The Stockholm Journal of International Affairs Issue 7 • 2013
Migration
Migration and Developement • The Syrian Refugees Civil Integration Policy in Europe • Is There a Place Like Home? Upcoming Events
A Word from the Editors...
Index
Dear readers, As the new editors of The Stockholm Journal of International Affairs we want to welcome you to a new year with the journal. We are excited to continue the great work of former editors Meenakshi Malik and Lisa Backman and hope that the next issues of the journal will provide you with thoughtful and interesting articles on foreign politics. For the first issue this semester we have chosen Migration as a theme. This broad conception captures some of the most current political issues; from the war in Syria to the distorted situation in Europe. The geography of migration changes through space and time, but the underlying cause tend to consist. Less than a century ago, people from our part of the hemisphere emigrated from starvation and misery. The current global picture is slightly different. Yet the primary motive preceding migration still seems to be the search for a better life. The circumstances around migration are however characterized by great complexity. Whether fleeing from repression or moving in purposes of study, migration has a major impact on people and the society. In the wake of the intensified processes of globalization, migration has subsequently been raised as a strong force that challenges the conventional notion of territorial boundaries between cultures and people. This issue contains four illuminative articles on migration. Caroline analyses the complex relation between migration and development; Maria describes the troublesome situation for Syrian refugees; Anton draws attention to the tougher integration policies in Europe; and Moa discusses the sense of belonging in relation to migration. Pleasant readings!
Editorial Staff 2013
UF Stockholm Board 2013
Editors Anton Ahlén Love Lindqvist redaktor@ufstockholm.se
President Simon Rose ordf@ufstockholm.se
Blog Editor Caroline Wrangsten blog@ufstockholm.se Writers Caroline Wrangsten Maria Lindbäck Anton Ahlén Moa Lindunger Illlustrations Comic4Syria Josefine Eklöf Torp Proofreaders Moa Lindunger Judit Epresi
Migration and Development Caroline Wrangsten
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Vice President Marcus Morfeldt viceordf@ufstockholm.se
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Treasurer Calle Nilsson kassor@ufstockholm.se
Organisation number 80 24 06-38 88 info@ufstockholm.se
Maria Lindbäck
Programme Managers Caroline Nabaveih Alexandra Bro program@ufstockholm.se PR managers Hannes Lewander Kitty Kuusk pr@ufstockholm.se
Civil Integration Policy in Europe Anton Ahlén
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Activities Managers Derya Öztürk Nikolina Stålhand aktivitet@ufstockholm.se Membership Manager Salma Salim medlem@ufstockholm.se
Urikespolitiska Föreningen Stockholm Box: 50006 103 05 Stockholm
The Syrian Refugees
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Travel Manager Linnéa Wallenholm resa@ufstockholm.se Mentorship Program Mng Markus Lyckman mentorskap@ufstockholm.se Grant Manager Maria Persson bidrag@ufstockholm.se UF Sweden Rep. Erick Modén ufs@ufstockholm.se
A Word from the President...
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Is There a Place Like Home? Moa Lindunger
Issue 7 • Stockholm Journal of International Affairs • 2013
Migration and Development
TEXT: CAROLINE WRANGSTEN According to the World Migration report, there are currently about 214 million international migrants. Statistics can always be questioned, but the number of international migrants is undoubtedly large. Regardless of the perspective used, migration is a powerful force. In this article, Caroline discusses the differentiated picture of global migration flows and the complex relation to development.
