connections within the migrant community, and ‘social links’ are how the refugees interact with the government and official state bureaucracy. Thirdly, there is the domain of ‘facilitators’ which includes aspects like learning the local language, gaining cultural knowledge which would enable social assimilation. Finally, the domain of ‘foundation’ which refers to rights and citizenship.
▲ Figure 2. Domains of Refugee Integration. Source: (Ager & Strang, 2008). Adapted by author.
Although this integration framework is very detailed, it neither proposes a process for facilitating integration nor does it explore the relations among different domains (Ager & Strang, 2004). Moreover, the framework still does give some direction on what are the main issues to be tackled while addressing integration. This research addresses that gap by examining the relation of housing specifically, as a major factor for integration, to other domains and specific factors.
2.2. Housing; a major factor for integration The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 and subsequently, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1966 recognize ‘adequate housing’ as an important part of the right to adequate standards of living. Adequate housing is related to various factors such as ‘security of tenure, affordability, habitability, accessibility, location, cultural adequacy, and availability of services, materials, facilities, and infrastructure’ (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe [UNECE], 2021).
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