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The Effect of Displacement: Living as a refugee: An exploration of displaced people in

refugee camps in Greece

TITLE PAGE

Kim Martin Parrish

A Document Type.

Submitted to the Faculty of

Mississippi State University

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

in Human Development and Family Studies

in the School of Human Sciences

Mississippi State, Mississippi

May 2018

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Kim Martin Parrish

2018

The Effect of Displacement: Living as a refugee: An exploration of displaced people in

refugee camps in Greece

APPROVAL PAGE

Kim Martin Parrish

Approved:

____________________________________

Donna J. Peterson

(Major Professor)

____________________________________

Joe D. Wilmoth

(Minor Professor)

____________________________________

Susan Seal

(Committee Member)

____________________________________

Alisha M. Hardman

(Committee Member)

____________________________________

Tommy Phillips

(Graduate Coordinator)

____________________________________

George Hopper

Dean

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Name: Kim Martin Parrish

ABSTRACT

Date of Degree: May 4, 2018

Institution: Mississippi State University

Major Field: Human Development and Family Studies

Committee Chair: Dr. Donna Peterson

Title of Study: The Effect of Displacement: Living as a refugee: An exploration of

displaced people in refugee camps in Greece

Pages in Study 160

Candidate for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

ABSTRACT

This study utilized a phenomenological approach to describe the experience of

displaced individuals and families in a condition of statelessness in a refugee camp and

their experiences pre-flight, trans-flight, and post-flight. Topics addressed included the

conditions that led to flight from the country of origin and the individual and family

experiences in the country of origin prior to flight and during flight, the experiences of

living as a refugee in a refugee camp in Greece, and the hopes and dreams of the future

for the individual and the family. Fourteen individuals, including five children in seven

families were interviewed in the study. Four of the seven families in the research

included multiple members of the immediate family. Data analysis followed Moustakas’

(1994) traditional phenomenological technique.

Results indicated turmoil in the country of origin was the primary reason for

flight. All nine adult refugees indicated some type of danger or unrest necessitating flight

from their country of origin. Two families were forced from their country of origin based

on ethnicity. Results also indicated that separation of immediate family members was a

common experience among refugee families. Six of the seven families reported

separation, for various reasons, from immediate family members during the time of this

study. Those separated expressed a desire to remain in close contact by any means

possible with family members; this was critical for survival, according to those

interviewed. Although there were some negative expressions of life as a refugee, such as

the difficulty in understanding asylum processes, boredom and a lack of purpose, and a

lack of opportunity for education and skills training in the camp, the overall reflections

were positive, sharing hopefulness for a better future.

DEDICATION

My heartfelt dedication for this work is given to the millions of people from many tribes

and many nations who choose or are forced to flee their country of origin for various

reasons. In specific, I am indebted to the many beautiful people seeking refuge whom I

encountered on the island of Chios, Greece. The beauty of the land and the majesty of its

sunsets, sunrises, pebble beaches, and breathtaking Aegean Sea is second to the people I

met and their willingness to open their hearts to share personal stories and feelings.

There are no adequate words to describe how each of your lives impacted me. Your

courage, your persistence, your love for family and country, your loyalty was shared with

me as you entrusted me with a part of your life story and journey. Souda Refugee Camp

in Chios, Greece, is the location for this research. Just a few months after the data

collection of this study, Souda Refugee Camp ceased to exist. Souda Camp was not a

place of pleasant living conditions for those fleeing difficult and deadly situations in their

country; however, an incredible movement took place through Souda Camp where united

nations and people from all over the world created a family of people in the midst of

heartbreaking circumstances. Memories of Souda Camp came alive through social media

outlets, and friends were able to connect in way that is extraordinary. To those I had the

privilege to meet in Souda Camp, wherever you are, I think about you and your families

often, and I am forever grateful that you shared a portion of your life with me. The

efforts and impact of this study are dedicated to each of you.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work has been a labor of love, sweat, determination, learning, mistakes, and

more learning! This work would not have happened without the help of so many. First, I

want to thank my advisor and mentor and friend, Dr. Donna Peterson, especially for

allowing me to open the lid and begin sharing the stories and experiences. I am forever

grateful for your investment in this study and your heart to hear the experiences and

people with raw and authentic emotion and compassion. Next, I want to thank my

husband Brent for his support in this journey as I embarked on the final destination in my

educational journey. I am thankful for the encouragement and faith, even when I was not

sure I could see the end of the tunnel. I am thankful for the support of my children. To

Samuel who was able to be my guide and partner in travels to Greece. Time spent on this

journey together is treasured. To Claire and John, thank you for allowing me to study for

hours and write for days! To my translator, Nameh Salem, thank you for your friendship

and investment in this study through your exemplary transcription of all documents in

Arabic. Your contributions to this study were significant. A special thank you to the

organization I was allowed to volunteer with in Greece, A Drop in the Ocean. I was a

witness to beautiful work being done on the island to support refugees in difficult living

conditions, to say the least. Your love and your concern for humanity is authentic.

Thank you for allowing me to be a Drop. I want to express gratitude to all of my

committee members and my professors during my educational journey at Mississippi

State University. I entered with apprehensions and determination, you all helped me fill

in the gap to achieve much more than a degree.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DEDICATION .................................................................................................................... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii

CHAPTER

I. THE EFFECT OF DISPLACEMENT ..................................................................1

Definition of Key Terms .......................................................................................2

Statelessness ....................................................................................................2 Refugee ............................................................................................................3

Asylum Seeker .................................................................................................4 The Extent of Statelessness ...................................................................................6 Statement of the Problem ......................................................................................8

Background ..........................................................................................................10 Mental and Emotional Health ........................................................................11

Education .......................................................................................................13

Human Ecology Theory ......................................................................................14

Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................15 Research Questions .............................................................................................15

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE .............................................................................17

Statelessness ........................................................................................................18 Mental Health and Statelessness ...................................................................22 Family Unit and Statelessness .......................................................................25 Education and Statelessness ..........................................................................27

Human Ecology Theory ......................................................................................29 Summary ..............................................................................................................34

III. RESEARCH METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN ............................................35

Purpose ................................................................................................................35 Study Design .......................................................................................................35

Phenomenological Research ..........................................................................36 Participants and Sampling Technique ...........................................................38 The Setting .....................................................................................................41

Recruitment Site ............................................................................................42

Procedures ...........................................................................................................44 Step 1: Problem and Question Formulation ..................................................45

Step 2: Data Generating Situation .................................................................47 Stage 1: Introductory Dialogue and Consent to Participate ....................47 Stage 2: Formal Interviews Begin ...........................................................48 Stage 3: Interviews Continue ...................................................................49 Stage 4: Researcher Observations and Personal Reflections ..................50

Step 3: Data Organization .............................................................................50 Quality Standards ................................................................................................54

Confirmability ...............................................................................................54 Credibility ......................................................................................................55 Dependability ................................................................................................56

Transferability ...............................................................................................56 Personal Biases ..............................................................................................57

IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .........................................................................59

Descriptions of Participating Families ................................................................59

The Haddad Family .......................................................................................59 The Halabi Family .........................................................................................61

The Shadid Family ........................................................................................62 The Toma Family ..........................................................................................63 The Nazari Family .........................................................................................64

The Hamdani Family .....................................................................................65 The Amari Family .........................................................................................66

Research Question 1: ...........................................................................................67 Transition from Country of Origin ................................................................67

Reasons for Leaving ......................................................................................70 Arrival in the Transition Country ..................................................................72

Summary ........................................................................................................74 Research Question 2: ...........................................................................................75

Life in the Refugee Camp ..............................................................................75

Negative Camp Life Experiences ..................................................................79 A Typical Day ...............................................................................................80

Summary ........................................................................................................82 Research Question 3: ...........................................................................................85

Concerns for the Future .................................................................................85 Positive Aspirations for the Future ................................................................88

Dreams and Goals Upon Departure ...............................................................90 Summary ........................................................................................................91

V. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ..............................................................94

Overview .............................................................................................................94 Commonalities Experienced in Statelessness ................................................95

vii

Characterizations of Flight from Country of Origin (Forced

Exile) ...........................................................................................96 Characterizations of Flight from Country of Origin (Not Forced

Exile) ...........................................................................................97 Environment Changes and Family Life and Function during

Displacement .............................................................................100 Separation in the Family During Displacement ....................................104 Perceptions of Hopefulness ...................................................................106

Limitations of the Study ....................................................................................108 Directions for Future Research ..........................................................................111 Conclusions .......................................................................................................113

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 115

APPENDIX

A. PICTURES OF RESEARCH SITE (SOUDA CAMP) ....................................126

B. INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD FORMS ..............................................131

C. TRANSLATOR CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT .................................133

D. RECRUITMENT SCRIPT................................................................................135

E. CONSENT FORMS (ENGLISH AND ARABIC) ...........................................139

F. INTERVIEW OPENING SCRIPT ...................................................................149

G. INTERVIEW (ENGLISH AND ARABIC) ......................................................151

H. INTERVIEW/FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS (ENGLISH AND ARABIC) .......152

I. ADIAN’S DRAWING ......................................................................................157

J. NASHTANNA’S DRAWING ..........................................................................159

viii

LIST OF TABLES

1 Demographics of study participants ……………………………40

CHAPTER I

THE EFFECT OF DISPLACEMENT

In the study of people around the globe, it is easy to understand that no two

individuals are exactly the same. Yet, a common trait is the need to belong. Individuals

who feel the security of belonging to a group or a network are more likely to demonstrate

a more positive functioning sense of self-efficacy and life satisfaction (Allen & Bowles,

2012). Research demonstrates that life in groups and a sense of community stability have

a positive impact on well-being and are related to cognitive performance, physical health,

and mental health (Allen & Bowles, 2012). In the past 10 years, the media has increased

our awareness of people who feel the urgency to flee the country, community, and land in

which they hold citizenship for protection because of tension, war, and political or civil

turmoil in their home country.

There are 12 million stateless people worldwide as recognized by the United

Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR; Paxton, 2012). A stateless person is

defined as a citizen of another state who has legal claim to citizenship but who is unable

or unwilling to allow the state’s protection due to a civil disorder or fear of persecution

(Tremblay & Trudel, 2013). According to the United Nations Global High Commission

for Refugees report (Grandi, 2016), by the end of 2016, more than 67 million people

around the world had been forced from home by conflict and persecution. Additionally,

10 million stateless people had been denied a nationality and access to basic rights such

as education, health care, employment, and freedom of movement (Grandi, 2016).

Much of the statistical reporting from UNHCR comes from the receiving country;

according to Article 35 of the United Nations (U.N.) 1951 Convention on the Status of

Refugees (UNHCR, 1951), contracting states are mandated to report statistical

information related to conditions of refugees and the national laws relating to refugees to

the U.N. In addition, UNHCR’s Field Information and Coordination Support Section

collects statistics and operational data from country offices, national authorities, and

international organizations to monitor trends in forced displacement. UNHCR also works

with institutions, researchers, and reporters in the field who are collecting data.

Definition of Key Terms

Because this research explored the experience of statelessness for the refugee

individual and family, it is imperative to define the terms “statelessness,” “refugee,” and

“asylum seeker” as these terms are used throughout the research.

Statelessness

The term “statelessness” is defined as an individual who is a citizen of another

state with legal claim to citizenship but who is unable or unwilling to allow the state’s

protection due to a civil disorder or fear of persecution (Tremblay & Trudel, 2013). The

1954 UNHCR Convention’s (UNHCR, 1954) contribution to international law defines a

stateless person as someone who is not considered as a national by any state under

operation of its law. The 1954 Convention explicitly excludes individuals for the rights

of statelessness when there are serious reasons for considering that they have committed

a crime against peace, a war crime, a crime against humanity, or a serious nonpolitical

crime abroad. For those who do qualify as stateless persons, the Convention provides

important minimum standards of treatment. It requires the stateless person to have the

same rights as citizens with respect to freedom of religion and education of their children,

the right to employment and to housing, the right, at minimum, to the same treatment as

other non-nationals (UNHCR, 1954). Statelessness refers to the condition of an asylum

seeker or a refugee.

Refugee

The term “refugee” includes people with three different types of immigration

status as recognized by the legal representation (Home Office of the Country of

Relocation): 1) full refugee status, 2) exceptional leave to remain, or 3) asylum seekers

awaiting a decision on their asylum applications (Fell & Fell, 2010). For the purpose of

the present study, the term “refugee” will be used when making reference to both refugee

and asylum-seeking individuals. It has to be noted that some refugee children come to

Europe accompanied by their parents or relatives, and some come unaccompanied. It

also has to be acknowledged that there might be different pressures and distresses for

refugee children and their families who have been granted asylum, for those awaiting a

decision, and also for those refugee children who are accompanied and who are

unaccompanied. For clarity, a refugee child will be defined as by the UNHCR Refugee

Children Guidelines on Protection and Care (1994) as an individual below the age of 18.

Asylum Seeker

The term “asylum seeker” is defined in the 1971 Immigration Act as a person who

may apply for asylum on the ground that is he/she is unwilling to go owing to a well-

founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of

a particular social group, or political opinion. Any such claim is to be carefully

considered in light of all relevant circumstances (Fell & Fell, 2010).

According to the United Nations 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees,

refugees are persons who have crossed an international boundary because they are unable

or unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of their former country due to the well-

founded fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, membership of a

particular social group, or political opinion. When a person is seeking refuge because of

a civil conflict or fear of danger from their country of origin and has no legal rights, the

term refugee may be interchanged with the term asylum seeker (Colak, Tekin, & Aydin,

2014).

To clarify, an asylum seeker has fewer rights and protections than a refugee.

According to the United Nations 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, it is

important to understand distinct terms related to the particular status of someone who has

fled their country of origin. First, upon arrival in another country other than one’s

existing country of citizenship, an application for status must be made, with the exception

of a mass exodus from a country due primarily to violence in which case the individual

interview process will be waived and status will be distributed. An asylum seeker is

someone who has completed an application for protection on the basis of the 1951

Refugee Convention.

From the asylum application, the individual is now determined to be an asylum

seeker. An asylum seeker is someone whose request for sanctuary or the right to

international protection is in process. The definition of an asylum seeker may vary from

country to country depending on the laws of that country. After an individual has an

interview for status and that information has been processed, the individual will receive

either an economic migrant status, a political refugee status, or a refugee status. These

terms are extremely important as the terminology of the status determines the rights of

the individual. It is important to note that these laws and policies vary from country to

country or state to state as well. Economic migrant status is defined as a person who has

left his or her own country and seeks, by lawful or unlawful means, to make a living for

himself or herself in another country. Political refugee status for an individual includes

any person unwilling or unable to stay in the country of his or her nationality due to

political persecution.

For the purpose of refugee applications, persecutions may include 1) being a

victim of politically motivated violence, resulting in pain or suffering, 2) a violation of

human rights, 3) being unjustly imprisoned for political beliefs, or 4) being subject to

torture, degradation, slavery and inhumane treatment. The general rights of a political

refugee are equal to refugee protection granted internationally according to the 1951

Refugee Convention. However, rights and protections of the 1951 Refugee Convention

do not apply to economic migrants. During the time of asylum status (i.e., the application

is in process and is prior to a decision), the rights and international protections are

granted. Statelessness simply refers to the condition of being an asylum seeker or

refugee in the present research study.

The Extent of Statelessness

Statelessness in literature has been demonstrated to have an effect on the well-

being of a person and his or her safety through violent situations, mental health,

educational needs, and the stress brought upon the family structure. “With the growing

insurrections in Syria in 2011, an exodus in large numbers has emerged. The turmoil and

violence have caused migration to destinations both within the region and beyond”

(Yazgan, Utku, & Sirkeci, 2015, p. 181). The refugee crisis has risen sharply, with

impact encompassing neighboring countries toward Europe (Yazgan et al., 2015).

According to the coordinator of Chios Greece Hotspot Coordination for the National

Rescue Committee (P. Larsen, personal communication, June 6, 2017):

This time we have people coming from Arabic countries and they came

massively this time because of the very significant political issue. The

political issue is the Arabic Spring, which happened in 2010. We know it

started then Tunisia and then to Libya, Algeria, Morocco, and then there was

the great war in Syria.

People will continue to flee environments where they feel insecure, and Europe will

continue to gather large influxes from neighboring countries in trouble (Yazgan et al.,

2015). Since early 2014, if not before, unprecedented numbers of refugees have been

trying to get to Europe. For example, near the end of 2015, 922,800 applications for

international protection in the European Union (EU) Member States were reported to still

be under consideration (Eurostat, 2016). About 1.2 million people started asylum

procedures in the EU countries in 2015, which is more than twice as many as in 2014

(Eurostat, 2016).

In 2015, the number of Syrians seeking international protection had doubled from

the previous year to reach 362,000 in total. Afghanistan remained the second main

country of citizenship of asylum seekers to the EU Member States in 2015. Iraq was the

third main country of citizenship of asylum seekers to the EU Member States with

121,500 first-time applicants in 2015. An important factor in the current refugee crisis,

particularly in Europe and Turkey is the European Union and Turkey Deal of 2016. This

deal between the European Union and Turkey was aimed at managing the uncontrolled

mass movement of people in Europe (European Commission, 2016). The deal between

the European Union and Turkey happened in March of 2016. The core principles

stipulate that new migrants who arrive in Greece and are found in no need of genuine

asylum or international protection under the assumptions of the 1951 UNHCR

Convention are returned to Turkey. In exchange, the European Union will take a Syrian

who has been declared in need of asylum. In addition, for every Syrian returned to

Turkey, another Syrian will be resettled in the European Union. The decision is based on

the type of status upon completion of the asylum application process (European

Commission, 2016). The 922,800 applications remaining under consideration for

international protection reported at the end of 2015, in the EU Member States, is

significant in understanding the current situation in Greece – the country of focus in the

present study.

The UNHCR Mid-Year Trends released in June 2016 (UNHCR, 2016) showed

Lebanon, Pakistan, and Turkey hosted most of the world’s refugees with a combined total

of 5.4 million. UNHCR reports the breakdown to be 2,773,827 in Turkey with the

majority reported from Syria; an additional 1,576,771 were in Pakistan, and 1,035,701

were in Lebanon. In the fourth quarter of 2016, according to the Eurostat Asylum

Quarterly Report (Eurostat, 2017), citizens of 143 countries sought asylum for the first

time in the European Union. Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq were the top three countries

represented with 34,800, 22,000, and 15,500 applicants respectively (Eurostat, 2017).

Greece has recorded the second largest increase in EU Member States of first-time

asylum seekers in the second quarter of 2016, compared to the same quarter report of

2015. Given this influx of refugees to Greece, the present study explored the condition of

statelessness through refugee camps in Chios, Greece, and the effect it has on the

individuals and the families, as well as the potential benefits of seeking refuge from

current insecure conditions in their home country.

Statement of the Problem

The Declaration of Human Rights (Article 16, p. 3) and the International

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, Article 23, p. 1) state that the family is

the natural and fundamental unit of society. Belongingness is noted as a fundamental

factor of motivation that drives the human race to positive and enduring relationships

with other humans who are significant in their sphere of existence (Sentse, Lindenberg,

Omvlee, Ormet, & Veenstra, 2010). Belongingness is important for development. One

of the first groups to which an individual belongs is his or her family.

However, refugee families have been separated in distance and often by tragedy,

disrupting such feelings of belonging. As one example, boat people from the Middle

Eastern countries, including Afghanistan and Iraq, were studied by educators in the

university system in Australia exploring the pedagogic continuity necessary to successful

play-based learning, tutoring, and teaching proficiency in English to refugee children

(Sonn, Grossman, & Utomo, 2013). Acknowledging that belonging is integral to human

existence, the educators (Sonn et al., 2013) felt the urgency to make a learning center in

Australia into a safe space for refugee children primarily to give them knowledge of

where and to whom they belong so they would feel more open to learning.