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e live in a world characterized by mobility and globalization: a world in which capital, ideas and cultures flow farther, faster, cheaper and deeper than ever before. An increasing mobility often means increasing opportunities and possibilities beneficial to the individual as well as society, still, not everyone benefit from the process of globalization. Every arrival necessarily includes a departure, and someone’s gain is often someone else’s loss. For example, the inflow of well-educated people to one country, the so-called “brain gain”, means a corresponding loss of academic knowledge or “brain drain” for another country. When discussing migration as boosting economic as well as social development, we must have in mind that development is a complex concept that is both difficult to define and evaluate since it depends on whose perspective we take: the hosting or the sending countries. The measurement of migration is often quantitative, providing figures such as net and gross migration. Net migration shows the difference between immigration and emigration, while gross migration shows the total amount of migrants within a chosen area and time. Quantitative measurements certainly have many advances, but to acquire a more holistic understanding of the effects of migration it is favorable to include qualitative measurements too. Thus, we must not only ask how many people are presently moving but also why they are 4
moving and what consequences there will be for the migrant, the hosting country, and the sending country. The migrant’s lifecycle in terms of age, education, and occupation is crucial when analyzing the consequences of migration on development. For example, the migration of young academics results in the above mentioned brain gain/brain drain problem, especially in fields of expertise that are rather universal in their natures, such as engineering, finance and medicine. To the individual migrant moving to a more developed country often means better wages and better working and social conditions and to the hosting country it is generally a solution to a shortage in the workforce. In many European countries immigration is also an important complement to balance an aging population. To the sending country, however, the outflow of human capital is a major problem as it invests heavily in the education of its young people but won’t harvest the returns. For some countries in Africa already struggling in the earlier stages of development the outflow of doctors is very problematic. Likewise, India suffers from the same phenomenon, especially concerning young Indian engineers considered extremely attractive by companies in America and Europe. Still, this kind of migration is not a zero sum game: there are mutual gains to be reaped. Despite the loss of intellectual capital, global migration means that ideas and
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knowledge are circulating around the world alongside the migrants, a phenomenon called brain circulation. Migrants acquire transcultural contacts and international experience that might be a future resource to their homeland, either when they return or, if they do not, facilitating trade opportunities between the hosting and the sending countries. The social networks and transnational spaces that international migrants create are important platforms to exemplify how migration can stimulate development despite the initial brain drain. It is however in terms of brain gain that countries like Canada have focused on their net migration as they try to attract highly educated migrants through advantageous migration and integration policies, generally known as the Canada model. While immigrants in Sweden often have difficulty finding work, immigrants in Canada more easily finds employment and better opportunities to climb the social ladder. Canada’s approach to immigration as an engine for growth has had a positive effect on integration, which in turn has a positive effect on immigrants’ employment rates. Despite the apparent successful integration and migration policies, critical voices have been raised concerning Canada’s much-debated point system for immigrants through whom a person receives more points if he or she has an academic degree at the time of arrival, which is an advantage when applying for the residence permit. The system resembles a lottery: the more you can afford to bet, the bigger are your chances to hit the jackpot. But should international migration be a question of gambling? At the end of the day, it is a question of balancing economic and humanistic factors. One the one hand, the issue of migration concerns human beings and therefore the equal worth of all people
ought to be considered and not only their present capabilities. On the other hand, labor market policy is a cornerstone in every nation’s political sphere and is treated carefully and, especially in a weak economic climate, characterized by nationalism and protectionism. Consequently, migration is a much debated and delicate issue. The possible positive or negative effects of migration to economy and society arouse many complex, and at times uncomfortable, questions. The Swedish Government has adopted a so-called humane migration policy that states that; ”All people have the right to live in dignity, free from poverty” and ”All people want to evolve and are not just recipients or spineless victims.” In theory this means that our migration policy is supposed to welcome immigrants with various backgrounds and not only academics attractive in certain industries. Among those skeptical to the increasing migration, a common argument is that immigration is not economically effective and that it affects domestic wages and work opportunities negatively. Such arguments are not used exclusively by actors with a xenophobic agenda: in the present wage negotiations, the Swedish labor organization LO is demanding greater influence in migration issues on behalf of their members’ interests. What really is under discussion is balancing the needs of the hosting country and the needs of the individual migrants that are balancing economic and humanistic factors. For example, the refugee and kinship immigration constitutes a major part of the net immigration in Sweden while in Canada a relatively larger part is constituted by foreign academics looking for career opportunities rather than safe living conditions. In Sweden’s policy for global development (PGU) it is stated that: “Today we 5
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now know…that migration flows means potential of development for both host countries and sending countries”. Further it states that the development potential of migration is not fully utilized and that migrants have more opportunities than ever to contribute to development in their countries of origin by spreading their knowledge and through remittances. Sending money back to relatives in the homeland can contribute to, or even boost, further development, since the receiver can spend the money and thus stimulate the domestic economy and perhaps even afford to put their kids in school. The downside is that remittances often lead to polarized societies distinguishing those who have relatives abroad from those who do not. Also, the remittances result in a phenom nonsimilar to the brain drain/gain problem: financial capital earned in the host country is not spent there but in the sending country, which is a disadvantage to the former. To sum up, the result of international migration varies depending on the circumstances in which it occurs. Though problematic from a humanistic point of view, it does matter if the migrant is a student from a leading university in China or a refugee from a refugee camp in Syria. Still, the motive of migrating remains the same: personal development (sometimes survival) and in my opinion, that ought to be something everyone have the right to try to obtain. At the end of the day, despite geographical or cultural belonging, what most people search for is a better life.
