Expectations and Disappointments on the Part of Institutions in the Process of Reception and Integration of Refugees in Portugal

Authors

  • Olga Magano Aberta University
  • Lúcio Sousa Aberta University
  • Paulo Costa Aberta University
  • Bárbara Bäckström Aberta University
  • Rosana Albuquerque Aberta University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1285/i20356609v16i3p433

Keywords:

integration, refugees, relocation, solidarity, welcome

Abstract

Portugal joined the European movement to welcome refugees in 2015, and there was an unprecedented phenomenon of civil society mobilization to provide shelter to refugees, overlapping at times the State. The model adopted for hosting refugees was related to the involvement of civil society, which meant that the relocation program assumed two structuring characteristics: the geographical dispersion of refugees throughout the country and the institutional diversity of the structures that carried out their placement. To know the practices developed by the host institutions and the circumstances of the interaction between their staff and refugees allows us to understand the role of local agency aimed at the reception of refugees and its impacts. Attitudes and feelings of disillusionment and disappointment can clash with the expectations of welcoming initiatives, which are often based on a constructed image of refugees as grateful, innocent victims and deserving of help. The aim of this article focuses on the practices and perceptions of representatives of local institutions regarding their relocation experiences. Thus, results obtained on the relocation process from the point of view of the institutions and on opportunities and challenges faced for the integration of refugees relocated in Portugal, as well as feelings, expectations and disappointments, are presented.

Author Biographies

Olga Magano, Aberta University

Olga Magano is a sociologist and PhD in Sociology. She is Assistant Professor at the Universidade Aberta, Portugal and researcher at the University Institute of Lisbon, Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES-Iscte) and at Institute of Sociology of OPorto University. She teaches in the degree in Social Sciences, in the Master in Intercultural Relations and also in the Doctorate in Intercultural Relations. She has been involved in some research on integration and exclusion of Ciganos/Roma in Portugal and participated in some research projects around this subject. She also participated in a project about Refugees in Portugal and is member of the Observatory of Professional Paths and Life of Universidade Aberta Graduates. She is member of Romani Studies Network, member of the Portuguese Association of Sociology and Member of the Gypsy Lore Society. She co-coordinates the thematic section Cultural Diversities and Intervention Spaces of the Portuguese Association of Sociology.

Lúcio Sousa, Aberta University

Lúcio Sousa is an anthropologist, assistant professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Management at Universidade Aberta, Portugal, and a researcher at the Institute for the Study of Literature and Tradition (IELT-NOVA) and external affiliate to the Centre for Refugee Studies, York University. Current research includes rituals practices and heritage politics in Timor-Leste, history of anthropology and ethnography in colonial context, forced migration history and refugees’ integration policies in Portugal.

Paulo Costa, Aberta University

Paulo Costa has a degree in Law, a postgraduate degree in Political and International Sciences, a Masters and a PhD in Political Science. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Management at the Universidade Aberta, where he has been teaching Law and Political Science since 2004. He is a researcher at the CFE - Center for Functional Ecology. His research interests focus on citizenship, social cohesion, migration and the environment.


Bárbara Bäckström, Aberta University

Bárbara Bäckström has a degree in Sociology, a Master's degree in Historical and Social Demography and a PhD in Sociology of Health. She is associated professor at Universidade Aberta since 2000 and is in charge of curricular units in the area of sociology and Social Sciences in the degree in Social Sciences, in the Masters in Intercultural Relations and Studies on Women-Gender, Citizenship and Development and in the PhD in Intercultural Relations. She is an integrated researcher at CICS.NOVA and has participated in several projects and initiatives, such as Cost Actions "Connecting Theory and Practical Issues of Migration and Religious Diversity (COREnet)," "Transnational Collaboration on Bullying, Migration and Integration at School Level (TRIBES)," and "Transnational Family Dynamics in Europe (TraFaDy)." Additionally, she has been involved in various research projects addressing issues such as school success for students with immigrant backgrounds, intercultural mediation, immigrant health policies, and the integration of refugees in Portugal.

Rosana Albuquerque, Aberta University

Rosana Albuquerque is a professor at the Universidade Aberta since 1999. She holds a PhD in Sociology, specializing in Sociology of Migrations, a Masters in Intercultural Relations, and a degree in Social Policy. She currently teaches in the Social Sciences degree, in the MA Women Studies - Gender, Citizenship and Development, Masters and PhD courses in Intercultural Relations, and the PhD in Social Sustainability and Development. As a researcher at the Research Center on Migration and Intercultural Relations, she is interested in issues related to Afro Descendants’ associations and civic participation; intercultural and gender relations; social policies and promotion of equality, equity and citizenship; anti-racist and intercultural education; human rights and social sustainability; that is, the construction of bonds and networks of interdependence between beings living in our common home – the planet Earth.

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Published

14-12-2023

Issue

Vol. 16, No. 3 (2023). Special Issue on: "Ma(r)king solidarity boundaries towards migrants. Individual, local and transnational experiences"

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Special Issue

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