From Mere Life to a Good Life: Shifting Refugee Integration Policy from Outcomes to Capabilities

Abstract

Despite extensive criticism, integration policy has seen increasing resonance in many Western countries. Refugees are particularly susceptible to the effects of integration policy as, unlike other migrants, they do not have the option to return. Further, the nature of integration experiences has been shown to impact health and well-being, with positive experiences capable of moderating prior trauma. The primary focus of integration policy has been on self-sufficiency, with little attention paid to the ways in which refugees could be supported to live a good life. This article outlines a new framework, consisting of nine integration capabilities, which expand the focus on integration policy beyond the functional to cover a wide range of factors that enable or prevent refugees from flourishing in refuge. Applying the framework to two vignettes outlining the experiences of refugee survivors of sexual and gender-based violence, this article demonstrates how different forms of policy, both pre- and post-migration, shape individuals' potential to flourish in refuge. This article ends by arguing that a capabilities approach has the potential to reframe integration policy, as the provision of freedoms and resources to develop capabilities and enable refugees' functioning to flourish.