The Syrian Refugees TEXT: MARIA LINDBÄCK
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Caroline Wrangsten studies towards a Bachelor degree in Social Geography with world analysis as a focus at Stockholm University and prepares for a semester with Erasmus in Louvain, Belgium the Autumn of 2013. She is always ready to debate and discuss when international development questions are on the agenda. Daily thinking, writing and tweeeting on issues of borders and limitations: Across nations and individual boundlessness. 6
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ILLUSTRATION: COMIC4SYRIA
“With a million people in flight, millions more displaced internally, and thousands of people continuing to cross the border every day, Syria is spiralling towards full-scale disaster” - UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres.
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wo years have passed since the uprising of the Arab Spring reached Syria in March 2011. The words “the people want the fall of the regime” echoed over the whole region and dictatorships fell in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya. But in Syria president Bashar al-Assad, whose family has ruled the country since the 70’s, is still clinging to his power. The protests that started out peaceful were met with massive brutality, and today the Syrian conflict is nothing short of a humanitarian and economic disaster. The Syrian army is to a large extent lead by officers from al-Assad’s own Shiite Alawite tribe, which means that the army has mostly remained loyal to the regime. Still, the president has not been able to muzzle the uprisings. Within the opposition, on the other hand, tension is building between liberals, moderate Muslims and Islamists. If such a division would spread, this could lead to a total collapse of the country, and fighting’s between different fractions of the Syrian people. So far the conflict has cost 70,000 lives and all diplomatic attempts of negotiations between president al-Assad’s forces and the opponents have failed, there doesn’t seem to be any apparent military or political solution to the conflict. In the absence of a plan to achieve peace, the future of Syria is today compared by some to the failed state of Somalia – A statement that might seem bold, but does not feel so farfetched when
remembering the country’s complicated political state, largely due to its colonial inheritance, diverse population structure and tribal based society. The UNDP registered 3,000 new displaced Syrians arriving in the neighboring countries in December 2012, since then there has been a clear deterioration in the situation and these numbers reached 8,000 in February 2013. On the 6th of March 2013, almost exactly two years into the conflict, the number of registered refugees reached one million and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres has stated that the number of refugees might double or triple by the end of 2013 if there is no solution to the conflict. Most Syrian refugees are women and children, according to the UNDP 78 percent are children under the age of eleven. They arrive through official and unofficial crossing points and often reach the neighboring countries in desperate need of urgent medical care, material or other assistance. Geographically Syria is of great importance, bordering to Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon, and the fleeing Syrian population puts an enormous strain on its neighbors. Considering the political situation in the host countries it is a wonder that these countries at all can handle the large numbers of refugees arriving. Turkey has since the beginning of the conflict actively supported the Syrian opposition and are taking in the Syrian army de7
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This illustration with many others is a product of the Comic4Syria group on Facebook
fectors who now form the core of the Free Syrian Army. The Turkish government is said to have spent over 600 million USD on setting up refugee camps, and more are under construction. Although the capacity to receive and accommodate the refugees is seriously strained, new camp sites are being built to give room to the 260,000 registered Syrian refugees. More than 360,000 Syrians have sought shelter in Jordan, which equals an eight percent increase of the population. In a country where the resources are already strained, the access of energy, water, health care and education services are therefore now stretched to the limit. Some schools in Jordan have been forced to reintroduce double shift systems so that all children can 8
get education. Tension is growing in Jordan and the refugees bring unrest, many worry that militant Islamism is growing in the camps, meanwhile the Jordanian authorities are accused of not treating the refugees with respect. The political situation is already tense in Lebanon, where the balance between different political, ethnic and religious groups is strained. This balance is in risk of being disturbed by the stress that the country is experiencing, due to the ten percent population increase Lebanon has seen since the conflict in Syria broke out. The country’s traumatic experience from the Palestinian refugees is still lingering and the authorities have therefore decided not to build any camps to house the Syrian refugees. Instead