The negative consequences experienced by refugee families have been observed

and documented with varied people groups around the globe. Several examples follow.

For the past two decades, Rwanda and Uganda, as neighboring countries, have endured

mass conflict; forced displacement, disarmament, and reintegration have become typical

responses to this mass conflict. A field study of 1,000 participants involved in the crisis

in Rwanda and Uganda showed the desired attempt to reintegrate displaced populations

was challenging with violent breakouts and policy as barriers to attempts aimed at

bringing people back into peaceful territory with desires to begin again (Clark, 2013).

In Nepal after a 10-year civil war, relocation of thousands of Bhutanese refugees

to various Western countries resulted in a rapid growth of needed mental health support

for issues including posttraumatic stress disorder (Kohrt & Hruschka, 2010). With civil

uproar in the Balkans in the 1990s, many families escaped to Sweden. Stressors were

analyzed, and findings indicated trauma upon departure with financial crisis and

relocation as well as adjustment upon arrival to Sweden (Bjorn, Gustafasson, Sydsjo, &

Bertero, 2013). Furthermore, research on statelessness in Southeast Asian countries of

Cambodia, Thailand, Burman, Indonesia, Laos, and Vietnam indicated, “the stateless

populations in Southeast Asia suffer severe economic, political, and social hardships and

are at a heightened risk for trafficking” (Paxton, 2012, p. 624).

Although the experiences of many refugee groups have been previously studied,

“past research efforts into refugees have primarily focused on the drivers that determine

the political conditions that create a refugee situation; the economic impact of conflict

and war; the disruption of cultural norms and values” (Williams, 2010, p. 91). While

researchers have evidence that displacement affects relationships within a family of

refugees, little empirical research has been done on this topic that actually describes

experiences through the voices of refugees themselves (Williams, 2010). In current

conditions of statelessness or of nomadic life, belonging is challenged during

statelessness, the transition period, and relocation.

Given the recent influx of refugees to Greece, the experiences of these various

dislocated groups that seek refuge in Greece have not been investigated. Therefore, the

present study investigated the experiences of Middle Eastern individuals and families

fleeing turmoil in countries such as Syria, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan to learn about

the experience of displaced individuals and families in a condition of statelessness in a

refugee camp and their experiences pre-flight, trans-flight, and post-flight. The research

explored these topics through the voices of refugees themselves.

Background

Article 1 of the 1951 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Convention (UNHCR) on the Status of Refugees defines a refugee as a

person who is outside his/her country of nationality or habitual residence, has a

well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, has

membership in a particular social group or political opinion, and is unable to avail

himself/herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of

persecution. (UNHCR, 1951, p. 14)

Many refugees have encountered chaos and a lack of social or political order and

may have personally witnessed and experienced uproar and separation from their family,

extreme conditions resulting in the neglect of basic needs of children and adults, violent

acts to family members or other people, and physical and emotional mistreatment and

neglect (Boyden & Hart, 2002). The refugee is in crisis through the displacement and

experiences isolation from familiar and often basics of life, such as food, water, and

shelter. How statelessness affects mental and emotional health and education will be

discussed in this section.

Mental and Emotional Health

As disturbance occurs in a home country necessitating flight of its citizens, family

units travel through the next phases of statelessness, the search for asylum and safety, and

migration to a place to call home. Families in relocation experience transition and

possibly a disruption in a sense of belonging. Belonging to a group or an organization is

one of the most important human needs in life. Belongingness is noted as a fundamental

factor of motivation that drives the human race to positive and enduring relationships

with other humans who are significant in their sphere of existence (Sentse et al., 2010).

Belonging to a family, school, community, or other group positively affects many factors

that contribute to overall health and well-being (Allen & Bowles, 2012). Refugee

families are different from an immigrant or migrant population, primarily due to the

disruptions to their sense of belonging that result from their experiences in conjunction

with the pre-flight, flight, and forced migration that the refugee family encounters

(Williams, 2010).

The transitions faced by refugee families can disrupt a sense of belongingness and

family structure, and detrimental consequences can follow. For example, according to

Meyer, Murray, Puffer, Larsen, and Bolton (2013), children who reside in refugee camps

and transitional living environments are at risk for mental disorders. Refugee children

experience symptoms related to those of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as

flashbacks or reliving the trauma over and over accompanied with a racing heart or

sweating, frightening thoughts, being startled easily, experiencing angry outbursts,

bedwetting, acting unusually clingy with a parent or other adult, and feeling heightened

anxiety and depression (Meyer et al., 2013). A study conducted in Ban Mai Nai Soi

refugee camp in Mae Hong Son province in northern Thailand examined the mental

health of Karen adult refugees and documented that 42% of adults experienced

depression and 41% experienced anxiety (Cardozoa, Talley, Burton, & Crawford 2004).

In 2006, Bhutanese refugees were allowed to begin relocation processes in third

countries, and the suicide rate for refugees within the communities of transition was

extraordinarily high at 20.3% among refugees (Subedi, et al., 2015).

Refugees are dependent on external support for basic necessities; therefore, the

refugee population is also at risk of human trafficking. Human trafficking has been

defined as

the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means

of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of

deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving

or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having

control over another person for the purpose of exploitation. (Aberdein &

Zimmerman, 2015, p. 1)

According to the International Crisis Group (2008), in North Cyprus, human smugglers

are nationals from Turkey and Syria preying on refugees, assisting them with illegal entry

into Turkey or Syria with the intention for human trafficking and prostitution (Colak et

al., 2014).

While most research on refugees documents the negative effects of the

experience, some positive effects have been noted. As one example, secure attachment in

a sample of a refugee population was linked to the cohesion of the family during the

actual separation, views of displacement as an act of parental protection, and open parent-

child communication about stressors throughout the experience (De Haene, Dalgaard,

Montgomery, Grietens, & Verschueren, 2013). Thus, these actions were found to be

beneficial for the well-being of the family.

Education

Education can play an important role in the refugee experience. Among boat

people from the Middle East relocating in Australia, early childhood educators were

alerted to the high needs of refugee children as they transitioned from a refugee camp

into an established community and the important role education plays in the transition

(Maher & Smith, 2014). Among Burmese refugees in Thailand, higher education is seen

as an empowerment for the refugee population (Zeus, 2011). Along the Thai-Burmese

border, refugees were found with the desire to escape refugee camp and with dreams and

goals to attend a university (Zeus, 2011).

Often within the environments where refugees are harbored, minimal basic

education classes are offered through various humanitarian efforts. Education also serves

as a time-filler in the refugee environment while waiting to procure a host country and

facing many obstacles along the way, from the obvious practical issues of financial

shortcomings or ignorance of asylum application procedures, to political and legal issues

in obtaining the ability to achieve higher education (Zeus, 2011). However, qualified

teachers and consistency of educational material being taught within the refugee camp is

another obstacle in the refugees’ desire to further their education. Unfortunately, “as

traumatized victims of war and conflict, refugees are dependent on external aid and are

therefore believed to lack the capabilities to cope with the challenges of higher

education” (Zeus, 2011, p. 259). Research on the stressors and negative effects globally

among refugees guided the present study to explore the experiences of refugee families in

Greece (who remain an unstudied population), as well as potential benefits and hopes for

the future associated with the refugee experience.

Human Ecology Theory

As described, statelessness affects refugee individuals and families on multiple

levels and in multiple contexts. Human ecology theory is focused on humans as both

biological organisms and social beings in interaction with their environment (Bubolz &

Sontag, 2009). Human ecology is concerned with the interaction and interdependence of

humans (as individuals, groups, and societies) with the environment through a key

process of adaptation by humans in their environment. Survival and quality of life are

among the key elements of human ecology theory. Particular interest is given to the

importance of selective perception, values, decision making, and human actions in ways

that they influence adaptation and the selection and use of resources as means toward the

attainment of goals, the satisfaction of needs, and the quality of the environment (Bubolz

& Sontag, 2009). Refugee families experiencing statelessness are in the process of

development, adaptation, and trying to find a new or renewed sense of belonging in

different environments and with potentially different resources than were experienced in

their home country.

Purpose of the Study

This phenomenological study explored the experience of stateless individuals and

families through purposive sampling of family members harboring in asylum and fleeing

chaotic situations within their country of origin who relocated in Greece, specifically on

the island of Chios, in Souda Refugee Camp. Topics examined include the conditions

that led to flight from the country of origin and the family and individual experiences in

the country of origin prior to flight and during flight, the experiences of living as a

refugee in a refugee camp in Greece, and the hopes and dreams of the future for the

individual and the family.

Research Questions

A phenomenological approach was used in this study. Because phenomenology is

focused on wholeness, imposing existing constructs on the expression of the experience

limits understanding (Moustakas, 1994). Therefore, the research questions that were the

basis for this exploratory study were broad:

1) What is the experience of leaving one’s home country for individuals and

families?

2) What is the experience of living in a refugee camp for individuals and

families?

3) How do refugees perceive the future for themselves and their families?

The organization of research purpose, research questions(s), and interview

questions for adults and children are in Appendix A.

Significance

This study explored the effects of displacement among stateless individuals and

families while in refugee camps as well as their perceptions of the future. Learning about

the experiences of refugees currently located in Greece provided significant information

to guide future research on and potentially beneficial practices for refugee individuals and

families. The knowledge obtained through this study offers valuable information that

could be used for developing and/or enhancing existing programs to aid refugees and

their families during their time of transition and relocation. For example, given the need

for adaptation to different environments and resources experienced in a refugee camp, the

results of this study could be used to inform parent training programs and parental

support specific to the needs of refugees that have not previously had thorough attention

(Williams, 2010). Information obtained through this study could also allow NGOs (Non-

Government Organizations) to possibly improve practices and policies in refugee and

crisis circumstances. However, certain limitations are acknowledged, knowing that

desired changes in the laws and policies referencing refugees in a country may not be

seen as necessary by a particular governmental structure.

Research in the area of refugee crisis conditions is valuable because people are

valuable and people groups of all different ethnicities are valuable in equal relation. The

refugee crisis has become a daily topic on the news. Governmental structure and

countries in crisis are a common vernacular in our world today. The present research

provided understanding about individuals and family units in crisis and their day-to-day

experiences as refugees.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The review of the literature addresses statelessness and its effect on mental health,

the family unit, and education. Human ecology theory (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009) is the

theory underlying this study and is discussed given the simultaneous investigation of the

effect of statelessness on the individual and the family unit. Quality of life is an

important concept in human ecology theory, and adaptation is a key process. One of the

activities through which adaptation is processed in the family ecosystem is decision

making. Decision making is the central control system of family organization (Bubolz &

Sontag, 2009). Decisions are made when engaging in problem solving circumstances,

goal achievement, and family sustaining tasks on a daily basis.

To set the stage for this literature review, the underlying values of human ecology

theory (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009) are presented. First, survival, including maintenance

and sustainability, are important features in life. Second, virtues that contribute to well-

being include adequate economic provision, justice, freedom, and peacefulness. Other

contributing virtues that maintain quality of life include health, education and learning,

productive work and work environments, and loving and nurturing relationships.

Additionally, an underlying value of human ecology theory directs scholars and

practitioners to attend to problems of groups and subcultures who lack power, self-

determination, and access to resources.

Statelessness

Nationality was declared a universal human right in 1948 (United Nations, 1948).

However, the condition of statelessness continues throughout the world as people are

denied the legal bond between state and individual. Statelessness currently lacks

recognized global solutions (Kingston, 2013). One major problem, according to Turk

(2014), is that simple documents, such as birth certificates, are not available to the

refugee, which consequently magnifies the statelessness situation and creates more

obstacles. In order to apply as an asylum seeker, birth certificates and other documents

must be presented. Often in countries in turmoil, important documents are hard to keep,

lost in transition, or abandoned to flee potentially dangerous situations quickly. Without

appropriate documents in hand, such as a birth certificate, those in flight from their

country of origin face a lengthier process in asylum claims and procedures.

There are two types of statelessness by definition: de facto and de jure. Article 1

of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons indicates that a person

is de jure if that person is not recognized as a citizen of any state (Paxton, 2012). In

contrast, de facto statelessness describes an individual who is a citizen of a state, or who

possesses a legally honorable claim to citizenship, but is unable, or for some valid reason,

unwilling to benefit from the protections of that state. A de facto stateless person might

not avail themselves of the state’s protection because of ongoing civil disorder, fear of

persecution, or practical considerations such as cost (Paxton, 2012). In simplicity, a

refugee is someone who lives in a condition of statelessness. However, various

definitions of terms such as refugee and asylum seeker are used across entities.

According to Colak et al. (2014), the United Nations defines a refugee as

someone who has well-founded fear of torture or persecution in his or her state of

citizenship due to civil conflict and with legitimate fear of danger. In this condition, the

individual seeks refuge from another state and thus is called a refugee. Asylum seeker is

a term used to define someone who faces threats or violation of basic rights from a state

or institution and who has left without the protection of the country/state of origin and

seeks to be settled in another country or state (Colak et al., 2014). To clarify, an asylum

seeker has fewer rights and less protection than a refugee. UNHCR (1951) defines a

refugee as someone who applies for official refuge and his or her application is

considered and approved. Refugees have been granted permission to be in a country or

state without citizenship for an amount of time with rights whereas an asylum seeker is

seeking the status of refugee.

Statelessness refers to the condition of an asylum seeker or refugee. Statelessness

is a lack of citizenship in a country. According to Paxton (2012), there are 12 million

stateless people or people who have no claim to citizenship in a country worldwide as

recognized by the UNHCR. With growing tension in Syria in 2011, an exodus in large

numbers emerged. The current migration escalated and is widening its impact from

neighboring countries toward Europe (Yazgan et al., 2015). Migration is initiated by

tension, discomforts, restrictions, and finally violence and wars in the country of origin

(Yazgan et al., 2015). Syrian refugees have poured into neighboring countries, such as

Turkey, in large numbers since 2011. The UNHCR reports 2.1 million registered Syrians

in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon, and more than 24,000 Syrian refugees registered in

North Africa since 2011 (UNHCR, 2016). Turkey reports 1.95 million refugees from

neighboring countries. Over 1 million refugees have reached Europe through the

Mediterranean in 2015, with almost a third of them being children (UNHCR, 2015).

Conflicts in the Syrian Arab Republic and Iraq have contributed to the rise of the global

number of displaced people. Over 1 million Syrian refugees were newly registered

during 2015 compared to 3.9 million Syrian refugees at the end of 2014. Most Syrian

refugees sought protection in neighboring countries with nearly 1 million seeking refuge

in Turkey under its temporary protection during 2015. The latter part of 2015 saw an

increasing number of Syrian refugees moving to other European countries (Herwig,

2015).

Recent studies have indicated an increasing number of refugees in Africa and

Thailand belong to what the UNHCR terms “protracted” refugee crises. Refugees caught

in these situations are stranded by long-term, ongoing civil conflicts for which there

appears no end in sight. Research by Peterson (2010) confirms that ongoing conflict has

given rise to a phenomenon observed in some parts of Africa today that some scholars

have described as long-term warehousing of refugees – areas set up to provide temporary

asylum have become, in essence, permanent human settlements. These settlements are

the size of cities but have little economic base and are sustained exclusively by

international donations channeled through the UNHCR (Peterson, 2010). These refugees

are caught in prolonged civil conflict and stranded in communities with no mobility and

limited resources, including a lack of education for children and adolescents (Peterson,

2010).

The 60th anniversary of the 1954 Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons

drew attention to and begged for increased awareness of statelessness and its impact on

individual lives and society as a whole (Turk, 2014). A case study examined the refugee

population in Athens, Greece, and identified a number of elements in Greek policy and

society that significantly increased refugee vulnerability, along with actual responses of

agencies providing assistance to the refugee who were assimilated into the Greek schools

(Black, 1994). The problems of discrimination, social exclusion, and racism against the

Gypsies, Albanians, and other refugees, as well as against members of the Muslim

minority, are rather intense in Greece. Anastasiadou (2007) presented results showing

positive and negative attitudes, with Greek pupils showing feelings of hate towards

Muslims, fear towards Albanians, and aversion towards the Gypsies, but favoring of

schoolmates from the former Soviet Union who had been assimilated as refugees into

Greece since the collapse of the state beginning in the early 1980s.

To summarize, statelessness is a lack of belonging to a state or country with full

legal rights and protection. A refugee can often be referred to as an asylum seeker.

However, an asylum seeker has applied for refugee status and thus has rights and

privileges associated with asylum seeker status. Refugee classification will then

theoretically allow for more opportunities, such as the right to relocate to a third country

if necessary, the right to elementary education, and the right to basic rights afforded a

national of the country. Asylum seeker status allows for temporary legal entrance into

the relocating country. Without asylum seeker status, an individual is entering the

country illegally. A refugee or an asylum seeker is in a condition of statelessness,

desiring the protection and rights of another country. Statelessness affects mental health

and educational opportunities for these individuals, as discussed in the following section.

Mental Health and Statelessness

The state of mental health is characterized by an association of well-being and

self-acceptance and generally characterized by the capacity to love, relate to others, and

work effectively with a desire to bring personal satisfaction without invading the rights

and safety of others (“Mental health,” 2015). Conversely, a lack of mental health is

associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which is known to be a multitude

of symptoms in reaction to exposure to an extremely traumatic event over a duration of

time (Ibrahim & Hassan, 2017). PTSD is classified as an anxiety disorder that is often

correlated with torture and other war-related trauma. In one study, ninety-one Syrian

Kurdish refugees in Iraq were assessed using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, and the

results showed that estimated levels of PTSD were high (Ibrahim & Hassan, 2017).

According to Murray, et al. (2010), refugees have an elevated risk of PTSD as a

consequence of the disturbance and significant personal disruption and possibly the

experience of torture and trauma during transition from place to place. Psychologists,

therapists, and professionals working with refugees need confidence in working with

resettlement in host countries. Obtaining and listening to the personal testimonies of the

refugees’ adversity is becoming an essential component of personal and social healing

(Murray, Davidson, Schweitzer, 2010). According to Meyer et al. (2013), refugee

children have been known to show and experience symptoms associated with PTSD as

well as elevated levels of anxiety and depression through the condition of statelessness.

Additional research on PTSD and the refugee population conducted by Ying and

Han (2007) hypothesized that early adolescence in combination with intergenerational

conflict or parental conflict in addition to depressive symptoms in late adolescence is

conducive to PTSD in the refugee population. The study made a significant contribution

to the mental health literature by being the first to empirically demonstrate the

longitudinal relationship of perceived intergenerational discrepancy in acculturation,

intergenerational/intercultural conflict, and depressive symptomatology in Southeast

Asian adolescents (Ying & Han, 2007).

Research has examined the effects of war trauma on Cambodian youth. A sample

of 170 adolescents was interviewed from two sources. One group was a convenience

sample of 64 Khmer youth interviewed during the pretest year of the study (1990-1991),

and the second was a randomly selected group of 106 youth and one of their parents

interviewed one year later (1991-1992). This study expands on and largely replicates the

major findings of an earlier study (Clarke, Sack, & Goff, 1993). The adolescents and

young adults were interviewed to determine their experience as children surviving the Pol

Pot regime (1975-1979), their experiences resettling in another country, and the

experience of stressful events during the past year (Sack, Clarke, & Seeley, 1996). The

goal of the study related three forms of stress experienced by two samples of Khmer and

young adult refugees to PTSD and depression. The three forms of stress are defined as

war trauma, resettlement stress, and recent stressful events. The study showed that

children who survived a war horror such as that of Pol Pot’s regime carried specific

symptoms of that experience into the beginnings of their adult lives. Those youth with

diagnosed PTSD appeared to be more vulnerable to subsequent early resettlement stress.

