Resettlement Policies: Two Different Models

Abstract

It can be assumed that the receiving society and its resettlement policies play a fundamental role in the process of integration among refugees. In this study, England and Finland were chosen as locations for the fieldwork. These two countries provide examples of two different models of resettlement policies. The UK (or more specifically, England) is a relatively large country with a sizeable ethnic minority population and a long tradition of communitarian and multicultural policies. Finland is a small country with few immigrants and can be characterized as an egalitarian welfare state with a large public sector. In terms of the dichotomy of state and civil society, England is an example of a society that emphasizes the importance of civil society, while Finland exemplifies a society where the state plays a large role. When it comes to asylum policies, the United Kingdom and Finland have relatively similar restrictive policies. Both England and Finland also have recently arrived Kurdish refugee populations coming from identical backgrounds in Kurdistan. However, in most other respects relating to refugee resettlement the two countries are different. A comparison between these two different societies makes it possible to study the impact of different social structures on refugee communities. The consequences of these differences are discussed in the following chapters, while this chapter concentrates on identifying the differences and similarities in the two receiving societies.