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the 370,000 registered refugees are spread out around the country, although mostly concentrated in the North and East areas, close to the Syrian border. This constitutes a tremendous economic and social burden on a country with a total population of only 4.5 million. During the Iraqi conflict Syria housed a million Iraqi refugees that, to a large part, still remain in Syria. At the same time Iraq has now opened its boarders to fleeing Syrians and is today hosting more than 100,000 Syrian refugees; this in a country that still have one million internally displaced Iraqi refugees. The consequences of the Syrian conflict is spreading well beyond its closest neighbors, also North Africa and Europe are experiencing an increase in Syrians searching shelter. In Egypt there are over 43,000 registered Syrian refugees and at least 23,000 identified by the UNDP as in need of assistance. The Gulf countries are openly supporting the opposition and contributing to the building of new refugee camps and hospitals. The Free Syrian Army has even attracted former Libyan fighters, now determined to help in the Syrian uprisings. The reports from the inside of Syria are even worse; the numbers of internally displaced Syrians are estimated to be around 2 million, though as much as 4 million Syrians are thought to be affected directly by the conflict. Not to forget the Iraqi and Palestinian refugees receding in Syria. The enormous security vacuum has resulted in
an increase of killings, kidnappings, domestic violence, threats and harassments. Not to mention the many refugees that leave the country due to the deterioration of the Syrian health care services, which puts an enormous strain on the resources of the host countries. The Syrian regime is maintaining the position that it is facing a war on terrorism and that there is a global conspiracy to get rid of the Assad-regime. Meanwhile the international community has been divided over how to respond to the conflict because of the regimes strong allies, such as Russia, China and Iran. This means that first and foremost the neighboring countries have paid a heavy social and economic price of the conflict, and there is an urgent need to support these countries while the international community still has the capacity to respond to the humanitarian disaster. If we instead look at the conflict from a more long-term perspective, considering the state of the Middle East and the tension that has long characterized the complicated relationships between the countries now affected by the conflict: There is a serious risk of a spillover effect, not only concerning the question of the refugees, but also the actual conflict itself spreading to the other neighboring countries. If this development is not stopped, the results of such a catastrophe could have far reaching consequences, not only in the region, but also well beyond its borders.
Maria Lindbäck has studied human rights and democracy at the School of Theology as well as political science with a focus on crisis management and international coordination at the Swedish National Defence College. Today Maria is working at the Swedish Institute Alexandria, in Egypt, as a Programme Administrations Officer, committed to the issue of youth participation in the Egyptian society 9
Issue 7 • Stockholm Journal of International Affairs • 2013
Issue 7 • Stockholm Association of International Affairs • 2013
A Way of Selecting Immigrants Civil integration policy in Europe TEXT: ANTON AHLÉN
ILLUSTRATION: JOSEFINE EKLÖF TORP
New winds are blowing in Europe regarding immigration and integration policies. In the last decade, civil integration has been the new trend - policies that intend to strengthen the immigrants’ relation to the recipient country’s national identity are developing into mandatory and conditional integration examinations.
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n 2010, when Angela Merkel expressed in a speech that multiculturalism has failed, she pinpointed an ongoing trend shift in European migration and integration policies. In contrast to the traditional dichotomy between multiculturalism and assimilation, civil integration has emerged as the new strategy of integration in several countries in Western Europe. Civil integration is an expression of immigrant incorporation in a recipient country, which, in addition to economic and political integration, also includes individual adaptation to the cultural norms and traditions of the recipient country. The methods used to produce civil integration are introduction tests that examine the immigrants’ knowledge of the recipient country’s language, values, political structure, etc. So far, no differences from the regular integration process. The distinctive component in civil integration policies is, however, the conditional factor. To obtain long-term residence, certain migrants are obligated to pass the tests. The situation implies a somewhat inverse causality – where residency is the trophy, integration is the way to it. In other words, conditional integration requirements can have the effect of limiting the inflow of certain categories of immigration. As scholars have revealed, there has been a rapid diffusion of civic integration policies in Europe during the last decade.