This study found that PTSD is specifically related to the trauma of war, while depression

relates more strongly to recent stressors.

PTSD has also been studied among West Papuan refugees in Papua, New Guinea,

to investigate the domains of traumatic events and broader psychosocial effects of

conflict such as a lack of safety and injustice associated with trauma in their country.

The findings support the association of both witnessing murders and a sense of injustice

with domains of PTSD among the West Papuan refugees (Tay, Rees, Chen, Kareth, &

Silove, 2015). A series of longitudinal studies were conducted to examine the effects of

war trauma on 46 Cambodian youths (Hsu, Davies, & Hansen, 2004). Fifty percent of

the sample throughout the study series met the full diagnostic criteria for PTSD based on

the DSM-III-R, and 53% met diagnostic criteria for depression. The effects of war and

trauma prior to flight and while in the country of origin contributes to additional stressors

for refugees and their families as consistently presented in research.

Demonstrated in a study of problems, strengths, and help-seeking behaviors in

Somali Bantu and Bhutanese refugee, stress factors were common in the area of basic

necessities, such as food and housing, as anxiety occurred when refugees were unable to

meet the basic needs for the family (Betancourt, Frounfelker, Mishra, Hussein, &

Falzarano, 2015). According to Bolton et al. (2013), treatment for Burmese refugees in

Thailand often presented with anxiety, thus psychotherapy was used to treat mental

disorders of refugees in a community-based mental center. Lacroix and Sabbah (2011)

felt it was common knowledge that refugees experience much disruption in life and noted

that PTSD is increasingly associated with psychological distress in refugee populations.

According to Mohlen, Parzer, Resch, and Brunner (2005), refugees relocating to

Australia all had suffered traumatic experiences relating to unrest from their home

country; however, the degree of traumatization varied.

On a positive note, Kohrt and Hruschka (2010) reported that Bhutanese refugees

suffering from statelessness in Nepal and relocated to Western countries have

experienced rapid growth of mental health and psychosocial support, including treatment

for PTSD and depression. Additionally, Beiser, Turner, and Ganasan (1989) discovered

that just a small percentage of Southeast Asians developed a diagnosable mental health

disorder upon relocation. This is likely due to the past decade seeing fewer Southeast

Asian immigrants as it is common that people from these countries continue to adapt to

new ways of life (Davis, Kennedy, & Austin, 2000).

In summary, research has been conducted with different populations in refugee

camps, and it is a common finding that statelessness and relocation do create stressful

environments and often result in stress-related disorders. In refugee camps, housing

conditions often leave individuals with feelings of injustice as the trauma-related

experiences associated with remembering intrusions, such as the West Papuan context,

where family and community members to witnessed abuse and murder, adding further

evidence in support of these domains as being core to the PTSD constellation (Tay et al.,

2015).

Family Unit and Statelessness

Statelessness can also bring stress to the family unit. However, according to

Williams (2010), there is a lack of research that describes the ecology of the refugee

parenting experience in a relocation context. Flight from the country of origin is often

necessary for survival, as noted by one participant in Sadek’s (2011) study, “if I had

stayed one more day in Iraq, I would have been killed” (p. 186). After 2005, many Iraqi

families sought refuge in Egypt – fleeing the repercussions of the United States’ war with

Iraq and seeking protection from growing sectarian tensions in their country (Sadek,

2011). The Iraqi displacement involved mainly middle-class nuclear families, fleeing

general instability in their country in search of a better life. Previous research efforts

have largely been focused on the political conditions that create the refugee situation, the

impact on economy, and the disruption of cultural norms (Williams, 2010). Hynie,

Gurunge, and Shakya (2012) explain that refugee families feel uncertainty and experience

challenges in family structure and relationships after years in refugee camps. Members

of refugee families may have experienced a collapse of social order, which can be

mirrored in a collapse of ordered relationships within families. Children have been found

to learn the language, navigate the new systems, and endorse the values of the new

culture more quickly than their parents, which may result in a change in family

responsibilities or even role reversal. Role reversal, such as when the child

communicates for the family because he/she is able to comprehend the new language,

may be more prevalent in families that have navigated war in their home country (Hynie

et al., 2012).

Additionally, as mentioned, refugee parents experience role reversal, relationship

deterioration, and diminished resources and support (Hynie et al., 2012). Hynie et al.

(2012) interviewed refugee families from Afghan, Karen, and Sudanese communities in a

qualitative study. The research concluded that, although the youth experienced

discussion with their parents over freedoms and opportunities, the changes in family

structure and role reversal did not lead to conflict between the parent and the child. In

fact, responsibilities that increased for youth included navigation of services for the

family unit, language interpretation, along with providing financial and emotional support

for the entire family; this gave the youth affirmation of their importance and value to the

family unit. Several youth even took on parental roles when there was not a parent. The

sources of conflict reported upon resettlement are other factors such as lack of time

together or low levels of family support (Hynie el al., 2012). Taken together, these

studies show how important belongingness and the family unit are to individual well-

being.

Education and Statelessness

Research has found that traumatic experiences tend to hinder the ability of

relocated refugees to learn (Isik-Ercan, 2012; Murray et al., 2010). Children experience

ill effects and extreme consequences of trauma as a result of statelessness and the

relocation process (Hsu et al., 2004; Uguak, 2013). Uguak (2013) proposed

psychologists, social workers, and educators utilize play, drama, music, and all of the

sensory experiences as a way to restore validity and worth of the individual refugee

suffering from PTSD. However, the success of such a program depends upon the

collaboration by agencies and governments within the country (Uguak, 2013). For

example, according to Siewa-Younan et al. (2015), resettled Iraqi refugees attending

language classes in Australia exhibited high levels of stress with very little mental

healthcare opportunities in the education process. Trauma can affect a child’s ability to

function effectively at school. In particular, memory and concentration are affected by

traumatic experiences.

Boat people from Middle Eastern countries including Afghanistan and Iraq were

studied by educators in a university system in Australia and it was discovered how vital

pedagogic continuity is to successful play-based learning, tutoring, and teaching

proficiency in English for refugee children (Maher & Smith, 2014). As a result, the

educators felt the urgency to make the learning center in Australia the safe space for the

refugee children, giving emphasis to belonging as the educators acknowledged belonging

is integral to human existence. School-based educational arts programs were delivered in

Australia for young people with a refugee background who were considered marginalized

and underprivileged (Sonn et al., 2013). Support was seen for the role of the educational

arts to capture social worlds of children with a refugee background as well as to enforce

reading and writing and the meaning of participation in activities on a daily basis in

school (Sonn et al., 2013).

Anderson, Hamilton, Moore, Loewen, and Frater-Mathieson (2004) described the

experience and development of refugee children in terms of three phases of changing

ecologies; pre-migration, trans-migration and post-migration. From this perspective, the

objective for children who are refugees and their families is to manage transitions and

form adaptive ecosystems. The education system should seek to provide a safe place for

diagnostic treatment of refugee children and seek to further build resilience through

dialogue and counseling (Siewa-Younan et al., 2015).

While the education of refugee children is a challenging process for educators and

researchers because traumatic experiences tend to hinder the ability of refugees to learn

(Isik-Ercan, 2012), it is essential since a lack of education can seriously affect an

individual’s ability to be self-directed (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). As a transition from

elementary to junior and senior high and then into college, value and self-direction

correspond to behavior in all areas of life (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Further research is

necessary to explore the context of education for refugee families and children.

Human Ecology Theory

As indicated in the introduction to this chapter, human ecology theory is relevant

for the study of refugee individuals and families with its emphases on survival and

quality of life. Human ecology theory focuses on humans as both biological organisms

and social beings in interaction with their environment (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009). The

family is considered to be an energy transformation system that is interdependent with its

natural physical-biological, human-built, and social-cultural environment (Bubolz &

Sontag, 1993).

The origins of ecological ideas stem from early thinkers like Plato and Aristotle in

conceptions of growth and development processes. However, in the nineteenth century,

the concept of ecology became part of the sciences. The word ecology is credited to

Ernest Haeckel, who was a German zoologist and an early advocate in the theory of

evolution. (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009). The first proposition for the name given to the new

science was “eckologic,” which originates from the Greek root, oik, meaning house or

living place (Bubolz & Sontag, 1993). Ecology was thus defined as the study of

interrelationships between life and the environment and rested on the presupposition that

life and the environment are inseparable components of the greater whole.

A core value underlying human ecology theory is that of survival. Human

ecology theory adopted the framework of Kenneth Boulding (1985). Boulding (1985)

was an economist-philosopher and general systems theorist using the concept of human

betterment as the direction toward which people individually and collectively strive

(Bubolz & Sontag, 2009). Virtues that contribute to the quality of life and what Boulding

(1985) referred to as the ultimate good include economic adequacy, justice, freedom, and

peacefulness. Economic adequacy includes sufficient resources for nourishment versus

starvation, adequate versus inadequate housing, clothing, health care, and other essentials

of life. Justice includes equality versus inequality in relation to work, education, and

health. Freedom includes a contrast, force and confinement. Peacefulness also includes a

contrast, warfare and strife. These virtues have been challenged in the case of refugee

families who have been forced to flee their home country.

Individuals and families have requirements that must be met at some level if they

are to survive and assume adaptive behavior (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009). In human

ecology theory, these requirements are called needs. Needs are grouped into three

components: needs for having, relating, and being. Having pertains to the idea that

matter-energy and information necessary for sustainment of life is essential (Bubolz &

Sontag, 2009). The need for relating includes the need for being loved, accepted, and

regarded with value. The need for being includes the need for growth and development,

self-fulfillment, and the ability to control one’s life and potential. Needs such as air,

water, and nourishment are physiologically based, but the needs for relating and being are

influenced by culture (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009). Literature presented previously

demonstrates how the needs of refugee families are affected during statelessness.

Human ecology theory (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009) includes the family’s interaction

with its environment in the formation of an ecosystem; the well-being of individuals and

families cannot be considered apart from the well-being of the whole ecosystem. The

underlying moral value structure of human ecology is rooted in the balance between

demands of the ecosystem in terms of cooperation and integration and the demand of the

individual for autonomy and freedom (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009). Human ecology is

sustained on the basic premise that families and individuals maintain biological

sustenance, economic maintenance, and psychosocial and nurturance functions (Bubolz

& Sontag, 1993).

Several assumptions in human ecology theory are important to the present study

and can be illustrated through a description of Souda Refugee Camp, the site in the

present study. First, families and their environment are interdependent. Souda Refugee

Camp is located on an island in the Aegean Sea. The housing for refugees is constructed

of vinyl material and metal framework. The official portion of the camp is located in the

valley of an old castle moat. The overflow portion of the camp is located just yards from

the Aegean Sea in a public beach zone. The overflow section of the camp was necessary

when the camp exceeded the maximum number of refugees and room was no longer

available in the valley of the castle moat. The assumption that families and their

environments are reciprocal in nature is relevant in this study. For example, when a

heavy rain occurs, the housing inside of the moat floods. When heavy rains occur along

the seashore in the overflow housing section, the refugee families battle with potential

water in their housing units and winds that will bring down the framework of the housing.

While there is no climate control such as air conditioning or heat, refugees are prone to

intense heat in the summer as the temperature on the island hovers typically in the 90s.

The winter months, however, are much more intense as the weather may often dip near or

below freezing, so frostbite and staying warm, especially for the children, are a challenge

for the refugee population at Souda Camp.

Second, families are part of the total life system and are interdependent on one

another. In Souda Camp, a multitude of nationalities and cultures are represented, with

the majority of the population from Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan; a few other

nations are represented by a smaller percentage of the camp population. Each family or

small grouping of people lives in close accommodation with each other. They must all

share the same restroom facilities, meal accommodations, and washing stations for

clothing. As in a community of people, disagreements take place, and the ebb and flow

of the community is disrupted momentarily. Other times, the community in the refugee

camp flows in cooperation with each other. For example, heavy winds would often blow

the roof, which was made of vinyl, from the tent frame, exposing the family dwelling to

the elements. With urgency, a group of refugees would immediately assemble to salvage

the belongings inside the tent and make repairs to the disrupted housing. I witnessed this

interaction multiple times during the course of the research study.

Third, adaptation is a continuing process in families as they respond to, change,

develop, and/or modify their environment. Adaptation is a common occurrence in the

refugee camp. For example, the children in the refugee camp had very few toys or books.

Instead, they made flotation devices for swimming or wading in the sea from styrofoam

cooler tops. The children made fishing poles from sticks, string, and a few hooks found

near the pier. The children also turned an old abandoned boat into playground

equipment, complete with a slide. Adapting to the living arrangement of a tent for most

in the refugee camp became a new experience, unlike home. Plastic wrappings of the

bulk supplies for meal time were often repurposed for bagging garments inside the camp

to keep them dry in the event of a rainstorm or flood. The garments were most often

bagged in the repurposed plastic bag and hung from the metal framework of the tent.

Fourth, environments do not determine human behavior but pose limitations and

constraints as well as possibilities and opportunities for families. As the current refugee

environment does pose certain limitations on mobility of the inhabitants, individuals

discovered local places to gain access to WiFi. Several refugees utilized the WiFi as a

learning tool to learn different languages and broaden their technological skills in hopes

of opportunity in the future. However, while the environment is a factor in the refugee

camp, it does not determine behavior. Additionally, as the limitations of the refugee

camp occur in food choices for each refugee since meal provisions are cooked each day

from a local eatery and transported to the refugee camp, often refugees would use some

of the food items from the packaged meals to recreate a dish that the family had enjoyed

in the home country by adding a few ingredients purchased at a local market. One

example included grapes from the packaged meals, the sugar packet provided, and a few

purchased ingredients that were cooked over a fire to provide a sweetened dish the family

enjoyed together.

Finally, decision making is the central control process in families that directs

actions for attaining individual and family goals. Families must make decisions in all

stages as a refugee. Decisions are made during the pre-flight phase, from the country of

origin, during the process of flight, and post-flight. The process of making decisions

generally follows several steps (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009). First is the recognition that a

decision is necessary. Second is identification, comparison, and evaluation of

alternatives. Last is choosing an acceptable alternative. For example, in Souda Camp,

sleeping during the day and guarding belongings at night was a necessary alternative for

survival. Items such as documents and cell phone batteries are essential for survival, but

they are often stolen if not protected.

Summary

The review of literature and description of human ecology theory set the stage for

the present study that examined the experience of displaced individuals and families in a

condition of statelessness in a refugee camp and their experiences pre-flight, trans-flight,

and post-flight. As seen in the literature presented, a great deal of past research on the

refugee population has focused on the political conditions that create a refugee situation,

the impact of conflict and war, and the disruption or cultural norms and values (Williams,

2010). However, knowing that a sense of belongingness is key to well-being and

development but that belongingness is often disrupted during statelessness, understanding

how individuals and families experience living as a refugee through their own stories is

critical. Therefore, this study examined the effects of statelessness on refugees and their

families in a refugee camp located in Chios, Greece. Topics addressed included the

conditions that led to flight from the country of origin and the family and individual

experiences in the country of origin prior to flight and during flight, the characterization

of living as a refugee in a refugee camp in Greece, and the hopes and dreams of the future

for the individual and the family.

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN

An explanation of the phenomenological research method is presented in this

chapter, along with an overview of the study, qualitative design, participants, setting,

recruitment site, sampling technique, selection criteria, procedures, organization of data,

and quality standards (confirmability, credibility, dependability, and transferability).

Purpose

This study utilized a phenomenological approach to describe the experience of

displaced individuals and families in a condition of statelessness in a refugee camp and

their experiences pre-flight, trans-flight, and post-flight. Therefore, the research

questions that were the basis for this exploratory study included:

1) What is the experience of leaving one’s home country for individuals and

families?

2) What is the experience of living in a refugee camp for individuals and

families?

3) How do refugees perceive the future for themselves and their families?

Study Design

The research design is a qualitative design utilizing a phenomenological

approach. Phenomenology is described as a study of shared experiences, with an attempt

to locate a universal nature and local essence of the experience (Moustakas, 1994). The

qualitative design in this study is exploratory as it seeks to investigate how the relocation

process affects the individual and the refugee family as a whole. The investigation also

explored problems that the individual and the family unit encountered during relocation,

what supports would be beneficial to individuals and families during the relocation

process, and problems that the individual and the family unit encountered during

relocation. The research approach allowed exploration of refugee experiences in a

particular region with a diverse population where a rich experience could be gathered

through the approach. As the primary researcher, I conducted interviews in Chios,

Greece. Data analysis developed the textural description of the experience, determining

what a refugee experience meant for the individual and the family.

Phenomenological Research

Phenomenology is concerned with wholeness and the examination of many

angles, sides, and perspectives of the experience of a phenomenon (Moustakas, 1994).

Thus, in a phenomenological study, investigation into various reactions or perceptions of

a particular phenomenon occurs (Fraenkel, Wallen, & Hyun, 2008). The researcher

attempts to gain insight into the world of his or her participants through a rich experience

and then relays the commonalities and themes in a narrated description of the

phenomenon (Fraenkel et al., 2008). A phenomenological study is rooted in a question

that gives a direction and awakens interest, while accounting for the researcher’s

passionate involvement with whatever is being experienced (Moustakas, 1994).

Phenomenology is also committed to the descriptions and details in depth and not

as much on the explanation or analysis. The descriptions remain as close as possible to

the original texture of the experience and the qualities that appear in context.

Intentionality is important in the research design. A key characteristic of

phenomenological research is the rich detailed description of the phenomenon being

investigated. The description presents “how” the participants experienced the

phenomenon being studied instead of any presupposed understanding the researcher has

of the phenomenon being studied. The phenomenological reduction process assists the

researcher with this, allowing the researcher to keep an open mind and listen to the

participants’ description of the studied phenomenological process (Moustakas, 1994).

Three philosophical approaches to phenomenological research exist:

transcendental phenomenology founded by Husserl (1858 – 1938), existential

phenomenology founded by Merleau Ponty (1908 – 1961), and heuristic phenomenology

founded by Heidegger (1889 – 1976). The approach used in this study was a

transcendental phenomenological approach. Transcendental phenomenology was

appropriate for this study as it brought depth and helped to formulate a deeper

understanding of the condition of statelessness in Greece among the refugee population.

Although these three phenomenological approaches have different philosophical

postures, they all follow four primary phenomenological concepts: description, reduction,

imaginative variation, and essence (Moustakas, 1994).

Transcendental phenomenology is considered by Husserl to be a valid alternative

to the scientific method (Moustakas, 1994). The transcendental reduction process dives

deeply into consciousness thus uncovering the underlying structure of the phenomenon.

The reduction process devised by Husserl centers on the technique of bracketing; setting

aside interpretations, prejudices, and judgments to gain a clear view of the phenomenon.

Two other concepts considered to be important in the transcendental phenomenological

context are intentionality and the essence (Moustakas, 1994). In Husserl’s consideration,

every intentional experience consists of a noema and noeisis. The noema represents the

objective experience and the noesis represents the subjective experience. In

phenomenological research, one has to consider both the noema and the noesis to

understand the experience described by the participants. Through considering their

meaning, the underlying structure or essence of the phenomenon is discovered

(Moustakas, 1994). Hermeneutic and existentialist phenomenology built upon

transcendental phenomenology to develop their schools of thought.

