A Study of the Experiences of Integration and Settlement of Afghan Government-Assisted Refugees in Halifax, Canada

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Year of Publication: 2014

Author: Shiva Nourpanah

Publication Source: Refuge: Canada's Journal on Refugees

Journal Volume/Issue: Vol. 30 No. 1

Category:

DOI: https://refuge.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/refuge/article/view/38603

Language: English

Keywords: Halifax, Canada, Afghan refugees, GARs, government assisted refugees, resettlement, integration, agency, structure, identity, culture

This article presents a qualitative study of the experiences of a sample of Afghan refugees who have settled in Canada. Using Anthony Giddens’s concepts of structure and agency, the author analyzes interview data to explore how the respondents express their agency within the structural constraints of refugee life. In light of the research findings, it is argued that Afghan refugees form a diverse and heterogeneous population, in stark contrast to the essentialized and homogenous portrayals of silent, suffering victims of circumstance as found in popular media and policy discourse.