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Refuge to Centre Stage: The Story of Arash

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Refugee Entrepreneurship

Abstract

This chapter presents the story of Arash Kamangir, a young Iranian refugee who came to Luxembourg to fulfil his musical dreams. A stronghold of peace and justice, his new country offered him both the freedom and the stage for creative expression. During the first few weeks of his settlement, Arash focused his efforts on building new relationships, navigating his way through Luxembourgish culture and networks. He started volunteering his talent at various community events in hopeful preparation of the day he would receive a residency. Ever since, he has been on a unique and rewarding journey of independence and emancipation through his artistic entrepreneurship.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Details on the process of applying for asylum and requesting refugee status in Luxembourg can be obtained from ASTI (Association de Soutien aux Travailleurs Immigrés, Association for the Support of Migrant Workers) in a 23-page document it has published, entitled “Information brochure intended for applicants for international protection”.

  2. 2.

    Once an asylum seeker has been granted refugee status, the Red Cross’ LISKO (Lëtzebuerger Integratiouns-a Sozialkohäsiounszenter), Luxembourg Centre for Integration and Cohesion, inaugurated in June 2016, under the Ministry of Family and Integration, takes the lead in supporting integration activities. It acts as a link between social services, various associations and refugees in support of orientation and empowerment (Croix-Rouge 2016).

  3. 3.

    A yearly festival celebrating the revolution in Iran—restricted and controlled by the government.

  4. 4.

    For an examination of Iranian cultural censorship, see Khalaji et al. 2011, especially pp. 63–76 for the censorship of music.

  5. 5.

    The monthly allowance is currently 26.27 euros, granted to individual asylum seekers in Luxembourg. This amount is provided for in the form of bonds that may only be exchanged for products in participating stores and not cash (Ministère de la Famille, de l’Intégration et à la Grande Région 2018, 9).

  6. 6.

    “Pink paper”—this is a document provided by the state, attesting to the fact that the holder is an asylum seeker with permission to sojourn in the country while awaiting a decision on her/his application (Ministère de la Famille, de l’Intégration et à la Grande Région 2018, 6).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Research in Economics and Management (CREA), University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

    Rosa Lisa Iannone

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  1. Rosa Lisa Iannone
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Correspondence to Rosa Lisa Iannone .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, Zemach, Sea of Galilee, Israel

    Sibylle Heilbrunn

  2. LEMEX, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Jörg Freiling  & Aki Harima  & 

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Iannone, R.L. (2019). Refuge to Centre Stage: The Story of Arash. In: Heilbrunn, S., Freiling, J., Harima, A. (eds) Refugee Entrepreneurship. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92534-9_10

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