Participants and Sampling Technique

The research drew from participants who were registered refugees or asylum

seekers in refugee camps managed by multiple aid organizations including A Drop in the

Ocean – Drapen i havet (e.g., Souda Refugee Camp and Vial Refugee Camp) on the

island of Chios, Greece. The participants were from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, or other

Middle Eastern countries. Nine adults and five children (see Table 1) were purposively

selected based on the criteria of being registered as an asylum seeker or refugee, living in

a refugee camp for 6 or more weeks, being 8 years of age or older, having the ability to

speak English or Arabic, and being willing to discuss their family unit during the

interview process. Adults were considered to be those 18 years of age or older. Two of

the children who participated in the interview were in their early teens. One of the adults

turned 18 during the research timeline and was considered an adult in legal refugee

processes, rather than an unaccompanied minor, as he was separated from his family.

Another 17-year-old participated in the interview as an adult also, rather than completing

the child’s interview. In total, seven families were interviewed in this study (the Nazari

family, the Handani family, the Amari family, the Haddad family, the Halabi family, the

Shadid family, and the Toma family). A total number of 14 participants were included in

this study: two from the Nazarri family, one from the Handani family, three from the

Amari family, two from the Haddad family, one from the Halabi family, one from the

Shadid family, and three from the Toma family.

In addition to the selection criteria, there were five criteria for participation in the

study. These included 1) participants must be stateless and seeking asylum or refugee

status, 2) participants must also be able to understand Arabic or English language and

comprehend interview dialogue and questions at the time of the study, 3) participants

must provide written informed consent to be involved in the study, 4) all participants are

considered displaced, and 5) children must have parental permission and participant

assent prior to the interview. Pseudonyms replaced actual names in the presentation of

findings.

Table 1 Demographics of study participants

Participant’s Name Age Country of Origin Role in Family

Rehan Haddad 17 Kuwait Son/Brother

Saad Haddad 62 Kuwait Father/Husband

Mahmoud Halabi 22 Syria (Damascus) Son/Brother

Adai Shadid 18 Syria (Aleppo) Son/Brother

Armani Toma 36 Afghanistan Mom/Wife

Nassar Nazari 22 Iraq (Baghdad) Brother/Son

Sabir Nazari 20 Iraq (Baghdad) Brother/Son

Aban Handani 29 Iraq (Mosul) Father/Husband

Hamid Amari 42 Syria (Aleppo) Father/Husband

Adian Haddad 8 Kuwait Daughter/Sister

*Asfar Toma 11 Afghanistan Daughter/Sister

*Nashtanna Toma 10 Afghanistan Son/Brother

Table 1 (continued)

Ebdo Amari 15 Syria (Aleppo) Son/Brother

Bahram Amari 16 Syria (Aleppo) Son/Brother

*indicates child artwork interview only

The Setting

The research took place in Souda Refugee Camp on the island of Chios, Greece,

known as the Mastic Island, which is the fifth largest island of Greece. Chios is located

on the northeast Aegean Sea approximately 3.5 miles from the Turkey coastline. The

resident population of Chios is approximately 54,930, with one large state hospital, one

state health center, 37 dentists, 50 pharmacies, supermarkets, and coffee bars

(www.in2greece). The country of Greece in 2016 had an estimated 10,920,000 in

population according to United Nations population data (Eurostat, 2016). In 2016 alone,

63,920 refugee children arrived in Greece. The majority of the refugees in Greece are

from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq (UNHCR, 2017). According to the International

Rescue Committee (IRC), the registered refugee population is approximately 62,000,

with over half being women and children. During 2013 and 2014, 1.3 million people

fleeing conflict and persecution traveled through Greece in search of safety and a better

life (International Rescue Committee, 2015).

Recruitment Site

The non-profit refugee aid organization in Chios, Drapen i havet (A Drop in the

Ocean), gave permission to conduct the study in the refugee camps in Chios, Greece, that

are affiliated with A Drop in the Ocean on the condition that participants gave consent to

be interviewed and gave consent for content to be shared through the research study. A

Drop in the Ocean aims to provide immediate and direct aid to refugees. The main focus

is to help families upon their arrival in Europe by coordinating volunteers and by

collecting and distributing necessary supplies and aid.

A Drop in the Ocean was founded in September 2015 and since then has

coordinated more than 4,000 aid workers in Greece (Jacobsen, 2017). Since November

2016, A Drop in the Ocean has been present at the island of Chios, in northern Greece,

and in the area of Athens, working directly inside the refugee camps, often run by the

national Greek army. The main work tasks are to distribute food, clothes, and other non-

food items, while also planning and organizing different activities for children and adults.

In addition to conducting research, the primary researcher assisted in teaching English to

refugees and activity coordination for refugee children. In all camps on Chios, A Drop in

the Ocean cooperates with different organizations, such as UNHCR, Help Refugees, Save

the Children, the International Red Cross, and other partners.

Two known refugee camps are located on the island of Chios, Souda Refugee

Camp and Vial Refugee Camp and Detention Center. Souda Refugee Camp’s population

is roughly 1,500 people. Souda and Vial Refugee Camps are open camps, meaning

refugees can come and go so long as they have refugee or asylum seeker status or are in

process of obtaining that status. In other words, they must be officially registered

through UNHCR. Souda Refugee Camp is run by the Greek Municipality of Chios

Island, and aid is subsidized through non-government organizations upon approval

through the municipality.

Vial Refugee Camp and Detention Center is run by the Greek Army and is

subsidized by limited non-government organizations offering aid upon approval of the

Greek Army and Police. Vial Refugee Camp is located approximately 20 minutes from

the center of town in an abandoned warehouse secluded on a hill, miles away from any

city amenities. A city bus makes a stop near Vial, and refugees are able to gain

transportation access via the city bus route. Refugees, however, must stay within the

center until they have received official papers to transfer to another location (L.G. Fallan,

personal communication, April 27, 2017). In other words, a refugee cannot house in a

camp where he or she is not registered and has not received approved housing. During

this study, A Drop in the Ocean volunteers and other non-local organizations were not

allowed to volunteer in Vial. Given these restrictions, participants were recruited from

Souda Refugee Camp in Chios (see Appendix B). Appendix B includes pictures from

Suda Refugee Camp to help the reader better visualize the setting. One family in this

study was officially housed at Vial Refugee Camp but chose to spend the daytime at

Souda Refugee Camp.

Procedures

According to Moustakas (1994), a human scientist maintains necessary ethical

standards, establishes clear agreement with research participants, maintains

confidentiality and informed consent, as well as insures full disclosure of the nature,

purpose, and requirements of the project. This study was of minimal risk in terms of

health and well-being of the participants. The Mississippi State University Institutional

Review Board’s (IRB) approval was obtained prior to data collection. In addition,

international compliance was met in IRB approval from Hellenica University in Athens,

Greece for the present study (see Appendix C).

As mentioned, purposive sample of displaced people in the condition of

statelessness were recruited from Souda Refugee Camp. Following the

phenomenological tradition, participants were selected who had experienced the

phenomenon being researched. Thus, purposive sampling is based on the characteristic

of the population as well as the objectives of the study. I, the primary researcher, was

able to make connections within the population of refugees upon volunteering with an

organization providing basic needs for refugees in the camp prior to beginning the study.

The sample was chosen through the connections I made, particularly with those refugees

who were English/Arabic speaking.

In a phenomenological research study, phenomenological investigators establish

and carry out a series of methods and procedures that satisfy the elements of an

organized, systematic, and disciplined approach (Moustakas, 1994). The empirical

phenomenological approach involves a return to experience in order to gather

comprehensive descriptions that provide the essence of the experience. The steps

involved in a phenomenological study as described by Moustakas (1994) were utilized in

this study: 1) Problem and Question Formulation, 2) Data Generating Situation, and 3)

Data Organization.

Step 1: Problem and Question Formulation

In step 1, the problem and question take formulation and are known as the

phenomenon. As the researcher, I delineated the focus of an investigation. The topic for

research was derived upon seeing the “boat people” along the Mekong River in

Cambodia. Initially, I wanted to know where they had been, how they were able to live

in the current condition, and what they hoped for the future. From these initial questions,

I formulated interview questions in such a way that would be understandable to the

participants, giving them an opportunity to share their stories. Past research with the

refugee population was also a factor in the formulation of research questions for this

study.

In Souda Refugee Camp, most of the refugees spoke English or had someone in

their family who was proficient in English, according to the non-profit coordinator (L. G.

Fallan, personal communication, April 27, 2017). The official language of volunteer

coordination in Souda Refugee Camp is English. Older refugees and women were found

to be populations within the camp who were not proficient in the English language and

spoke primarily their native language, Arabic.

I prepared for language barriers by having documents and interview questions

translated into Arabic ahead of time by an Arabic male, who is a former instructor at

Louisiana State University. The translator was born and lived in Lebanon and Syria until

he entered collegiate level education at The University of Pittsburg and then Louisiana

State University in engineering, where he later became a tutor for the university. The

translator had also translated Arabic for the U.S. Department of Defense and for the

Hinds County Judicial System. The translator provided a confidentiality agreement for

this study (see Appendix D). The interview questions, interview scripts, and consent

forms were printed in English and in Arabic.

Moustakas (1994) described the typical investigation method of

phenomenological research as the long interview. The phenomenological interview

involves an informative and very interactive process and uses open-ended questions and

comments. The interview allows brief social conversations aimed at creating a relaxing

and trusting atmosphere. The interviewer is responsible for creating a climate that will

comfort the research participant to encourage him or her to respond honestly and

comprehensively (Moustakas, 1994).

The interview process in the present study was designed to include both adults

and children. Spoken interviews with each adult participant were planned to occur over

the course of at least 2 days. Conversations with children were designed with drawings

and follow-up discussion as ways to learn about their experiences. An audio recording

was made of each conversation; this is also considered a connection between the

participant and the primary researcher. Observations and field observances were made in

the researcher’s journaling of daily feelings and experiences. These observations were

used to develop detailed descriptions of the study participants and their families.

Step 2: Data Generating Situation

In step 2, the data generating situation begins. This step begins the process of

learning about the subjects’ life experience as the researcher starts with descriptive

narrative provided by participants (viewed as co-researchers) as they engage in dialogue.

Four stages comprised the data generating situation: 1) Introductory Dialogue and

Consent to Participate, 2) Formal Interviews Begin, 3) Interviews Continue, and 4)

Researcher Observations and Personal Reflections.

Stage 1: Introductory Dialogue and Consent to Participate

All participants in the present study were able to dialogue in English or had a

family member who was able to translate. It is important to note, however, the available

consent forms, interview and recruitment scripts, and interview questions in Arabic

maximized the responsibility of the primary researcher to build trust in this study.

I approached participants and addressed the recruitment process with a scripted

template available in both English and Arabic (see Appendix E) that stated:

Hi, my name is Kim. I am a student from the U.S. who is volunteering here in the

camp and also conducting research to graduate with a doctoral degree. I want to

learn about past, present, and future experiences of refugee individuals and

families. I would like to invite you and your children who are at least 8 years old

to participate in my study. Would you be willing to talk to me and allow your

child to talk to me? If yes, I would need consent form signatures from you and

your children who are eligible. Is that ok?

Permission from participants to participate in the study and to be recorded audibly

or on paper was obtained. Consent forms in both English and Arabic can be found in

Appendix F. The benefits of having all formal research documents in Arabic were

affirmed as exceptional by those participating in this study. Pseudonyms were given to

each participant as added protections for privacy and anonymity of each participant. The

first meeting was casual in nature and allowed me to begin connecting with the

participants. I was able to build relationships on site where the research was conducted

prior to the implementation of the study through serving as a volunteer in Souda Camp.

After this initial meeting, a participant and I would begin the formal interview

process within the next few days (Stage 2). I acknowledged that it was possible a

participant may not return the next day for continued dialogue and observation as

refugees are transient and may receive notice to relocate at any time as asylum papers are

processed. However, in this study, all participants initially approached, and who agreed

to participate, were able to complete the interview process.

Stage 2: Formal Interviews Begin

I began conducting interviews to learn about the experiences of the individual

and/or family prior to arrival and during the stay in Chios, as well as hopes for the future.

Prior to the initial interview, I opened with a scripted template that stated: “I’m glad you

have agreed to talk to me about your experiences as a refugee living in this camp.

Remember that you do not have to answer any questions that you do not want to. Let’s

begin.” This script can be found in Appendix G.

The formal interview process began with adults on another day after the

introductory dialogue and consent process. Given the exploratory nature of this study,

the interview questions were guided to discover the unexpected and unpredicted nature of

the experience. A written version of the interview questions was available in Arabic

although the actual interview was conducted in English. Interview questions and follow-

up interview questions can be found in both English and Arabic in Appendix H.

However, some examples of the interview questions are “Tell me about your experience

in your country of origin when you needed to flee, or did you decide to leave for another

reason?” “Please describe a typical day as a refugee in Chios,” and “What do you hope to

see happen from here or after your current location?” The interview included myself as

the primary researcher and participants. As mentioned, each interview was audio

recorded using an electronic device (iPhone) and was later transcribed verbatim for

analysis.

Stage 3: Interviews Continue

I continued interviews with adults from where we left off during the initial formal

interview and also asked follow-up questions based upon observed data and dialogue

from previous conversations. An example of an interview question about the family as a

group, for instance, was “Describe how the relocation has or has not changed your role in

the family.” Again, the interviews were audio recorded.

The process began with children in this stage. The children who participated in

this study were given crayons and paper to draw their experience. Consent was also

given by a parent for the children to participate in the interview, and children gave assent

to participate. The children who were able to comprehend and understand directions as

indicated were asked to draw a picture of experiences such as leaving their country of

origin, a day in Chios, nighttime in Chios, and what makes them happy. The drawings of

the children were analyzed as archival data in the study. Since most individuals spoke

English in the camp, the comprehension or understanding was facilitated by family

members who helped direct the instruction of the drawings. However, I also presented

children’s interview questions, written in Arabic, to the family member to share with the

child. From the drawings by children, I was able to dialogue with the children asking

them follow-up questions based on the artwork. The formal interview process was

concluded in this stage, with audio recordings saved for all adult and child interviews.

Stage 4: Researcher Observations and Personal Reflections

Time was now spent within the site working with refugees and actively observing

participants as well as other refugees in the camp. I used journaling observations as a

tool to record my personal experiences and reflections. I also observed participants’ daily

routines, expressions of each participant, and body language of each participant to be

included among the written observations noted to assist in writing the descriptions of

each of the seven families. In this stage, I also documented conversations with the

participants during informal interactions. Data were recorded with pen and paper or an

audio recorder. The expressions of my personal experiences and reflections are noted in

the descriptions of each of the seven families in the following chapter.

Step 3: Data Organization

In the third step of phenomenological research described by Moustakas (1994),

data are analyzed for explication and interpretation. Once collected, data are read and

scrutinized so as to reveal the structure, meaning configuration, coherence, and the

circumstances of their occurrence and clustering. The structure is the observance or the

study of what governs the instances or particular manifestation of the experience. The

meaning configuration involves both the structure and how it is created. In other words,

the emphasis of the study is of rich life-text that guides the reflection of experience. The

coherence is the quality of being a unified whole experience. The researcher advances a

series of questions about the person’s experience of the phenomenon that are varied,

altered, or not used at all when the co-researcher shares the full and embodied story of his

or her experience of the enclosed question (Moustakas, 1994) revealing the circumstances

of occurrence.

In phenomenology, this step in organizing data includes horizontalizing the data

and regarding every statement, or horizon, as relevant to the topic and every question as

having equal value. To do this, I first read and re-read the transcribed interviews and

studied the material. To demonstrate the process, an excerpt from an interview with a

refugee who was asked to describe the reasons for leaving your home country and hopes

for the future follows:

We moved from our country because they [government] tell us we

have no rights. They call us “Bidoons” which means we do not belong

and we never have a passport. We are farmers and we are born in our

home, no birth certificate. We raise sheep and things. It is a very bad word

[referring to Bidoon and not to be confused with Bedouin]. This is what my

father say and my father has the same answer as me why we leave our country.

They take my father to the prison and they take him to jail. They told him that he

has no rights. So, they take him always and they hits him for him he was working

for someone who was killing the animals. We have like sheep like cows and we

give them food and we clean them. And this is what we always do is our job. And

for me I didn’t go to the school. I always learned English from the television. I

watch movies to learn English – like The Lord of the Rings, cartoon movies,

Disney movies, and other movies. I learn English from them. I came here to

study. For me, I see my future to study. Is this something too big to ask? I don’t

think this is too huge! I just want to have a book and I want to go like any other

student! Yes, it is hard for us!

From the horizontalized statements, the meaning units are listed and then

clustered into similar themes. Moustakas (1994) recommends the researcher ask the

following two questions: 1) Does the statement contain a moment of the experience that

is a necessary and sufficient constituent for understanding it? 2) Is it possible to abstract

and label it? (p. 121). The horizons meeting these requirements become known as the

invariant constituents of the experience for each participant. Thus, the meaning units are

common individual thoughts that are part of something larger with a similar thought in

common. As an example, the above excerpt was broken down into three meaning units:

1) We moved from our country because they [government] tell us we have no rights. They call us “Bidoons” which means we do not belong

and we never have a passport. We are farmers and we are born in our

home -- no birth certificate. It is a very bad word [referring to Bidoon and not to

be confused with Bedouin]. This is what my father say and my father has the

same answer as me why we leave our country. They take my father to the prison

and they take him to jail. They told him that he has no rights. So they take him

always and they hits him for him he was working for someone who was killing

the animals. We have like sheep like cows and we give them food and we clean

them. And this is what we always do is our job.

2) And for me I didn’t go to the school. I always learned English from the television. I watch movies to learn English – like The Lord of the Rings, cartoon

movies, Disney movies, and other movies. I learn English from them.

3) I came here to study. For me, I see my future to study. Is this something too big to ask? I don’t think this is too huge. I just want to have a book and I

want to go like any other student. Yes, it is hard for us.

In the next step of the reduction process, the invariant horizons or constituents for

each participant are gathered together to form core themes or common categories for each

of the participants and overlapping and repetitive statements are removed (Moustakas,

1994). The clustered themes and meanings are then used to develop the textural

descriptions of the experience. The three meaning units presented above were clustered

into common categories in the following ways:

1) Experiences Pre-Flight: R’s experienced trauma in his country prior to leaving. R’s father experienced physical abuse as he is told he has no rights in

his country.

2) Education: R was able to learn through the internet, but was not allowed to go to school in his country.

3) Future: R feels his future is about pursuing an education. He wants to have this right.

These clustered themes are used to develop textural descriptions of the experience

(Moustakas, 1994). The textural description gives the “what” of the experience. Then,

composite textural descriptions are formulated. Moustakas (1994) explains that in

forming composite textural descriptions, the invariant meanings and themes of every co-

researcher (i.e., participant) are studied in depicting the group as a whole (Moustakas,

1994). The composite textural descriptions enable each individual description by each

participant to be represented as a whole. Thus, the composite textural description enables

the researcher to formulate a good understanding of the lived experience of each

participant. Moustakas (1994) recommends that the participants’ own words be included

in displaying their unique perception of the phenomenon investigated.

Structural descriptions are developed next from multiple descriptions and/or

comprehensive descriptions and include the essence of all of the participants’ experiences

(Moustakas, 1994). In this study, it includes variety, depending on the family situation,

ages of children meeting the criteria for the interview, family size, and the age of parent

participants. As the nature of refugee camps in Greece and elsewhere can be

unpredictable and often transient, I was unsure prior to beginning the research how the

structural descriptions would be formulated based on wholeness of the experience or

multiple descriptions of the experience based upon the conditions. The study’s results

presented in Chapter 4 represent textural and structural descriptions.