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Thus, the form and the extent differ among countries. Countries such as the Netherlands, France, Germany and the UK have implemented forms of civil integration test while others have not. It is also necessary to clarify that the civil integration policies do not apply to all immigration. The asylum process is, for example, not affected. Civil integration is justified officially as a mechanism to handle problems of integration. The better adapted the less of an outsider. However, one can easily understand that migrants have different prospects of passing the test. Migrants who are illiterate, for example, are expected to have more difficulties in coping with various language tests than migrants who are well educated. The outcome of the admission process will thus be based on the migrant’s qualifications. Among European politicians, civil integration illustrates a growing concern to find new methods to counteract social segregation, socio-economic disparities and social exclusion arising from ethnic and cultural fragmentation. It could be seen as a strategic respond to the presumptive socio-economic challenges in European welfare states. Having undergone the demographic transition, many European countries are facing population deficits and ageing population. This results in a reduced share of the working population and lower tax incomes in correlation with higher public expenditures
on pensions and other public services. From this perspective, immigration can be seen as an important component in response to a hollowed labor force. European countries are as well stressing the importance of supporting the working population through labor migration. The enthusiasm for the other, more costly, type of immigration is however less tangible. In harsh economic notions, it is possible to distinguish between favorable and less favorable migrants; those who initially generate tax income and those who in greater extent cost in social expenditures. According to this categorization, labor migration can be separated from the rest. This insight is also possible to discern in migration and integration policy in several European countries, where labor migration is subsidized while asylum and family migration face
restrictions. The tendency is that countries use different immigration and integration policies to obstruct the possibility for certain migrants to obtain residency. Restrictive immigration policy is on the one hand relatively visible. Both the national laws on migration and different regulations within the EU are subject to intense scrutiny in the media and by public institutions. The perceptions of the restrictive integration policy, and its effects on immigration, are on the other hand more blurred. The key function is that despite the later outcome of integration in a migration process, integration policy can have an obstructive function when the present requirements are conditional in relation to the possibility for immigrants to obtain long term residence. Whether this is the intention or 11
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not, the implications are obviously that the migrants with less qualification face greater difficulties meeting the requirements. This is especially relevant for family migration and reunification. Family immigrants are expected to have more difficulty to meet the civil integration requirements than other groups. This assumption is due to the fact that family immigrants to a larger extent are made up of people who due to their situational background often lack a basic education. When the civil integration requirements are conditional against admission and long-term residency, it may prevent the immigrant from settling on long-term basis, or reuniting with relatives in the recipient country. The Netherlands, for example, have placed some of the initial phase of the integration process for family reunification in the country of origin, which means that family members have to accomplish different integration tests before they are granted provisional admission in the Netherlands. The strategy is an explicit sign that states can increase their control over the inflow of certain immigration groups through integration policies. Based on the above discussion, civil integration policies could be seen as a window dressing. Rather than impose restrictive
immigration policies, which formally aims to reduce immigration, conditional integration policies are implemented. The civil integration policy is officially seen as a tool to address the issues of internal integration, but the informal implication is that it provides states with increased opportunities to reduce the influx of specific categories of immigrants. Human Rights Watch has expressed criticism of the Dutch and French civil integration programs as unjustified methods of discrimination. Despite this criticism, several European countries have taken entourage in the policy development, and implemented civil integration policies against non-EU citizens. The development of civil integration strategies can be interpreted as a political reaction to the prominent problems of integration. It could be related to the nationalistic trends in several parts of Europe, where the support of large-scale immigration are decreasing and welfare chauvinism regains power. It can also be seen as a cynical action to counteract some of the difficulties implied by immigration. Regardless of motives, the civil integration policies, including conditional tests, is a systematic way to dehumanize the people in the migration process.
