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- Title
Orientalism and Congolese Unaccompanied Refugee Minors in the Global North.
- Authors
Bilotta, Neil
- Abstract
Identifying the pertinent needs of displaced and parentless refugee children who resettle to the Global North is a challenge. War-affected, unaccompanied refugee minors are an especially vulnerable group, as they navigate both life in a new country and past experiences of armed conflict without parental support. This article explores the resettlement process from refugee camp to life in an industrialized country for Congolese unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs). Employing components of Edward Said's theory of Orientalism, the paper argues that the refugee process, for this population, is embedded in notions of colonialism and marginalization, which are often ignored. The constructions of race and power between the industrialized Global North and Global South are significant to the resettlement experience. To address the association between components of Orientalism and Congolese URMs resettled in the Global North, this theoretical paper consists of three sections. First, a succinct summary of (Post)Colonial Theory and Orientalism will be outlined. Secondly, the paper illustrates direct and indirect, micro and macro level, associations between aspects of Orientalism and the resettlement process for Congolese URMs residing in the Global North. Finally, the paper suggests that if refugee resettlement agencies from the Global North incorporate a less Eurocentric framework, and instead a refugee-centered and Afrocentric paradigm, the experience for URMs could be greatly improved. This paper provides a theoretical framework for future empirical studies exploring the connection between Orientalism and Congolese URMs living in the Global North.
- Subjects
ORIENTALISM; CONGOLESE (Democratic Republic); POLITICAL refugees; REFUGEE children; GLOBAL North-South divide
- Publication
Journal of Pan African Studies, 2015, Vol 8, Issue 2, p23
- ISSN
0888-6601
- Publication type
Article