Finally, the composite textural and structural descriptions are integrated to

formulate a composite description that represents the life experience of all participants

involved in the study (Moustakas, 1994). This represents the essence of the phenomenon

researched. Chapter 5, Discussion, illustrates this integration. After reading the

composite description, the reader should have a better understanding of the experience of

refugees and their families.

Quality Standards

Quality standards are practical applications of standards that could help judge the

quality of conclusions. In this study, I adopted the following views of a qualitative study:

1) it takes place in a real social world and can have real consequences in people’s lives,

2) there is a reasonable view of what has happened in any particular situation, and 3)

those who render accounts of it can do it well or poorly (Miles, Huberman, & Saldana,

2014). In other words, shared standards are worth striving for, and the work

accomplished in this research is not beyond judgment. Quality standards utilized in this

research were confirmability, credibility, dependability, and transferability.

Confirmability

Confirmability is, in short, that conclusions depend on the subject and conditions

of the experience rather than on the researcher (Miles et al., 2014). This is typically

called external reliability in quantitative research. I relied on the participants and

conditions of the refugee camp. Three procedures contributed to confirmability. First, as

a lifelong educator and guidance counselor for children ages 5-18 for the past 27 years

and as a parent of three adult children, biases for just treatment and promotion of the

well-being of youth should be noted. Second, the Arabic document translator is

originally from Lebanon and is 62 years of age. He has transcribed for the United States

Department of Defense in an official capacity and speaks several dialects of Arabic,

classical and other. He also speaks French. The Arabic document translations were

made with as much consistency and linguistic accuracy as possible. Third, the

researcher’s observations are included as applicable to fill in some of the potential gaps

for a rich expression of context in the study.

Credibility

Distinctions among the types of understanding that may emerge from a qualitative

study such as what happens in the specific situations, what it means to the people

involved, concepts and their relationships used to explain actions and meanings, and

judgments of the worth or value of actions and meanings are anticipated as natural

validity (Miles & Huberman, 1994). I volunteered time working in the refugee camp,

thus being a natural participant who was able to blend into the environment. In addition,

triangulation of data was incorporated into the analysis to include the interview and

follow-up interview, daily observations and reflections, and archival data, which include

pictures of the children’s artwork. Triangulation allows a thick narrative description of

the collected data in analysis.

Dependability

Dependability is equivalent to reliability in quantitative research and refers to

whether the process of the study is consistent reasonably stable over time and across

researchers and method (Miles & Huberman, 1994). In other words, the procedures were

laid out with intentionality and care. I had written interview questions and audio

recorded or written responses to the interview questions. A follow-up interview took

place with each adult participant, along with daily journal observations of the participant

and the interaction in the environment. I participated in the camp as a registered

volunteer for A Drop in the Ocean and met the training and background qualifications to

be a registered volunteer worker. It is also important to note that I have worked for the

past 6 years in Cambodia with human trafficking and sex trafficking victims and their

families; thus, much of the experiential effects of difficult humanitarian conditions were

not experienced for the first time by the primary researcher in this study. Triangulation

of data also contributed to dependability.

Transferability

Transferability means the conclusions of the study have a larger importance or fit

a bigger picture – the ideas and conclusions are transferable to other contexts (Miles &

Huberman, 1994). This is called generalizability in quantitative research. Providing

thick description of the processes followed in the study is a key method to establish

transferability (Guba & Lincoln, 1985). Ultimately, it is up to the reader to determine the

extent of transferability of this study. Therefore, for this study, data collection

procedures followed each of the steps previously described. Thus, a detailed description

of the data collection process from the interview with each participant and group of

participants along with my personal observations allows for replication of the study in

another refugee camp that could provide the same opportunity to explore the effect

statelessness has on the families. Given the same scenario of the ability to obtain a

translator, unless the researcher is able to speak the language of each participant, the

ability to conduct the same study, even with a different population group is possible.

This thick description will allow the reader to determine transferability or applicability

beyond this study. The findings from this research provide rich data from refugee camps

in Chios, Greece, linking various descriptions of displacement of individuals and families

and their perceptions of the future.

Personal Biases

I mentioned certain biases such as being a mother to three grown children and

work in education as a classroom teacher and guidance counselor, as well as in family

ministry for the past 27 years. In addition to my work in education and family ministry,

over the past 6 years, I have led humanitarian efforts overseas in Thailand, Indonesia, and

Cambodia. Cambodia has been a consistent focus over the past 6 years as I have led

teams from Mississippi to invest in the efforts of The Hard Places Community, a non-

profit organization located in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

The Hard Places Community is a preventative and restorative day-center for boys

and girls who are sold for sex. In 2013, Hard Places Community extended work along

the Mekong River in Cambodia. The Mekong River extends through China, Laos,

Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia and borders Myanmar (formerly known as Burma).

The Mekong River flows through Phnom Penh and is housing for many “boat people”

who have fled their home country in search of a better life, according to the nationals of

Cambodia working in The Hard Places Community. However, whether by choice or the

inability to present appropriate documents, the “boat people” were unable to land in

Phnom Penh and seemed to exist as forever refugees living and surviving with food from

the river, selling fish or crafts possibly from the shore, and landing only when it was

necessary. The children are unclothed, appeared very thin, and have likely never seen a

doctor or dentist since they departed from their home country. What was their experience

as a family? How were the children educated? What opportunities were presented to the

children?

The context of this experience grabbed me with the birth of a passion to

investigate and potentially contribute to efforts that would aid families and children

refugees, in particular those who were forced to migrate because of injustices, war, or

turmoil in their home country. The enthusiasm to help people, which threaded through

my work and life thus far, combined with an additional passion and interest in the refugee

population to formulate the beginning of this adventure. This experience was the

beginning of my interest in the life of the refugee, which directed me to Mississippi State

University to begin work on a degree in human development and family studies.

CHAPTER IV

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter describes the phenomenon of statelessness through displaced individuals and

families harboring in asylum and fleeing chaotic situations within their country of origin.

The chapter is organized in the following way. Detailed descriptions of the families in

the study at the time of interviews are presented first. The detailed descriptions are

presented as a result of the daily journaling and observations I noted of the participants.

Then each research question is addressed individually to present the lived experiences of

the refugees in this study in terms of three phases of changing ecologies: pre-migration,

trans-migration, and post-migration. From this perspective, the impetus for refugee

individuals and their families to manage transitions and form adaptive ecosystems is

examined. Additionally, within the discussion of each research question, the perspectives

of individuals and families are presented. A summary section is also included at the end

of each research question to tie together the lived experiences of these families.

Descriptions of Participating Families

The Haddad Family

The Haddad family was from Kuwait; they were sheep farmers in Kuwait, caring

for sheep and the land while living in a modest home. The Haddad family lived in a very

small village in Kuwait, a country known for its wealth. Officials of their country exiled

them from Kuwait as the family members had no birth certificates. The Haddad family

were Bedouin or descendants of the Bedouin tribe. Bedouin are being exiled from

Kuwait and labeled “biddon,” which means “without” in Arabic. The Haddad family

members were without birth certificates or passports and legal documentation of any

formal kind.

The Haddad family included six members. Rehan was 17 years old, and his

father, Saad, was 62 at the time I met them in Souda Refugee Camp. Saad was married

to Aadi, and they had several children in addition to Rehan. The other younger children,

Bora and Ara, traveled with their mom, Aadi, to Germany so she could receive treatment

for lung cancer. Rehan said they have one older brother but currently do not know his

whereabouts. Saad, Rehan’s father, had salt-and-pepper hair and skin that had seen many

sunny days on the family farm. Rehan had the same eyes as his father. Rehan had a

smile that extended for days and exuded warmth and genuine interest in people. From

Saad Haddad’s family, two members were interviewed, Rehan and Saad.

One cousin from the extended Haddad family was also interviewed, Adian.

Adian Haddad was a cousin of Rehan’s from the same village. Rehan’s father, Saad, and

Adian’s father were brothers. Adian was 8 years old at the time of the interview. She

had deep, beautiful brown eyes that sparkled with curiosity. She spoke a little bit of

English. She was very gentle in nature and often had her younger brother in tow.

Adian’s mom, Akeelah, was nearby and allowed her daughter to participate in the

interview with her extended family. However, Adian’s mom did not want to participate

in the interview because her husband was not with her and she did not speak English at

all.

Rehan was able to translate for Saad, his father, who did not speak English, and

for Adian, his cousin, when she needed help. Rehan spoke very clear English. I met

Rehan on the first day we arrived in the camp. He was helping the volunteers with the

children’s activity. Adian was with him. Both were engaged in the activities for children

when I was introduced. I was especially impressed with Rehan’s clarity in the English

language. One minute, he was giving directions in Arabic to the children; the next

minute, he was talking with impressive clarity in English.

The Halabi Family

Mahmoud Halabi is from Damascus, Syria. Mahmoud had been separated from

his family during the relocation. Mahmoud was 22 years old at the time of the interview.

He was the same age as my son, who also volunteered in Souda Camp during this study.

As many refugees experience during the flight from their home country, particularly as

the country was experiencing war and turmoil, Mahmoud was placed into prison and

separated from the rest of his family during his attempt to relocate the “illegal” way

through smugglers transporting people from their country of origin. Most of his family at

the time of the interview were located in Jordan. He may have had some family in

Germany, but he was unsure.

Mahmoud and Samuel, my son, become fast friends. Mahmoud was fascinated

with technology. He was very bright and eager to exercise his mind. He was fluent in

English but studied during the day to learn more. He wanted to understand how to write

and enunciate the language better. Mahmoud had a very large family with many brothers

and sisters and nieces and nephews. Mahmoud did not talk very much about his father,

and he did not talk about him being with the rest of his family. He talked about his mom

being with most of his family in Jordan. He talked about not trusting many people. He

had one person that he called “family” in the camp because they protected and supported

each other. Mahmoud was very engaging with the volunteer staff from all organizations,

helping to provide translation assistance for organizations and assisting with paperwork

and necessary tasks. He had been in Souda Camp for at least four months and in other

refugee camps for more than a year.

The Shadid Family

The Shadid family was from Aleppo, Syria. Adai Shadid was days shy of being

18 years old when I met him. As an 18-year-old, he was no longer legally considered an

unaccompanied minor. Adai’s dad, Nadar, was in his 40s. Nadar was a famous pianist in

Syria and taught music at a local university. Adai’s mom, Esma, was a homemaker, also

in her 40s. Adai’s brothers were Habib and Nasrin. Adai and his family were from

Aleppo, Syria. Adai and his family were able to live in Turkey for a length of time after

fleeing from Syria. When it was time for the rest of the family to leave Turkey, Adai

stayed in Turkey to continue working in a factory earning money and sending financial

support to the rest of the family as they continued their journey, seeking a safe country to

begin a new life. The original intent for this separation in Turkey was to allow Adai to

make his journey to Germany once the family had safely arrived. However, policy

changes took place in March 2016 with the European Union and Turkey Deal that made

it much more difficult for Adai to reunite with his family in Germany.

Adai was a gregarious young man, full of hope and promise. He was filled with

dreams and a vision for a bright tomorrow. Adai’s English was so easy for me to

understand, I often forgot it was not his native language. Adai had an eager spirit to help

others and was constantly looking for ways to assist me and other volunteers. I was able

to meet Adai’s family through FaceTime. Adai insisted that I speak with his mom as he

was concerned that she was always sad and worried about her son. I met his two brothers

and his father also through FaceTime. Adai loved to talk about family and enjoyed

hearing about volunteers and their families. Adai adored his mother and was very close

to her. Adai was able to share many stories of his family life in Syria before the war. He

was very proud of his father and was passionate about his country. He was saddened by

its destruction.

The Toma Family

Armani Toma, married to Samir, was the mother of seven children. The Toma

family was from Afganistan. The children were Moshtaba (male - 12), Afsar (female -

11), Nashtanna (male - 10), Nadavra (male - 6), Asha (female - 3), Sabra (female - 2),

and little Tabar, who was a female less than one year old. The Toma family were farmers

in their homeland. They grew plants and harvested land, especially mulberry trees.

Afsar, who was 11 years old at the time of the interview, was the translator for the family.

Afsar’s mom and dad did not read or write. Afsar had been translating documents for

status processes for the family. She was incredibly bright and responsible and handled

multiple tasks with a calmness that surpassed her age. Afsar understood English and was

also fluent in Farsi. She had been allowed to go to school on the island in the beginning;

however, at the time of the interview, she was not allowed to attend.

The children were attentive to each other. Armani, the mother, was a beautiful

36-year-old dressed in coverings of delicate flowery patterns. She had a genuinely

engaging smile and beautiful brown eyes. I met the family in the food line for meal

distribution. Armani’s smile was captivating, and I was deeply moved by her beautiful

smile amidst the chaos of food distribution. After the interview sessions, Armani would

locate me at times during food distribution and hand the baby to me as she and the older

children gathered the food from Souda Camp for the family. The family’s

accommodations were in Vial Camp, another refugee camp on Chios Island; however, the

family stayed at Souda Camp (approximately 10 miles away) for the entire day to have

enough food to feed the large family. After the night meal distribution, the family

boarded the city bus to transport back to Vial Camp for the evening. The family has been

on Chios Island for 4 months and in other refugee camps prior to Vial Camp. Ekram,

Armani’s husband and father of the children, had been hospitalized because of an injury

sustained possibly during relocation. Over the course of the interview period, Ekram was

released from the hospital but was unable to travel with the family from Vial to Souda

Camp each day. Armani made the journey each day alone with the children.

The Nazari Family

The Nazari family was from Bagdad, Iraq. Nassar Nazari was 22 years old at the

time of the interview. His younger brother, Sabir, was 20. Nassar’s father worked for the

American Army as an officer in cooperation with U.S. troops during the Iraq War, and

Sabir suffered injury after being kidnapped from the streets of Baghdad. His kidnappers

held him captive and removed his kidney before leaving him in the streets. Their father

was killed in Iraq. Their mom, Armani, was still in Iraq, hoping to reunite with her boys

if the travel becomes less complicated. Nassar was worried she would not adequately

adjust to the accommodations of seeking asylum in Europe just yet.

Nassar was his brother’s keeper in Souda Camp. He was constantly taking care of

his brother, making sure he understood daily tasks as his violent injury left him slightly

impaired. Nassar was able to speak and translate for his brother, Sabir. Sabir was

reserved and not the dominant personality of the brother dyad. However, Sabir was very

expressive with his facial features as was Nassar. Nassar was continuously smiling and

greeting people and enjoyed jovial folly. He and his brother especially enjoyed teasing

people and playing good-humored tricks. The boys were rarely seen apart from each

other.

The Hamdani Family

The Hamdani Family was from near Mosul, Iraq. Aban was 29 years old at the

time and was married and had 4-year old son, Nazira. Aban’s wife, Adara, and Nazira

are still in Iraq. Aban had to escape as he feared for his life and the lives of his family if

he remained in Iraq. Aban had been attempting to create a new life since late 2016 as he

sought asylum in a safe country and could then encourage his family to join him. He

knew the trip would be very difficult, especially with the March 2016 European Union

and Turkey Deal that deports one refugee for each one refugee who is granted asylum in

Europe. Safety for a woman and a 4-year-old child, he felt, would be uncertain. At the

time, his family was safe with extended family members in Iraq. Aban worked in

psychology at the university as did his wife. He was able to FaceTime with his family as

often as possible. Aban talked about his son and his wife with somber expressions, as he

missed daily physical connection with his family. Distance was difficult, but at this time,

he says it was the only option. Aban’s wife made a request for divorce after his flight

from Iraq. He spoke of her fondly, but he felt he would never be able to return to his

country. Aban said she wanted to stay with her family as that was an option apparently

available to her. At this time, Aban’s wife had chosen to stay in Iraq instead of leave the

country as Aban felt he needed to do for survival. Aban’s injuries received in Iraq from

hostile situations left him with a head injury that required additional surgery a few weeks

after our interview. Aban’s surgical procedures twice before failed to repair damage

from the beatings he experienced in Iraq. The latest surgery appeared to be successful.

The Amari Family

The Amari family was a nuclear family of five. The Amaris were from Aleppo,

Syria. Hamid was 42 at the time of the interview. He and his wife, Amal, had four

children: Nabila (8), Rada (10), Ebdo (15), and Bahram (16). Nabila, Rada, and their

mom, Amal, fled Aleppo over a year ago. Hamid, Bahram, and Ebdo remained in

Aleppo longer, working to salvage the family screen printing and logo business. Hamid

and his sons finally fled the increasingly dangerous situation in the spring of 2017.

Hamid and his sons had been on the island of Chios for approximately 4 months. Hamid

owned a successful design company in Aleppo and proudly displayed shirts with his logo

design, and on most days, carried a cloth briefcase with one of his logo designs.

Hamid was eager to talk about the business as he was training his sons in the trade

before dangerous circumstances in Aleppo necessitated flight from their country of origin

for Hamid, Ebdo, and Bahram. Nabila, Rada, and Amal were able to navigate the

journey to Germany. Hamid, Ebdo, and Bahram anticipated the same experience;

however, the perilous journey gained additional challenges with policy changes

throughout Europe and with the world climate. Hamid, Ebdo, and Bahram were awaiting

legal processes for family reunification in Germany. Amal, Nabila, and Rada had

successfully relocated to Germany through legal documentation and procedures. The

family communicated through FaceTime and WhatsApp. Bahram and Ebdo displayed a

respect for their father and the business he established in Aleppo. Bahram and Ebdo had

a brotherly connection that displayed a deep sense of affection by their constant joking

with each other and constant companionship. Only on rare occasion did I see the two

brothers separated from each other. Bahram and Ebdo enjoyed learning, and along with a

friend attended English classes. Hamid, Bahram, and Ebdo were able to speak and

comprehend English.

Research Question 1:

What is the experience of leaving one’s home country for

individuals and families?

Three areas are addressed to characterize the experience of leaving one’s home

country for individuals and families. First, what was the transition experienced from the

country of origin? Second, what are the reason for leaving the country of origin? Third,

what are the experiences upon initial arrival in a transitional country?

Transition from Country of Origin

All nine refugee adults, including Rehan, who would be turning 18 in a few

months at the time of the interview, indicated they experienced difficult and dangerous

circumstances in fleeing their home country. Two of the three children interviewed

talked about and drew pictures of their boat trip to Chios Island, which was the last

transition each family had experienced to this point. All of the refugees migrated to

Turkey before embarking to the island. Chios Island is roughly 3 miles from the Turkish

coastline. Various refugee camps line the Turkish coast. Six of the adults indicated they

experienced extremely difficult situations in transition. For example, Mahmoud’s first

attempt to be transported by the human smugglers to Chios Island resulted in nine deaths

just off of the coastline in Turkey:

I like [previous camp] but you live like animal there and I began

to lose – no hope. The boats went boom. I do not know how to swim

and boats started to sink. The people started to say, “Help I am sinking.”

This is the first time I try to leave Turkey and they just pick us up from the

sand. Nine people die. They take us to jail because we go with the smuggler.

The next time on the boat, we have a whale [life vest], and we arrive, and no one

dies.

Documentation is vital in the transition from one country to another. Legal

paperwork such as passports and birth certificates are necessary proofs of identity,

nationality, and citizenship that must be presented to agencies such as the UNHCR

(United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) to begin the processes of seeking

asylum and legal transportation to a safe country. Proof of citizenship is important in the

granting of political asylum. Certain nations are proclaimed as war-torn nations, and

often asylum status is granted or processed according to the nation of origin. Some of the

refugees described challenges with document transportation and recovery. Nassar, from

Baghdad, Iraq, who was the 20-year-old caretaker for his younger brother, Sabir, who

was injured in Iraq said:

I lost my passport. I’m not sure what happened to it. It disappeared and I

had to go to Turkey the illegal way. I used a smuggler. I got from Iraq to

Kurdistan and then stay on border between Iraq and Turkey and then Istanbul.