Anton Ahlén is a student of political science and social geography at Stockholm University. Since February this year he is the editor in chief for the Stockholm Journal of International Affairs and a board member of the Stockholm Association of International Affairs. Anton listens to ”A Love Supreme” by John Coltrane and wishes that people will be nice to eachother.
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Is There a Place Like Home? TEXT: MOA LINDUNGER Whether forced or voluntary, migration entails big changes for people and their self-image. Moa Lindunger discusses Adnan Mahmutovics’ work ”How to Fare Well and Stay Fair,” where she reflects over the complex nature of home and identity in relation to migration.
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he questioning and demystifying of ideas as pregnant with meaning as the notion of “home” involves problematizing the self. Asking the question, we must not only ask ourselves what we do but also why we do it and, more importantly, what effects our actions might have. To question the idea of “home” is to question deeply rooted conventions and beliefs about the world, and ourselves. My experience is that we generally do not expose ourselves to this kind of reflection willingly. This is why we have literature. American novelist and play-writer Thornton Wilder allegedly believed that a writer’s major challenge, or even duty, was to pose questions about “the vast themes” and that there “seems to be some kind of law deep down in human nature whereby the most compelling means of communicating ideas about the nature of what it is to be alive is to ENWRAP one’s illumination in a STORY”. A story, at its best, has the possibility to evoke the readers’ awareness of certain vast themes that have to be contemplated, over and over. A story asks the big questions and leaves its readers to approach the answers trough reflection, turning them into active participants instead of passive recipients. How to Fare Well and Stay Fair by Adnan Mahmutovic is a collection of short stories that question the concepts of home and identity. So, is there a place like home? In a world characterized by globalization and increasing migratory movements this question
has naturally gained more importance. What we will find is a myriad of stories of home in which its smells, textures, and people will be mythologized and romanticized, at times in absurdum—generally known as nostalgia. We will notice that any lexical definition will fail to show its full complexity, that home is neither found on a map, nor in a particular building, and that it is subjective, deeply emotional and loaded with values. It is, after all, an affair of the heart rather than the Yellow Pages. Put in a new environment most of us find ourselves true patriots, cherishing the memories of the past and telling emotional stories. We might even call it an “incurable condition”, as Mahmutovic does. In the book we follow a few characters as they try to settle in northern Europe after leaving war-torn Bosnia. The stories vary in geographical settings, from the Balkans to Scandinavia and back again, but they share a sense of being in-between places. The characters hover in-between home and refuge, myth and reality, exclusion and inclusion, before and after. Even the distinction between autobiography and fiction becomes unclear as Mahmutovic, himself a refugee, mixes his own voice with those of his characters. The effect is enriching because he shows that home is fictional as much as biographical, that it is really a story. He does away with the lexical definition, “the place where one lives permanently”, and forces reader and characters alike to reflect on what home means for them. 13
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The first story is a quick account of the author’s life from 1993 to 2012 and follows a young man’s journey from the departure from his home in Bosnia to another home in Sweden. The story consists of several short passages that each tells about some kind of transfer, beginning with the refugee passively “moved around the country a lot”. Telling about the powerlessness and estrangement the character often feels, Mahmutovic proves he is not a writer mainly concerned with staying within his readers’ comfort zones. His writing is bold, at times intimidating: “Cry when you leave your country, if you absolutely must.” The first sentence attacks me in an uncannily imperative tone of voice stripped of all emotions. The second person narrative gives me the feeling that he is merely repeating instructions from an unwritten book titled Being-Refugee for Dummies (no humour intended). The narrator is as estranged and overwhelmed: “Stay away from every one for your mental health’s sake… they will be strangers,” he writes about the other refugees whom he notices have “mutated” as if “infected” with some weird bug that brings about bouts of nostalgia, aggressive bullies and an accentuated us-and-them rhetoric. His feeling of estrangement is twofold since he is also a refugee in a country whose inhabitants he generally experiences as cold and with “ice blue eyes”, as if Swedes are an unfeeling race of snowmen. The read is painful, perhaps even more because I myself belong to these snowmen, and I can’t help feeling unjustly accused and asking myself: is this how they perceive us? I realize that I have been provoked into the ”us-and-them” rhetoric, and how easily I fell into it. This is, I think, Mahmutovic at his best: on the one hand, he is exposing and challenging our propensity to resort to preconceptions, reminding us that the complexities of life cannot be comprehended in lexical definitions or culturally shaped prejudices. On the other hand, he acknowledges 14
