Mobility and security: the perceived benefits of citizenship for resettled young people from refugee backgrounds

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, the meaning and value of formal state citizenship has shifted dramatically. In the same period, scholarship on citizenship has drawn attention to the proliferation of alternative forms of sub-, supra- and transnational citizenship, at times obscuring the ongoing importance of formal state citizenship. For refugees, however, formal state citizenship remains a critical and widely shared goal. Drawing on interviews with 51 young people from refugee backgrounds in Melbourne, Australia, this article explores the intersecting themes of mobility and security that were identified by participants as the most important benefits of acquiring formal state citizenship in the country of resettlement. In contrast to the insecurity of forced migration, formal state citizenship provides a privileged mobility that enables refugee-background youth to maintain and create transnational identities and attachments and to be protected while doing so, while also granting a secure status within the nation state and insurance against further displacement in an uncertain future. In offering these forms of mobility and security, formal state citizenship contributes to a sense of ontological security among refugee-background youth, providing an important foundation for building national and transnational futures.

KEYWORDS:

• Citizenship
• refugee youth
• mobility
• ontological security
• resettlement

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all the young people who shared their ideas and experiences in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Throughout this article, the term refugee refers to those who meet the UNHCR Convention definition of being ‘outside the country of his/her nationality and … unable, or … unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country’ due to ‘a well founded fear of being persecuted’ ([2010] 1951), and who are yet to have that status resolved via any of the three durable solutions (voluntary repatriation, local integration or third country resettlement). Recognising the cessation of the legal/bureaucratic status of refugee upon resettlement, but also the ongoing relevance of refugee experiences, those with permanent residency or citizenship in a resettlement country are identified as being ‘from refugee backgrounds’.

2. These numbers include both refugees who were selected for resettlement in Australia while residing offshore and asylum seekers who were granted refugee status after arriving in Australia (DIBP 2015c). However, changes to legislation implemented in 2012–2013 and aimed at discouraging unauthorised boat arrivals mean that asylum seekers who arrive via this means and are subsequently found to be refugees are now unlikely to be resettled in Australia (DFAT 2013).

3. The HECS-HELP scheme entitles tertiary students to a government loan to cover student fee contributions. The recipient only begins repaying the loan once their income exceeds a minimum threshold (Australian Government n.d.b).

4. With attrition, the numbers of participants per year were as follows: year 1: n = 120; year 2: n = 109; year 3: n = 100; year 4: n = 80.

5. Citizenship granted by conferral may be revoked if it was obtained illegally, such as via fraud; if a person is convicted of a serious offence committed in Australia or overseas prior to obtaining citizenship (so long as this does not render them stateless); or if, as a citizen or national of another country, a person serves in the armed forces of a country at war with Australia (Australian Government 2014). At the time of writing, a bill has been introduced into the Australian parliament that seeks to extend these circumstances to include the revocation of citizenship for a range of terrorism-related activities.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council [DP120101579].