Then I call Sabir [brother]. We go to island, but his health was not good.

One father, Hamid Armari, describing transition with his teenage sons, said:

We leave with smuggler from Syria. We walk. We hide. We get to island by

the boat. We did not have problem in our boat but very crowded. We have been

in this camp for 4 month.

Experiences recalled by two children related to the actual transportation across the

ocean to the current refugee camp. Human smugglers transport refugees demanding a

high price. The transportation to Chios is in a very small dingy, across the Aegean Sea.

The lifejackets given to the refugees by smugglers are often found to be unreliable,

according to volunteer coordinators from the aid organizations in Souda Camp. Because

the smugglers do not want to be caught by the Coast Guard, the smugglers may pop a

hole in the rubber boat before it reaches shore, leaving those aboard to swim to the shore

or be picked up by the Coast Guard and rescue teams.

Adian Haddad, who was 8 years old, used crayons and paper during the interview

and provided the following description, along with a visual representation of her

experience on the boat to the island. She said, “Leaving my home was cold and windy in

the boat. This thing happened to my boat. My boat filled with water and it went flat [her

boat sunk or was likely popped]. Then a big boat got me.” Adian provided a visual

picture of a small boat that was lying flat in the water with fish swimming nearby (see

Appendix I). She also drew a massive boat in comparison to the first boat in the water

beside the sunken boat that she pointed to as she described the big boat. She drew many

blue ripples in the ocean as she described the wind, and the waves, and the cold.

Another child, Nashtanna Toma, a 10-year-old boy from Afghanistan, traveled to

the island via boat as well with his family of nine. He explained as he orchestrated a

colored pencil drawing (see Appendix J) with meticulous energy:

This is like the boat and here is my family [he draws each member]. It was a

big boat with this big wheel [as he draws what is sure to be a rudder]. See my

mom? She hold the baby and we go through the sea. See? This is my dad. And

see my brothers and sisters? [He points out each member of his family on the boat

and draws no one else on the boat as he explains the story]. The ocean is very big

and the water is this color [as he draws deep blue scribbles to share his description

of the sea].

Reasons for Leaving

Two of seven families were forced to leave their country of origin because they

had no paperwork to provide to the authorities as their legal claim to citizenship in their

country of origin. The Toma family lived in a rural area of Afghanistan as mulberry tree

farmers. Armani Toma, a mother of seven children, explained:

We had a problem in Afghanistan. We had a war. My father is here too. He

is very sick. He has been in the hospital here [on the island]. He is very bad

from the war, in our country. We live in a tent. We were farmer for trees.

We have a special tree to grow. We have no papers and they tell us to

leave. We cannot stay on our land.

The Haddad family lived in Kuwait. The Haddad family are of the Bedouin people

group. The exile of Bedouin began post-Gulf War. Most Bedouin were animal herders

who migrated to deserts during various seasons, living in very rural areas, often in tents.

The Haddad family was exiled from their country because they reportedly were members

of an unwanted ethnic group. Rehan was the oldest son in the Haddad family. He

traveled with his father to Chios Island. Rehan explained reasons for leaving as follows:

We moved from our country because they [government] tell us we have no rights.

They call us “Bidoons” which means we do not belong. We never have a

passport. We are farmers and we are born in our home, no birth certificate. It is a

very bad word [referring to Bidoon and not to be confused with Bedouin]. In my

country, he, my father, he has no rights. They take my father to prison and they

take him to jail. They take him always from our farm. They hits him in the jail.

When I was there I feel so bad. I remember one time my mom in Kuwait. As I

feel so bad there is nothing to do when my dad is in the jail because of no passport

or legal papers in our farmland. There is nothing I can do. In Kuwait my dad

was always afraid the police would take me in Kuwait. In Kuwait, I do not go

out, I did not leave our home, because he, my father, says us afraid. They would

say yes you are doing some problem in the government. My father was in a very

dark place for us in Kuwait.

Other families shared a variety of reasons for leaving including danger for family

members and themselves. For example, Nassar Nazarri of Iraq explained:

We need to leave. They kidnap my brother, because some people they take

his [my brother, Sabir] kidney. Yes, my brother only has one kidney. They

[ISIS] take him from the street one night as he comes home from school. And

after one day...we didn’t find him and after 3 days they did call us, my mother and

tell her, my brother, if you want to see him again, you would have to pay

a lot of money and maybe $500,000 – I don’t know. If they say you cannot pay

the money, we will give him to you in 15 days. They let him out from the street

The hospital calls us and say to my mother, “Your son is in the hospital so come

visit him and see him.” After we go we ask the staff in the hospital what

happened. And they say, “He was in the street and then some people find him and

bring him to the hospital.” The doctor tells us that somebody take one kidney

from him to sell because they want the money from us because that is DAESH

[transliteration of Arabic acronym Islamic State in Iraq and Syria].

Adai Shadid shared the impact of leaving his beloved country. He provided an

explanation for his sadness in leaving his country of origin:

Syria is the most beautiful place in the world before the war. But they make

something, you know, with the war. I’m from Aleppo. They destroy

everything. We destroy all of our people. We destroy Syria. We left Syria

because staying through the army tell me and my dad they, they would cut his

fingers. And we didn’t have any job there. My dad is a musician. He’s famous

in Syria. He plays in the keyboard, and if you want, I have tapes and pictures of

him. Now it is not safe. I swear I walk in the street as a 7-year-old and

nobody would harm me. And I don’t know, it is hard to say about the army and

all want to take Syria. And I don’t know what is best. We see bombs. All of this

since I was 11 or 12. One day, I was coming from school. I was walking and

somebody shoot at me from a building like a sniper, but I ducked down and I

think he shot me. And I like, “Oh wait, I’m but a child. Why would he be

shooting me?” I run back home and my face is yellow and I see my mom. She

sees my face and she hug me. And one day I will tell you a big story.

Hamid Amari shared a love for his country. He is from Syria. As a father, the

decision to leave his country of origin was described:

My sons were endangered to fight. We left because of ISIS. I keep telling

them [government and opposition forces] that they are not old enough to

fight in the army for Syria. I get new papers made, and buy the younger

papers. My wife and other children have already gone to Germany to be safe, but

we are men. I try to keep the business going but the government, they no longer

think my boys are younger and they want them to fight for the armies. I do not

want them to fight. They do not want to fight.

Arrival in the Transition Country

Separation of family members was a common experience. All but one of the

seven families had experienced separation of immediate family members. They

described missing their other family members. Adai stayed in his first transition country

to work in the factory to send money to his family who continued to Germany prior to the

European Union and Turkey Deal in March 2016. Adai spoke English and was able to

make connections in Turkey and earn money. He explained:

I miss them, my parents. They live in Germany and I didn’t see them. I didn’t

see my parents for 2 years now. I tried to go illegally from here but I cannot

because it is a problem for me. But I hope to go see them very soon. We left

Syria together and we leave Turkey at different times. In Syria, we went to

school but not in a long time because of war. In Turkey, we work, and in Turkey,

I would work in the clothes and do the same thing over and over again. And then

I pretend I am the boss and work all over again.

Living in a transition country has impact on both the family members who remained

in the country of origin and those who were in transition. Aban left his country of origin,

Iraq, because he did not want to fight and had sustained neurological trauma from torture.

Aban explained:

Before in my country, every day since after war, I am in danger and was making

my family in danger. I am told to fight with ISIS, but I will not. If I am

not to fight, they tell me no work and torture for me and my family. I am not able

to provide for my family. And I cannot see my child, for not with me gone

my family is not a target. My wife, she wants a divorce. I tell her, “No, wait,

wait, please.” I want to see my son. I can see him on my phone and I miss them,

my wife does not want to leave Iraq - she is with her family.

Belonging is a fundamental human need. Transitioning to another country can

disrupt a sense of belonging for refugees. For example, Rehan expressed his feelings

about how he was perceived by others after he arrived in the transition country and was

traversing through the city:

They see us, they go the other way, like we are not humans. I feel very bad

and I don’t understand. I mean, come on, look at the tents, is that for

human being? I say, “Why, why, why would they not see us as human,

as people? We all have the same nose, we have the same eyes, same mouth,

same arms, same everything.” People look at us like we’re terrorist. You say

I, I do like to go out of camp, but it seems all the same – that every place we go,

we feel like we do not belong, even in our own country.

The Toma family was the only family able to remain together during the

transition process. The Toma family is a family of nine, and it was clear that arriving in a

transition country with the nuclear family together contributed to a sense of happiness,

even when considering the conditions in a refugee camp. Armani explained her family’s

experience arriving in a transition country with the entire nuclear family:

In our country, we live in a tent. Whole family is all together and we are glad.

We are waiting for the bus to go back to see our father. It makes us happy that we

are all together. We do not know what will happen, where to go, but to be

together in a safe place.

Summary

As the first component in understanding the phenomenon of living as a refugee in

the exploration of displaced people in refugee camps, who are often in a condition of

statelessness, refugees were asked to describe the experiences in leaving one’s home

country or country of origin. All nine of the refugee adults indicated some type of danger

or unrest in transitioning to the refugee camp in Chios. Two of the children, through their

artwork and dialogue, described the experience of transportation across the sea and the

trauma of experiencing their boat sinking and being rescued by a bigger boat.

Additionally, six of the seven families indicated being separated during relocation

from immediate family members. All six of the families indicated they were still in

contact with their family members and had hopes of family reunification. Two young

men had been completely separated from other family members during transition

situations. One indicated he was staying in the first transition country to provide funds

for his family while they continued the asylum process and relocation to a third country

for safety. Another indicated separation from his family as other members of his family

experienced language barriers and health conditions that detained the rest of his family

from continuing in the journey to a third country.

Two of the seven families indicated they were forced to leave their country by the

authorities of the country. The five other families indicated dangerous situations for them

or for family members in their country of origin as the reasons for leaving. Although

many individuals reported difficult and dangerous situations in their country of origin

causing them to leave, several individuals indicated a deep devotion to their country with

great sadness over the destruction coupled with nostalgic memories of pre-war

experiences in their home cities.

Two of the refuges indicated fear and frustration in association with the initial

arrival in the camp. One family indicated they lived in a tent in their home country and

so tent living in the refugee camp environment was somewhat normal. That family also

expressed their potentially negative experience upon arrival was eased by the recognition

that the family was able to stay together.

Research Question 2:

What is the experience of living in a refugee camp for

individuals and families?

Three areas are addressed to describe the experience of functioning in a refugee

camp for individuals and families. First, what does life in a temporary place, such as a

refugee camp, look like, including family togetherness, family separation, and changes in

family life? Second, what are the negative feelings and attributes involving life in camp?

Third, what are the experiences of daily life, including typical day scenarios?

Life in the Refugee Camp

Souda Refugee Camp is located in the center of Chios Town on the Chios Island.

Souda Refugee Camp is an open camp, meaning refugees have the ability to come and go

throughout the camp and the city. Chios Town is complete with shops, grocery stores,

gas stations, coffee shops, and all of the amenities of a small local town. Refugees in

Souda Camp live in tent dwellings; some have electrical outlets available. Running

water, including showers, are available in one central tent for all refugees. There is one

area for serving meals and food distribution. This same tent is used for adult and children

activities and stations for processing paperwork. Souda Camp is designed to house

approximately 700-800 people. During the present study, the capacity of Souda Camp

was roughly 400 people over capacity. The official dwellings of Souda Camp are in the

moat of a Medieval castle constructed during the Byzantine period at the end of the 10th

century.

The overflow of Souda Camp spills onto the beach pebbles just a step or two from

the sea. Many families coexist in one tent. Conditions in the overflow area are

challenging as described one adult and one child. Rehan and Saad lived on the sea shore,

and as Rehan explained:

My father [who is 62] – I try to get him to go out of the tent. He does not

want to go. He just likes to just sit and stare. He does not like to get out. It is

too hard, when I see people in camp bored. I try to study, to learn. It

makes me angry.

Rehan’s young cousin, Adian, lives nearby in the overflow section of the camp. Her

family lives very close to the seashore with young children. Adian provided this

description:

I get scared then with the water swishing. Most of the time I am happy and I

love when I get to color with these [Adian pointed to the crayons and continued to

color, completely engaged in the research activity].

While having all members of a nuclear family together is positive, the impact of living in

small dwellings with an entire family is a challenge for logistics and space. For example,

the Toma family experiences life together in the refugee camp in two different dwellings.

The Toma family spends the night in Vial Refugee Camp and chooses to ride the bus to

Souda Camp to spend the day so the children can run and play during the day. Vial

Camp, where they must spend the night as that is where they are officially assigned, is

crowded with limited outdoor space for children to play. Armani explained:

We have a very small place. We have our beds and in one room, in a very

small room. The boys sleep on the floor. Afsar sleeps near me, so she can help.

But we are in the same room, in a very small room with two beds on the floor

like a little, um, a little cot. Ekran [husband/father] is still war problem

since the war and it’s very hard for him to sleep at night. But it’s a very bad

back problem, whole family is all together, and we are glad.

Three of the six family members in the Amari family lived in Souda Camp

together. While Hamid described negative experiences in camp, he noted that at least

they were still alive. He explained life in camp as a family experiencing togetherness in

transition as well as separateness from other family members:

In our day, I talk to my wife, my girls. I talk with the boys and I do during the

day something after night meal. I usually talk to friends if there’s paperwork we

need to do. I make sure that we are getting things together that we need to do for

paperwork, things we need for process. I am still their dad [the teen boys] here

and with my family in Germany. I am more protective way since before Syria

was in war. I am different now – always on guard for boys since war. Before

war, it was just normal family. I’m normal with my wife, my boys, my girls,

having life in a beautiful country. After war in Syria, so dangerous. Now I don’t

feel ability to be responsible. We are always waiting for next papers and next

process. I think about new things for new t-shirt, new logo, new internet idea. I

miss the normal life before war. Here, the food is not good, but that is okay. The

living is not good here, but we are alive. It is very different when my family cook

and we eat our own food, in camp. The water is very beautiful, and the boys love

to swim. There are no bombs, but there are fights and people who make trouble.

So, I work hard to stay away not cause trouble.

Some of the refugees came to camp separated from most of their family and on

the run after losing family members from the violence in their country of origin. Nassar

was with his younger brother but had experienced great loss as a family. He explained:

We are not together as a family. We have a good family all always together. I

live with my mom and I live with my older brother and I live with my

grandmother and we have a good life before. But not now so much because I will

call my mother and she always crying. And we are not all together and my father

is gone. It is hard being separate from my family. It is hard being separate from

my country. The daily tasks are hard. Just the normal things. My father was so

important to us. He was a two-star leader for American Army. He would help the

army. He was not like a spy but like go on mission to catch terrorist in Baghdad

just in fact. The job make a problem for all the family and my brother. See, my

other cousin was a terrorist. And my mother had two cousins and one died in the

same place. My father work with the Americans. When they [cousins] die, all the

family say that my father that killed them because of the army. And this thing

make a big problem with my family and big trouble with the other part of my

family.

One refugee who had been separated from the rest of his family felt a strong bond with

those who were allowed to volunteer in the camp which helped create a sense of

belonging for him. Adai explained:

My family is all the volunteers right now. I am afraid to sleep because I am

afraid they [municipality] will come get me in the night [Adai is registered as an

unaccompanied minor – however he has turned 18 in the past few days]. But in

the day, I am very happy when volunteers are here. Of course, I will not find

anyone like my family ever. I cannot find anyone like my mom’s heart. My

mom’s heart is beautiful and my brother and my dad. I will surely miss them

forever and I will miss them until I get to them. All of the volunteers [he names

volunteers he is close to] – they are one family for me now. My family all my life

because they take me from the sad life and they like me. I will not ever forget

them.

In addition to being separated from family, living as a refugee and cohabitating

with a variety of people groups from various nations has negative ramifications,

particularly under challenging living circumstances. For example, Nassar explained his

experience:

I don’t talk to Arabic people too much because I don’t like when they

fight and argue and always talking about the war always talking about the bad

things and negative about my dreams and tell me ‘no way’ they give me no

encouragement and just tell me bad things. I want to be positive.

Negative Camp Life Experiences

All nine refugee adults expressed negative experiences in the transitional living

condition. However, most negative expressions were mild as the conditions in their

countries of origin were extremely difficult prior to flight. Mahmoud explained: “I don’t

like to stay in the camp. I don’t like to stay with all the people, just the same thing every

day. It leaves me no hope.” Many different nationalities are represented in Souda

Refugee Camp. It is estimated roughly 62% are from Syria, others are from Iraq, Kuwait,

Afghanistan, and a few are from Nigeria. Many different nationalities, different

religions, and cultural expressions living under one common experience in tight

proximity with minimal amenities naturally presented potential challenges. The stress of

daily accommodations and the uncertainty of navigating legal processes that change

regularly was expressed. For example, Aban indicated:

It is so dangerous in the camp. People steal things. People take battery out of

phone or steal many things. So, I wait to sleep in the morning. I walk around

the city until very early in the morning. I help here, but I have no one to talk

to. Camp is no good. People fight to take things. They chose me for things.

There are criminals, some. It is very crowded. We all want to be somewhere, but

we are in process. In another place, we could be free and from danger, where we

could sleep at night.

Rehan explained his experience of the continuation of what seemed to be a

holding tank for the refugee population as regulations and policies have shifted since

2016 and little is known of the future. Rehan, as he approached young adulthood,

expressed his feelings of frustration:

When I see other people in camp bored. It makes me angry. And I see nothing

change. Not only for me but I see nothing change. I see people from one

year - it’s like hell, nothing changed. I just want to have a book and I want

to go like any other student.

Completing daily chores and tasks in the refugee camp was challenging. Nassar

explained his experience of accomplishing daily chores in the refugee camp and what

made him sad in a typical day in Souda Refugee Camp. For example, Nassar explained:

What makes me feel sad in camp. So many things – when I go to sleep some

always steal. When I go take a shower, I have to wait 2 hours or more to take

a shower. When I clean my clothes, it’s very hard to wash and dry. Someone

always steal my clothes and take my things. This is very hard.

Armani, a mom of seven children, explained how she was somewhat familiar with

tent living but also found daily tasks challenging. Armani explained:

In our country, we do live in a tent. But here we are very busy with our

family. We have milk, tea, feed the babies. We learn. We do our best. But it is

very hard.

A Typical Day

The impact of living in a refugee camp and family relationships were described as

negative, positive, and neutral. A common theme among refugees in Souda Camp was

the turmoil in the country of origin, as discovered by dialogue investigating the reason for

leaving the home country. Because of this, refugees expressed positive components of

camp. For example, one of the adults, Armani explained:

We are waiting for the bus to go back to see our father. It makes us happy that

we are all together. We do not know what will happen, where to go, but to

be together in a safe place. We don’t have something, to pack our things in when

we go to a new place. We will take a nap under the tree and wait for bag and for

bus back to our father.

Nassar shares how he remains positive in camp and stays connected with his

family as a function of his typical day. Nassar explains:

We have a good family, all always together. I live with my mom. I live with my

Older brother and my grandmother. We have a good life before, but now not so

Much because I’ll call my mother and she is always crying. We are not altogether

and my father is [Nassar did not finish this thought]. Yes she is always very sad.

My older brother is very sad because he is not with me and my brother [Sabir].

My mom, she is always crying. She is sad when I talk to her, that the brothers are

not together.

