Being “resettlement-minded”: intersectional dimensions of refugee resettlement strategies and refusals in Jordan

Abstract

This article analyses how gender, race, nationality, and related axes of power influence the way different groups approach resettlement as an institution, and the strategies employed to navigate it. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with Somali, Sudanese, Syrian, and Iraqi refugees in Jordan, as well as interviews with UN and NGO officials, we examine two dimensions of how “resettlement-minded” refugees enact agency in the resettlement process. First, we examine how some Somali and Sudanese women participants utilize NGO vocational and educational programs to position themselves as deserving and desirable candidates. Second, we explore how some Syrian and Iraqi women assert their political, linguistic, and familial identities by refusing resettlement. We argue that resettlement is not a “one-size-fits-all” solution that is passively done to refugees; rather, it is actively sought by some while rejected by others, through strategies reflecting complex identities and power structures.