Navigating the Labyrinth: The impact and experiences of the Syrian refugee resettlement programme in comparative policy contexts

叙利亚内战被描述为“最大的人道主义...我们时代的危机”（UNHCR，2017 a：4）。截至2013年底，联合国难民事务高级专员办事处登记了600多万因冲突而流离失所的人（联合国难民事务高级专员办事处，2013年），导致每天有9，500人被迫离开他们在叙利亚的家园，这是前所未有的（Albuja等人，2014）。英国政府于2014年推出了弱势人员重新安置计划（VPRS），并于2015年扩大，以在2015年至2020年期间重新安置20，000名叙利亚难民，主要重点是维持家庭单位。自建立自愿遣返计划以来，作为该计划的一部分，已有20，007人得到重新安置，其中一半的接收者在抵达时年龄在18岁以下（Wilkins，2020年），99.6%的难民自我认定为叙利亚国籍（Bolt，2020年）。与英国的主流庇护制度不同，重新安置计划的接受者被授予立即求助于公共资金，临时居留权和工作许可。我的博士研究是第一个比较两个不同的地方理事会的VPRS方法，从评估政策的影响和经验的角度。先前的研究往往集中在VPRS作为永久的双层庇护系统（见Karyotis等人，2020），很少拆开制定政策的过程，以及它对接受者生活的影响。通过对叙利亚家庭和从业人员进行的40次深入访谈，我的研究为现有的重新安置知识做出了重要贡献，探索了政策设计背后的基本原理，以及其对个人和家庭内部的接收者的后续影响。该项目旨在通过向学术受众，政策制定者，难民社区组织（RCO）和更广泛的公众提供活动计划，进一步提高我的研究的宝贵影响。它将通过两个关键的学术成果巩固我的出版记录：首先;一本书的手稿，其次;一个高影响力的期刊文章。在与编辑进行初步讨论后，该书的手稿将提交给政策出版社，期刊文章将提交给《难民研究杂志》。在这个项目期间汇总的经验数据将在欧洲最大的移徙和融合领域研究人员网络“国际移徙、融合和社会凝聚力”会议上向国际学术界传播。在奖学金期间，该项目还将通过混合方法研究揭示VPRS难民的微观和宏观经验，这是一个令人惊讶地局限于重新安置主题的学术领域。在我博士学位期间收集的难民家庭和从业人员的现有访谈数据将与人口普查，调查和内政部数据相结合。追求进一步有限的研究不仅将巩固收集的数据作为我的ESRC资助的博士学位的一部分，但将通过加强我现有的定量研究方法培训，推进我的长期职业抱负。两个影响活动也将实施：首先;公共政策研讨会，其次;通过媒体参与提供专家评论。公共政策研讨会将促进政策执行者、难民组织和研究人员之间的建设性对话。将采用创造性的方法来促进讨论，并将制作一份两页的政策“工具包”，广泛分发给地方理事会。在我对BBC西北今夜新闻的专家评论期间传播的证据将包括开放获取的人口普查，调查和内政部数据，作为该奖学金的结果进行分析，但将排除任何对采访记录或实地考察地点的引用，以保护参与者的机密性。

The Syrian civil war has been described as resulting in 'the biggest humanitarian...crisis of our time' (UNHCR, 2017a: 4). By the end of 2013, UNHCR had registered over 6 million displaced people due to the conflict (UNHCR, 2013), resulting in an unprecedented average of 9,500 people being forced to leave their homes in Syria each day (Albuja et al., 2014). Established in 2014 and subsequently expanded in 2015, the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) was introduced by the UK government to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees between 2015-2020, with a primary focus on maintaining family units. Since the creation of the VPRS, 20,007 people have been resettled as part of the programme, with half of the recipients aged under 18 at the time of arrival (Wilkins, 2020) and 99.6% of refugees self-identifying as of Syrian nationality (Bolt, 2020). Distinct from the UK mainstream asylum system, recipients of the resettlement scheme were granted immediate recourse to public funds, temporary residency and permission to work.My doctoral research is the first to compare two different local Council approaches to the VPRS, from a perspective that evaluates the impact and experiences of policy. Prior research has tended to focus on the VPRS as perpetuating a two-tier system of asylum (see Karyotis et al, 2020), rarely unpacking both the processes by which policy is formulated, and its entailing consequences in the lives of recipients. Drawing on forty in-depth interviews with Syrian families and practitioners, my research provides a vital contribution to existing knowledge on resettlement, by exploring both the rationale behind policy design, and its subsequent impact on recipients as individuals, and within families. This project seeks to further enhance the valuable impact of my research by delivering a programme of activities to academic audiences, policymakers, refugee community organisations (RCOs) and the broader public. It will consolidate my publication record through the production of two key academic outputs: firstly; a book manuscript and, secondly; a high-impact, journal article. The book manuscript will be targeted towards Policy Press following preliminary discussions with the editor, with the journal article submitted to the Journal of Refugee Studies. The empirical data consolidated during this project will be disseminated to an international academic audience at the 'International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion' conference (IMISCOE), Europe's largest network of researchers in the area of migration and integration. Over the duration of the fellowship, the project will also shed light on the micro and macro experiences of VPRS refugees through mixed-methods research, an area of scholarship that is surprisingly limited on the topic of resettlement. Existing interview data collected with refugee families and practitioners during my doctorate will be integrated with Census, survey and Home Office data. The pursuit of further limited research will not only consolidate the data collected as part of my ESRC-funded doctorate, but will advance my long-term career aspirations by enhancing my existing quantitative research methods training.Two impact activities will also be implemented: firstly; a public policy workshop and secondly; providing expert commentary through media engagement. The public policy workshop will facilitate constructive dialogues between policy practitioners, refugee organisations and researchers. Creative methods will be used to prompt discussions and a two-page policy 'toolkit' will be produced and distributed widely to local Councils. The evidence disseminated during my expert commentary on the BBC North-West Tonight News will include the open-access Census, survey and Home Office data analysed as a result of this fellowship, but will exclude any references to interview transcripts or fieldwork sites to protect participants' confidentiality.