Mahmoud Halabi’s experience is somewhat different. Although one of his daily tasks is

communication with his family who was in another country during the time of this study,

he explained the challenge in daily attempts to remain connected: “I don’t get to talk to

them [mother and siblings] too much. You cannot find a SIM card [where his other

family members are currently located] like in Greece. It is not so easy, so I don’t talk to

them too much.”

Two of the children described a typical day filled with activity. For example,

Bahram and Ebdo explained:

We wake up. We can find our friends, maybe and learn English. Maybe

we learn other language. Maybe we work, exercise, or swim. But we go to

safe spaces around the castle only with friends, not alone, because by self, it is too

dangerous. Sometime we go out for pizza maybe. We go to billiards maybe

We can know friend. We can be together to talk, to swim, to think, tell stories,

tell joke, watch internet. We feel happy, then peaceful, like before war.

Rehan gives an account of his daily tasks as he cares for his father: “My father, I

try to get him to go out of the tent. He does not want to go. He like to just sit and stare.

He does not like to get out. It is too hard.” Rehan carefully watched over his father

making sure he had water and food. Rehan took care of the laundry for him and his

father. Typically, after Rehan stood in line for a couple of hours for the food and water,

he served his father the meal inside their tent home.

However, other refugees described the negativity expressed in daily life. For

example, Mahmoud said:

The day it is the same. I take my mobile, then go to the coffee center and I just

sit. Maybe learn Greek, and maybe work on mobile phone. And then I go to

lunch, then do the same thing – figure out what I can learn and then I get back and

do the same thing.

Aban describes the negativity of life in camp in his daily life experiences of

frustration, especially in separation from his family. Aban explains:

It is no good at times in camp. I have no one to take care of. I help but I have no

one to care for in Souda Camp. Is no good. People fight. People take my cell

phone and the content. They choke me to get my phone. They are criminals.

Some people do bad things. They do not treat each other well. It is very hot.

Some of the tents on the beach. It is very crowded. We all want to be somewhere

to be better. We were being processed in another place, where we could be free

and from danger of war. Here, we’re treated like criminals. We would like to be

where we could sleep at night. Like me, I could be with my family.

Grouping many different nationalities in a compact setting with a variety of

environment factors, including the heat of the summer during this time, negativity is

expressed in the logistics of the meal time. Mahmoud described the situation:

So many people need help for me. I have so much money. There are people

who do not for me. I do not keep up with too many people in camp because

we have too many different situations with lines and camp. I try not to get

involved.

During the night meal in particular, the Greek police greet the crowd of refugees

who have been lined up, some for hours waiting for the meal, dressed in complete riot

gear, in preparation for any disagreements that may occur between groups of people and

in particular nationalities, while waiting in line for food in the summer heat for a lengthy

period of time.

Summary

The second component in understanding the phenomenon of living as a displaced

person was an expression of the experience of living in a refugee camp for the individual

and the family. Six refugee families had been separated from immediate family members

during the process of leaving their country of origin. Eight refugee adults described

difficulty in living apart from immediate family members during the process. One family

expressed appreciation that they had been able to stay together during the process. All

nine adults expressed negative feelings of life during transition. However, most were

able to continue daily tasks and family continuity in care and maintenance of children and

each other, despite the frustrations of asylum proceedings and paperwork coupled with

the difficult living arrangements.

Overall, refugees demonstrated resilience and adaptation in the substandard

conditions of living in a refugee camp. In addition, filling out paperwork and necessary

interviews for asylum status procedures were expressed as a daily function for several

refugees. Several individuals discussed the extreme turmoil and danger experienced prior

to the flight from their country of origin as a possible justification for fear and distrust of

others in camp, especially in conjunction with difficulty sleeping and simple chores such

as laundry and other tasks.

Several individuals discussed the chaos prior to flight in their country of origin as

reasons for family separation. A few discussed the loss of family members in their

country of origin. Daily tasks included communications with family members who

stayed behind or were separated during the relocation process. Two individuals

described the physical afflictions encountered in their country of origin just prior to

flight. In one family, the injuries sustained by the father prior to leaving their country of

origin left him unable to travel with the family for daily tasks such as the completion of

status claims for the family members. Another refugee who received a traumatic wound

to the head in his country of origin reported difficulty with day-to-day tasks due to the

injury and medications that affected his sleep patterns.

Although refugees came from a wide range of locations and all had varied

experiences of war, persecution, and flight, a number of experiences were common,

including the absence of voluntariness in migration. Many refugees had experienced the

death of family members amid the turmoil in their country. Despite the danger

experienced by refugees in their country, most refugees described their fondness and

loyalty for their country. Refugees discussed the trauma of leaving their country of

origin and the unsettling feeling of separation from family members. Most of the

refugees discussed incorporating communication with their family members in the typical

daily tasks. Children were asked how a typical day is spent in the refugee camp, and

common tasks included time with friends and play.

One refugee child did express fear in living conditions, especially at night.

Several of the adults also expressed fears in the living conditions in camp as items were

often stolen. Two refugee individuals, who were also separated from other nuclear

family members during transition, expressed difficulty sleeping at night for fear of items

indispensable to survival, such as cell phones, money, or identification papers, being

stolen or misplaced. All families agreed that the most important components for survival

during the transition phase were physical safety and family reunification with immediate

members of their family.

The initial interest of the research study involved an investigation of family roles

and structural changes within the family unit prior to flight from the country of origin and

transition to a host country. It is important to note, that analysis in this study

demonstrated the adaptation and survival mode of the family during the various stages of

refugee life. Although, a few family roles changes of youth, such as assisting an older

father and interpreting English for the family during claims procedures, for example,

were necessary for completion of tasks necessary for survival, most parents were

intentional to maintain as much “normalcy” as possibly during the phases of transition.

Survival and adaptation were key components of findings in the experience of living in a

refugee camp for individuals and families in this study.

Research Question 3:

How do refugees perceive the future for themselves

and their families?

Three areas are addressed to describe the experience of refugees concerning the

future. First, what concerns are associated with future plans for individuals and their

families? Second, what are the hopes and positive reflections for a better future? Third,

what are the dreams and goals of refugees as they leave the refugee camp?

Concerns for the Future

Two refugees indicated concern for the future, in particular, the conditions in their

country of origin and the realization that they may never return to their beloved

homeland. For example, Adai explained:

I wish the war was end. I would make my dream come true because I want to be

a famous futball player. And if I want to make this, I will be the person who

plays futbol in the league. I will put Syria name to be a good name. I love

Syria so much. But if I were there, I would go to the army to Assad’s army.

I must say goodbye to my country to live and have life again.

Adai understood why his family chose to leave Aleppo; however, he was quite

frank about his concerns for the country in the future. He talked openly about the days as

an elementary school child who was able to run freely in his city without the worry of

endangerment. Adai reported complete destruction in some parts of his city as he has

known friends who have lost family members and homes. He expressed deep concern for

the future survival and existence of his city as he recalled in the days of his youth.

Claiming political asylum and relocating to a host country reportedly increased

the possibility that change had permanence, although this possibility varied from country

to country depending on the status received. Aban explained:

I feel that if I receive political asylum and would be able to locate to

another safe country, that I would not be able to go back to Iraq and

that I would not be able to see in person my family again. I fear they

would not come – they would stay safe with other family as they are not

in danger. I had to leave, or fight with ISIS, or die. I do not believe

in this cause for DAESH [Islamic State regime in Iraq]. I had to make this very

hard decision. It was very hard to leave him [his son].

Because Aban felt he was forced to make the decision to leave his country of

origin without his family, the realization that the family will experience changes in the

future was a concern for him. His decision to leave the country came with a great cost.

Aban’s decision to select flight rather than choosing to fight or align with ISIS likely

brought him great loss as he explained:

My wife still in Iraq, my son still in Iraq. She does want to divorce [and

move on with life]. I miss them. She keeps wanting divorce. She knows I will

not be able to return [This is difficult for Aban to say – he wants to be hopeful but

reality knows it is likely that she will not join him in a host country].

On the other hand, Hamid felt he was losing his country but gaining safety for his

family. He described, with much emotion, the realization that granted political asylum

and reunification with his family members in Germany would relinquish the rights to

return to the country of origin that he remembered fondly. Hamid explained:

All the time I can say the boys [teenage sons] are not fighting in the army [since

we left Syria] or with other [ISIS or DAESH]. We are people. We have hoped

for better [for Syria]. We have hoped for better, for education for the boys. They

have been out of school since before leaving. We could not go back to Syria, is

that we get the asylum. We would not be able to return but that people we know

would be in danger, with us in danger.

Hamid described the loss in Aleppo and the destruction of the city and the original

business he launched in the city. He acknowledged his gratitude for the ability to leave

the city with his teenage sons after his wife and daughters but expressed great sadness in

the recognition that although he had hoped peace and restoration would come to his city,

too much fighting and destruction had shattered this hope. Hamid knows if he had

stayed, the armies would soon have taken his boys to fight.

Additionally, lifelessness and lack of purpose were also concerns for the refugees.

Rehan recognized the concern in lacking purpose and hope for life during this transition

time. He explained:

And the waiting in line [for food] – this is how you have to get your food. And

yes, sometimes, it feels like a prison though, when you wait in line for a long time

to get your food, you know. It just like a prison when you have to wait for the

food. They say, “Go. Okay you’re finished. Go away – eat.” You know? We

don’t have too many choices. We feel hopeless.

Mahmoud kept himself occupied during the day as he also recognized the concern

associated with a loss of purpose. Mahmoud explained: “I don’t like to stay in the camp.

I don’t like to stay with all the people. Just the same thing every day. It leaves me no

hope.”

Positive Aspirations for the Future

Several refugees described positive aspirations for the future. Mahmoud felt

optimistic for the future. He was working to enhance his language skills on his own

during the daytime to be prepared for his future. As a bonus, Mahmoud said, the time

spent developing his language and technological skills filled hours in the day with

purpose. He described his hopes for the future:

I don’t want to be famous, haha, but like a job to be able to supply for

myself and my family. I would like to work as a programmer in Google and

just to be honest. That is what I have learned. I don’t have too much education

and I don’t have too much knowledge, but I would like to be able to work.

I was a student in Syria. I still like the 9th class. I chose programmer for the

computer. I want to be a legal programmer.

A common positive reflection for the future was the desire to continue education.

Rehan described an anticipation for family reunification and the continuation of his

education. Rehan indicated lacking educational opportunity for several years in his

country of origin. He explained:

One good thing for the future – I think it will take me to my mom. It makes

me feel more dark and more dark every day because the day gives you black

feelings. But, you know, I think of my mom and I think of to see her it – it’s been

4 years. So, the future I see getting to my mom and that makes me happy. I see

my education. I can, can learn and be in school again.

Classes are offered during the week for refugees to work on language and

technological skills in preparation for the future. However, at this time, Rehan preferred

to stay with his father rather than attend any language or technology classes. Rehan felt

his primary task was to care for his father because he was aging and had persistent

physical pain and physical debilitation from beatings and imprisonment prior to flight

from their country of origin. Rehan’s father, Saad, was reserved in his hopes for the

future. He repeated the same phrase: “Just able to work and see our family together

again, just able to work and see our family again.”

Additionally, two other refugees described opportunities and visions for the future

that related to having a job and working. Nassar described dreams that are a continuation

of his father’s loyalty to American people in his country of origin. Nassar explained,

“My dream? I just want to work. My dream for me and my brother that we go to

America.” Aban also described his hopes and dreams to find purpose and earn a living in

conjunction with family reunification. Aban explained:

I do not know what I will do. If I can relocate somewhere nice, maybe they

[my family] will come. To meet people, to talk with people will make me

happy. People who want to know me and where I am from and want to

know about my family. I want to have a job. I want to live life and help

others. I am not certain where I will go. It isn’t that important.

Education for children in the future was a common dream. Hamid felt optimistic

that he and his family, upon reunification, can continue life with some similarities

experienced in their country of origin. He was eager to see his family move from this

phase of uncertainty to a continuation of life and healthy progression for his family.

Hamid hoped, “That my children to go to school, and of course, my wife would not be

sad.” Additionally, Armani expressed anticipation for her daughter, Asfar, to be able to

attend school again. Armani explained:

She [Asfar] learns English at the school here. For a few month, she is able to

attend and then no more [Asfar is currently translating for her mom for this

present study]. Asfar, she really liked school. She had homework and then she

go and then help put all the children to bed. Asfar added, “My father and mother

do not know how to write. We speak Farsi. But I learn English to help.”

The children also demonstrated a desire to learn. Asfar enjoyed school and the

activities of the classroom. She explained, “I want to go back to school. I want to learn.”

Nashtanna, Asfar’s brother who was drawing with colored pencils for the interview,

added: “Will you bring colors back tomorrow [he asks me]? Will you teach me how to

write English like Asfar does?” The younger children in the Toma family, who were not

interviewed, shouted: “Teacher, Teacher,” [the volunteers known for working with the

children were called “teacher”] can we come back and do more activities tomorrow?”

Dreams and Goals Upon Departure

A common expression from refugees was the desire to continue with life. The

refugees in this research study were cautious in sharing their innermost dreams and goals.

Their goals were for day-to-day survival for their family and their children. Their dreams

were kept to themselves in order to complete the daily tasks of survival. For example,

Nassar expressed his hesitation to share goals and dreams for the future:

I don’t like to talk to the Arabic people here too much because I don’t

like when they fight and argue. And always telling me about the war. Always

talking about the bad things and negative about my dreams and tell me, “No

way.” They give me no encouragement and just tell me bad things. I want to stay

positive.

A few refugees did share their dreams and goals beyond the day-to-day tasks of

survival that have been previously described. They have goals related to family

reunification, working, and having a safe and good home. For example, Hamid

explained:

We have hope to be together. We have hope to reunite, maybe in a

country that the boys are find purpose – be able to play soccer. That I have many

ideas from business, that we would build again. We could not go back to

Syria, is that we get the asylum. We would not be able to return. But that people

we know would not be in danger and we would build a new life again.

Nassar and Sabir both agreed on a common dream and goal as they contemplated

departure from camp. Nassar explained:

I am happy, you know, when I talk with you and other volunteers and I get

to talk to people. Our dream [Nassar and Sabir] – we just want to work,

the dream for me and my brother that we go to America. That would be my

dream for my family. Our dream is to have a good home. And we would just like

to work. I just want to be a good human.

Mahmoud spent time in local coffee shops during the daytime, filling his day with

a sense of purpose as he also planned for the future. He was actively planning for his

future and keeping his dream of one day working for Google or another similar

organization an active goal. Mahmoud explained:

I don’t know all although the right English. I learn a lot of languages just

just like listening and I know four languages. I know Romanian, Greek, Belgian

and Arabic, of course, and I know. I know a bit of the other languages, but I

don’t know how to say the very best in the other languages. I will learn.

Armani had a simple dream and goal for her family. She explained: “It makes us happy

that we are all together. We do not know what will happen, where to go, but [we want] to

be together in a safe place.”

Summary

Overall, refugees expressed optimism for the future. However, several refugees

from Syria and one refugee from Iraq specifically reported sadness in the condition of

their homeland and in the need to abandon their homeland for survival. One of the three

that expressed specific concern over the welfare of their homeland expressed dual

sadness in the destruction in his homeland and the recognition that choosing to leave his

homeland would also mean his family would not join him.

Of the five children under the age of 18, none of the children had been able to

attend formal education currently. Only one of the five children under 18 had been in

formal education since leaving the home country, but this formal education experience

reportedly lasted for just a short time. A few refugees over the age of 18 were able to

attend English and technology classes a few hours during the week at a non-profit

organization in town. Activities for the younger children were often coordinated by

volunteer groups; however, no formal education was currently available for refugee

children in the host country.

For refugee children, a regular school day can bring structure which can help to

generate a sense of normalcy often absent following a dangerous journey to an unfamiliar

country. Understandably, the three elementary school children were eager to know when

the next children’s activity for the day with volunteers would occur. As the younger

children expressed eagerness for “school” type activities, the parents of the children also

expressed anticipation of the future education for their children. Parents expressed hope

for the future through anticipation of relocation and status processes that would allow

their children to continue their education.

In addition to the hopes of continued education, refugees expressed an

understandable desire for employment. All of the adult refugees expressed a desire to

return to employment to have the ability to provide for their family. Several refugees

spent time during the day improving their language and technology skills. Time spent

improving these skills was also reported to combat the concern expressed in a lack of

purpose that reportedly can lead to a lack of hope for someone in the transition phase.

One refugee reported a desire to open a new business similar to the one he had created in

his country of origin. He often utilized daytime hours to maintain the business operations

and creations. Dreams and goals were shared sparingly with noticeable reserve.

CHAPTER V

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

A phenomenological approach was taken in this study to explore life with people

in the condition of statelessness in refugee camps in Greece. This chapter begins with an

overview of the study and what was learned. Then the limitations of the study are

discussed. Finally, directions for future research are suggested.

Overview

A key characteristic of phenomenological research is its rich detailed descriptions

of the phenomenon being investigated. This description should present how the

participants experienced the investigated phenomenon, rather than any preconceived

notions the researcher may have of the phenomenon. The phenomenological reduction

process guides the researcher, allowing the researcher to keep an open mind, to listen in a

receptive manner to the participants’ description of the studied phenomenon process

(Moustakas, 1994). In the present study, because individuals may view the same

situation in different ways, multiple families and individuals were interviewed, allowing

for multiple informants contributing to a more complete understanding of the

phenomenon. The inclusion of multiple informants helps in establishing the

dependability of the data.

Chapter four presented a detailed description of the phenomenon through the lens

of the individual refugee and his or her family. In other words, the refugee experience

was described by the individual within the context of its effect upon the individual and

family. Clusters and then themes emerged from the data as the same questions were

asked to each participant revealing commonalities in thematic structure. Although

commonalities emerged, the experiences were uniquely voiced in expressions of the

refugees’ interpretation, background, and individual characteristics. In this section,

however, earlier discussions of research questions addressing flight from country of

origin, transition to the refugee camp and living experiences, and perceptions of the

future are woven together to present an overall description of the phenomenon of living

as a displaced person, without statehood, in a refugee camp in Greece.

Commonalities Experienced in Statelessness

Three overall commonalities have been learned from this study. First, general

characterizations can be made to describe each displaced individual and family prior to

flight, including the experiences during transition to the current location. Second, while

the environments change, the basic tasks and functions of the family necessary for

survival and basic maintenance are continued in the process of displacement. Third,

while family separation was a commonality, the nuclear family that was separated

continued to adapt to change as a family, and hope for a better future emerged.

The seven families in this study all experienced turmoil in their country of origin,

which necessitated their flight from the country. The families can be grouped according

to forced exile from their country of origin and individual choice to leave their country of

origin. It is commonly accepted that refugees who have experienced forced migration

have distinct experiences (Castles, 2003; Stein, 1981).

Characterizations of Flight from Country of Origin (Forced Exile)

Two families (the Haddad family and the Toma family), both farming families

living in the rural sections of their country, were told to leave because of their ethnicity as

Kurdish people and thus experienced forced exile or migration. Both families were told

they did not have the appropriate documentation and did not belong to the country. Both

patriarchs of the family (Saad Haddad and Samir Toma) were reportedly beaten on

multiple occasions and imprisoned prior to their final withdrawal from their homestead.

Rehan Haddad and Armani Toma both described a love for the land in their country;

however, after periods of time of physical punishment and imprisonment, they felt that

giving up the land and the homestead they had created was the only way for the family to

survive.

