the Refugee Survey Quarterly journal (Oxford University Press).

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