that the creation of us and them is always present, and that we must be aware of its consequences. The reduction of individuals into stereotypes cuts both ways. It is, as one of the characters notices, a game where there are “[n]o winners or losers. Or maybe there are only losers”. The feeling of being straitjacketed is immense during the first part of the story but the introduction of the narrator’s father is a major turning point: he has agreed to model for his son’s artistic refugee portraits in front of a cabin deep in the cold Swedish woods but the man refuses to act the role of the “miserable refuge” and keeps smiling despite his son’s mounting frustration: “He won’t stop. He’ll laugh and smirk and guffaw and chortle and do any other take on cheerfulness and the borrowed Hasselblad will capture that, the true, the good, the spiteful”. This is a perfect marriage of opposites, miserable and cheerful, that is not
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only poetically beautiful but also brings the essential realization that a person’s identity cannot be captured within a single concept and that the essence of the affairs of the heart will always transcend language. Swede, Bosnian, Serb, Muslim, native or refugee – they are only words, and the properties assigned to each label are not truths but prejudices, or myths. Likewise, the concept of home concerns mythology rather than reality. This is what Almasa, the main character in the story “The Myth of the Smell”, realizes while discussing home and nostalgia with Björn, a personnel at the refugee camp. Björn is rather provoked by the nostalgic rhetoric of the Bosnians: “They always talk about Bosnian smells, how wonderful it feels to breath there, while here they are choking. I find it so condescending”, he says. Almasa smiles and asks an old woman, Nijazeta, to tell about the smells of Bosnian soil and why they are better then the smells of Sweden. Björn objects and tells about the things in the war-torn Bosnia. He has heard that it actually stinks, but the discussion is, of course, fruitless. In silence, though, Almasa acknowledges that the soil of Bosnia has “no smell whatsoever” and that nobody actually believes in the existence of “a-place-to-callhome”. Why doesn’t she say any of this to Björn? Because she has realized that exposed as we all are to the insecurity and transiency of life we need something to hold onto, to belong to and believe in. We need a sense of home, which is precisely why we create myths about it and why home, in its subjective and emotional nature, will always be a contested concept. Acknowledging that home is mythological is not stripping it of its importance. Rather, it facilitates a discussion more
fruitful than that of Almasa’s and Björn’s, moving the perspective from “my home versus your home” to the notion of home itself. Throughout the book, Mahmutovic oscillates between these perspectives in a combination of provocative boldness and tender gentleness that will facilitate many moments of reflection on these big themes of home and identity.
The Stockholm Association of International Affairs
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Moa Lindunger is currently a student at the Stockholm University School of Business. She is a former student at the University’s Department of English and considers the combination of business, economics and literature a perfect match. 15
A Word from the President...
The Easter has passed and we hope it brought joy and time to rest and relax for all of us. This issue of The Stockholm Journal of International Affairs treats the topic “migration�, which is becoming increasingly important in the globalized world we live in today. The phenomenon of people moving across borders, willingly or otherwise, has never existed in the same scale as we are currently witnessing. One part of this is the humanitarian crises around the world that forces people to seek shelter by leaving their homes, thus becoming either internal or external refuges. In this issue we focus on the situation in Syria, which is just one example out of many. However, migration also leads to cultural exchange and broadens the
Simon Rose President
understanding of people with different backgrounds. With new technologies we can create entirely new connections throughout the world, therefore it is ever as important to listen to the stories of ordinary people and share the experiences of being human. Regardless of the difficulties that are facing the world, the question remains what we in the privileged West can and should do to help. How do you create security not only for the states of the world, but for the people on ground? Is conventional aid policy really the best way of helping those in need? Can international cooperation succeed in creating a sustainable future? These are a few of the subjects that we are discussing during the spring semester, and you are very welcome to join us in our search for answers.
Marcus Morfeldt Vice-President