Although both families expressed an appreciation for their former homeland, for

survival and improvement in the quality of life, a journey into the unknown was far better

than the options presented in their country of origin. Both families reported experiences

of uncertainty and danger through displacement. For example, Rehan Haddad described

how his family began their relocation process in a very hard way and were required, as

many families, to pay for people to transport them across oceans and borders. In

addition, children were greatly moved by the actual experiences of displacement, in

particular the journey across the sea. An essential understanding in the process of illegal

and legal migration facilitators is the degree of risk associated with particular modes of

transportation (Jandl, 2007). In other words, understanding the flight from the country of

origin includes the experiences of crossing borders and bodies of water.

Nashtanna Toma wanted to recount his vivid memory of transportation across the

ocean as he described the deep waters and the little boat that was in the water, then later

the big boat that picked up his family and many other people. Nashtanna’s small boat in

his picture did not sink. However, Adian Haddad drew a picture of her small boat

sinking and another big boat that picked them up from the water, expressing the turmoil

in flight from the country of origin as a refugee, from a child’s perspective.

Characterizations of Flight from Country of Origin (Not Forced Exile)

Five families chose to flee their country of origin as a result of fear of torture,

imprisonment, death, or unwanted military demands upon themselves or family members.

Hamid Amari had to leave as he was too old to serve in the army in Syria but his two

teenage sons were of the age where the army wanted them to fight. Hamid reported that

although their ages had been altered on official documents, their physical growth had left

them no option but to leave the country if they wished to survive. Hamid expressed deep

affection for his sons and acknowledged that, if they stayed in the country, the boys

would experience extreme torture and most likely death. Three of the families, including

the Amari family, were extremely loyal to their country and expressed great sadness in

leaving their country of origin. All three families are from Syria and were saddened that

their cities had been destroyed, recognizing that the turmoil began with the people of

their own country.

In addition, two of the five families from Iraq who chose to leave their country of

origin detailed experiences of physical harm when approached to join the movement

ISIS. For example, Sabir Nazari was kidnapped for an extended period of time,

experienced the brutal removal of an organ, and was left in the streets. Likewise, Aban

Sarraf reported experiencing severe head trauma requiring multiple surgeries.

Understanding the conditions that generate a life-changing transition is a key

understanding of the phenomenon studied. The yearning for survival and a better life is

characteristic of the seven displaced families, and this yearning for survival significantly

countered the unknown and intrepid journey that was detailed in this study, along with

the substandard living arrangements in a refugee camp.

It is also important to note that a common characteristic of all of the refugees is

the persistent task of status procedures and paperwork. This is understandable as asylum

claims are crucial. In addition, within the refugee and asylum claims, categories of

economic claim and political claim are differentiated. Claims are processed by the

receiving country (Schuster, 2003). Between interpretations of the law and variances in

receiving entities, as well as to controversy in defining basic human rights and the

interpretations of the 1951 Refugee Convention, it is understandable that much confusion

and tension can be expressed in the important claims to asylum and the category given.

Currently, knowledge among refugees in camp equated political asylum with hopefulness

for a better future and economic asylum with likely deportation. While the claim policies

and procedures have variance between countries, it is commonly recognized among

refugees that a claim of political asylum is desired. Receiving a claim of economic

asylum would potentially open the possibility of deportation back to the country of origin

or an unsafe country. In Souda Camp, information on refugee claim processes were

posted on a board each day. Each individual needed to check the board each day to see if

progress had been made on his or her claim.

Quality of life of humans, including the refugees who were the focus of this study,

is defined in terms of the extent to which basic needs are met and values are recognized.

It is synonymous with well-being in both the objective and subjective standpoint, with

assessment on the individual, family, and societal levels (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009).

Feelings of happiness, misery, peace of mind, anxiety, and satisfaction or dissatisfaction

are subjective indicators of quality of life for the individual. At the family level, an

example of an objective indicator would be an assessment of housing adequacy with

respect to a standard, such as the presence or absence of plumbing facilities. On the other

hand, a family measure of satisfaction with housing would be a subjective indicator. At

the societal level, an example of objective indicators would include, for example,

unemployment and the extent of homelessness. Objective conditions extend to the well-

being for the individual and the family to the degree in which they provide positive and

satisfying experiences and thus contribute to people’s subjective evaluations of their lives

(Bubolz & Sontag, 2009).

As a basic premise of the human ecology theory, the quality of life of humans and

the quality of the environment are interdependent on each other. For example, the well-

being of the individuals and families cannot be considered apart from the well-being of

the whole ecosystem. The underlying moral value structure of human ecology is

grounded in a balance between demands of the ecosystem for cooperation and integration

and demands of the individual for autonomy and freedom (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009).

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Environment Changes and Family Life and Function during Displacement

Although all family systems are dynamic and complex, one that requires special

attention is the refugee family system. The experiences of refugee families are complex

and incorporate not only the traditional demands of a family system but also the added

burden of many critical changes that come from exposure to trauma, loss, and extreme

adversity (Pejic, Hess, Miller, & Wille, 2016). Environment consists of the totality of

physical, biological, social, economic, political, aesthetic, and structural surroundings for

the human being and is the context for their behavior and development (Bubolz &

Sontag, 2009).

Adaptation to transitional environments is a function of the life of the displaced

family. Adaptation is considered a behavior of living systems in that a family may

change the state or structure of the family system, the environment, or perhaps both;

humans do not simply adapt to the environment but also modify the environment to

achieve desired outcomes (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009). As discussed, refugee families are

fleeing increasingly dangerous environments as they ultimately decide to or are forced to

leave their country of origin. The flight from the country of origin is saturated with

unknowns and potential dangers for family members. The transition to a refugee camp,

such as Souda Camp in this research study, is a temporary site to await the outcome of

official claims and processes. The arriving refugee hopes to transition to a host country

to begin a new life in just a few months, at the most, upon arrival to this refugee camp.

In reality, all members of the seven families in this study had been in a refugee camp for

at least 6 months. All individuals in this study have been displaced on Chios Island

refugee camps for at least 3 months, with some being on Chios for more than a year.

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Despite the reality that the family most often remains in the refugee camp longer

than anticipated, basic functions of the family remained a priority to each family. The

first priority for each family was survival. In other words, certain tasks and functions

such as obtaining food, water, clothes, and shelter, and providing basic care for one

another still were demonstrated in the transitional stage. Three families (the Amari

family, the Haddad family, and the Toma family) lived in a one family unit dwelling or

tent. All three families expressed examples of adaptations to the conditions. For

example, Afsar, who is 11 is able to help her mom with translations for paperwork

processes and with the younger children. Afsar said, “We have a very small place. I

want to be with my mom, so I can help her. We are in a very small room.”

Culturally, reverence and servanthood, especially to your parents, is a common

practice among Middle Eastern people. Afsar Toma was no exception as she described

her desire to help her mom in translating the documents and meeting needs for the family

with great pride. Afsar graciously attended to her younger siblings as well. Two of the

families (the Toma family and the Haddad family) lived in a tent before being exiled

from their country. The Toma family and the Amari family seemed to be adapting to the

tent dwellings rather effectively. Both the Toma family and the Amari family lived

within the official boundaries of the refugee camp nearby the essentials of water and

plumbing facilities. On the other hand, the Haddad family lived on the rocky ocean

shore, outside of the official camp site. Rehan, with transparent emotion, expressed

challenges adapting to the living condition.

An assumption in the human ecology theory is that environments do not

determine human behavior, but rather pose limitations and constraints and possibilities

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and opportunities for families (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009). The environment can be

theoretically thought of in terms of proximity to the family physically, psychologically,

and socially. In human ecology theory, much of the focus on the near environment,

including housing, furnishing, and other material possessions, provides the immediate

physical context and primary base for personal and family activities (Bubolz & Sontag,

2009). In addition, people form emotional attachments to their environment. Adaptation

is a behavior of the family that changes the structure of the system, the environment, or

both. Humans do not simply adapt to the environment, but modify the environment.

Adaptation is a necessary process for the family. From the human ecology theoretical

perspective, for example, a response to developmental changes in family members or

external stressors (elements that do not promote well-being or protection of the

individual) may be that the family replaces one set of rules or policies with another or

changes the position or role of the family members (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009). In

addition, the family may alter the environment in which they function for the purpose of

adaptation. Adaptive behavior, from the human ecology theoretical perspective is

successful to the extent that it increases the likelihood of achieving system goals (Bubolz

& Sontag, 2009). The refugee families in this study described their experiences of

adapting to the environment.

In five families (the Nazari family, the Sarraf family, the Halabi family, the

Shadid family, and the Amari family), volunteer-directed learning opportunities for

children and adults were a part of daily tasks that reportedly fulfilled purpose and

maintained hopes for the future. There are numerous provisions in international law

aimed at protecting children’s right to education. Unfortunately, the flaws in these

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provisions are notable as political unrest may, at any time, deny an entire generation of

children an education. In March 2014, the number of Syrian child refugees was more

than 1.2 million (O’Rourke, 2015). Many of the children in the present study were not

only exposed to traumatic violence and family relocation, but they had also missed

upwards of 2 or more years of school during transition. Many were unable to reenroll in

their host country (O’Rourke, 2015). The positive reflections mentioned by refugee

participants pertained to the advancement of skills to provide support for their family

upon arrival in a host country. Another positive of education mentioned was the sense of

purpose it gives as refugees redirect from the mundane tasks of waiting in line for food,

waiting to wash clothes in the sink, and waiting to process claims for status.

Although the teenagers and young adults were able to attend the non-profit

educational organization for a few hours a week, in the seven families, there was tension

over the lack of formal educational opportunities for the young children, teens, and the

college-age student. In two families, opportunities to learn English or other skills were

not available for different reasons. In the Toma family, the children were elementary and

preschool ages. The only programs offered for this age group were organized by

volunteers supplying the camp children with physical games and art activities as allowed

by the municipality. Several refugees who were over 18 were learning new skills,

especially technological skills, during their time in camp as a described necessary means

to prepare for the future in anticipation of employment. The refugee experiences in this

study confirm findings regarding the lack of educational opportunity of refugees

experiencing prolonged civil conflict prior to flight and then while stranded in a refugee

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camp with limited mobility and resources (Peterson, 2010) and the challenging process of

educating refugee children (Isik-Ercan, 2012).

Five families (the Halabi family, the Shadid family, the Amari family, the Nazari

family, and the Sarraf family) lived in multiple family dwellings somewhat segregated by

male and female. In three of the families, there was tension over completing simple tasks

such as washing clothes or even rest at night because of the experiences of cell phone

batteries or items of clothing being stolen. Overall, most families expressed positive

reflections and hopes for a better future. As discussed, all of the families experienced

turmoil, and most experienced violence personally or to a member of the family prior to

flight. Even though the conditions are extreme and the legal processes are intense, the

refugees’ overall expressions were full of hope for a better life realizing that the life in

the refugee camp was missing many of the dangers of home. It is for this reason the

refugees willingly accepted the vulnerability that cascaded the unknown in the hope of a

new start in life.

Separation in the Family During Displacement

As previously discussed, the conditions prior to flight from the country of origin

included turbulent conditions. Research has indicated that the plight of the refugee is not

limited to the pre-flight phase but extends to their transitional phase as well as seeking

asylum in a new country (Silove, 2000). Separation of family members is the third key

finding. Alterations in family structure, cultural practices, beliefs, and gender roles, as

well as loss of parental agency begin during pre-migration (Williams, 2010).

During the turbulent conditions of pre-flight and the transitional phase, six of the seven

families in the study were separated from immediate and/or extended family members

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(the Amari family, the Shadid family, the Sarraf family, the Halabi family, the Haddad

family, and the Nazari family).

Three families (the Amari family, the Shadid family, and the Haddad family)

reported that some immediate family members were able to relocate in a host country.

All of the families were anticipating and planning for reunification. Of the three, one

(Adai Shadid) was separated from other members of his family and was navigating the

transitional stage as a sole member of the family. Overall, Adai was adapting sufficiently

as he expressed the love he has for volunteers whom he viewed as extensions of his

family in their absence. Adai maintained constant communication through a mobile

device with other family members, and his resilient personality empowered adaptation

processes even though there was great sadness in the 2-year separation from his mother,

father, and siblings.

One family of the three (the Haddad family) reported difficulty in the separation.

Factors that contributed to the difficulty may be the age of the father and the current

health condition of the mother as she was being treated for cancer in a host country over

the past two years since separation. When these factors combine with the general factors

of displacement, it is not surprising that the Haddad family indicated difficulty and a

strong desire to reunite with other immediate family members in Germany.

Three families (the Nazari family, the Sarraf family, and the Halabi family) had to

leave immediate family members behind in their country. Although all families

discussed the tension and danger prior to leaving family members, they were still able to

maintain some sort of contact with immediate family members during the transition.

Although FaceTime and mobile communications were reported, there seemed to be less

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frequency and availability of contact than in the previously mentioned group whose

family members had already located to a host country.

For all three families, the warranted flight from country of origin and immediate

family members was predominantly because of imminent danger or even death. With

this in mind, members of all three families in transition expressed concern over the

insidious environments surrounding other family members. All three families expressed

desire to complete relocation to a host country and then encourage other family members

to begin the relocation process in hopes of family reunification ultimately. The finding in

this research study confirms research according to Haile (2015) of refugees who often

arrive in another country without intact family units. Furthermore, children are often

forced to leave parents, and spouses have been forced to leave others family members

behind (Haile, 2015).

Perceptions of Hopefulness

Refugees described several positives that were associated with perceptions and

goals for the future. The most commonly mentioned was to transition to a safe place to

begin again. Families reported a desire to reunite with family members, especially those

in the nuclear family, when for various reasons, they were separated during transition.

Additional positives included a desire to continue school. Expressed longing for

meaningful employment was also commonly reported as all adult individuals prior to

flight from their country of origin were employed. Two of the individuals owned their

own business in their country, and two families were farmers. Although a desire was

frequently mentioned of returning to the country of origin under peaceful situations, there

was hesitation to discuss the possibility. Many knew that accepting political asylum in a

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country meant that the refugee surrendered the right to return to his or her country of

origin. Sadness was indicated in the discussion of political or destructive entities that

generated the flight of the refugee. Overall, the families remained hopeful, in part due to

the ability to move freely through the city. This freedom allowed them to obtain WiFi

capability that enabled the communication to continue with family members, even if the

frequency was less than desired. Findings in the present study confirm research that

belonging to a family, community, or other group contributes positively to overall health

and well-being (Allen & Bowles, 2012). Access to a few programs to improve language

skills in the city also contributed to hopefulness. These few activities and amenities

described a slice of normalcy and were reported as positive factors that facilitated the

motivation to navigate daily tasks and remain hopeful for the future.

Human ecology theory implies that in attempting to help families toward

improvement, it is important for the organizations who provide assistance to families, as

well as family members, to recognize the influences of processes, as well as family

attributes and activities, on the quality of life. The recognition of family processes,

family attributes, and activities is necessary for family betterment (Westney, 2009). The

findings of this research present evidence of decisions that are made in order for survival

and betterment for the individual and the family. The findings of this research also

provide examples of refugee families choosing acceptable alternatives as an adaptive

process for the betterment or survival of the individual and the family.

The findings in this research confirm that belongingness is a fundamental factor

of motivation that drives the human race to positive and enduring relationship and is

important for positive human development (Sentse et al., 2010). In addition, present

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research findings concur with De Haene et al. (2013) who discovered cohesion of the

family to be linked to the family’s connection and communication on stressors

encountered throughout the experience.

Limitations of the Study

The present study relied on interviews to understand the phenomenon of

statelessness and living as a refugee in a refugee camp. The use of interviews enables a

researcher to gather an expansive amount of rich, detailed information. However, this

component of qualitative research tends to limit sample size and transferability. In the

present study, only seven families were interviewed, nine adults and five children. While

several common patterns were found using this small group, it is possible that additional

insights and variety in patterns may have been obtained by interviewing more

individuals.

In addition, some characteristics of the families may have limited an

understanding of the phenomenon. Although all of the families interviewed were

originally from Middle Eastern countries, several countries with varied cultural

experiences were represented: three families are from Syria (two from Aleppo and one

family from Damascus), two family members are from Iraq (one from Baghdad and

another from Mosul), and two remaining families are from Kuwait and Afghanistan.

Additionally, three of the seven families interviewed were represented by one individual

in the family. In other words, three of the individuals were separated from other

members of their immediate family either from initial flight from their country of origin

or during the transition to the current refugee camp. Because of this separation, there was

not full family representation. Three of the other families who participated in the

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interviews had multiple members of their family as participants in the interview;

however, each of these three families had been separated from other members of their

immediate family in the transitional phases of the journey to Souda Refugee Camp where

this research was conducted. Only one family interviewed remained unseparated during

the phases of displacement. However, the father was currently under medical care for an

injury sustained in the pre-flight stage and was unable to be included in the interview

process.

Only one female adult was represented in the seven families. Of the children

participating in this research, two of the five were females. The lack of representation in

the study by females was a combination of two factors. First, most of the females in the

families interviewed had already relocated to a host country and were anticipating the

arrival of the remainder of the family as appropriate asylum processes were granted. In

one family, health concerns were the reason the mother and daughters traveled ahead of

the male members of the family. The second factor was linguistic. Most of the women

in Souda Camp who were present with their families were not able to comprehend

English well enough to participate in the research. A few of the women approached in

the beginning phases of recruitment did not want to participate without their husbands.

Of these, most of the husbands had been separated from their wives and children for

various reasons during the transitional phases. Upon arrival in Souda Camp, I discovered

that most of the male population in Souda Camp efficiently comprehended English.

However, the female population was much more difficult to communicate with due to the

language barrier, even though Souda Camp was officially an English-speaking camp. I

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must also acknowledge the cultural differences as a limitation in this study, along with

disclosure that I am not an expert in the expression of the Middle Eastern culture.

The capacity of Souda Camp was reported to be around 800 people. However,

during the time of this research study, approximately 1,500 people were housed at Souda

Camp. Logistical elements of camp such as feeding and housing the many people

assigned to Souda Camp were complicated. Thus, the logistics of locating and meeting

with a participant who had agreed to be involved in the study was often difficult. Many

interviews took place in chaotic situations with noise and activity. A few of the

interviews were completed in a relaxed atmosphere away from the bustle and constant

chaos of a refugee camp. Of the five children who were interviewed, three of them were

under 12 years of age, and their attention span was quite short, especially as they were

more interested in the colored pencils and paper involved in participating in the drawings

for the research study. As with children anywhere, the plan is always subject to

adaptations. Adaptations with children included allowing them to have a handful of

colored pencils and paper to take with them to their “home” to continue art projects.

Still, when interruptions and the loudness and chaos of the camp seemed to flood the

research interview environment, the children and the adults maintained their composure,

enabling the interview process to proceed so they could make sure their story was known.

As noted by Ryan, Kelly & Kelly (2009), the major threats to the validity of the findings

when doing research relates to the potential that asylum seekers may be motivated to

exaggerate their experiences to help their asylum claim.

In addition, human ecology theory has limitations to be addressed. First, there is

debate as to whether assumptions of human ecology are compatible with general systems

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theory or whether they are compatible with biological ecology (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009).

Second, human ecology theory encompasses a broad range of problems and family

environments, making the theory general in scope (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009). Third,

conceptualization and terminology are abstract, with many different terms used in human

ecology creating potential for confusion and redundancy (Bubolz & Sontag, 2009).

Although concepts in the theory are highly abstract and advantageous for deriving more

concrete concepts, the mentioned limitations of the theory are noted.

Directions for Future Research

Very little research has examined the effect of displacement among individuals

and families living in a refugee camp. Because the present study has only scratched the

surface of this phenomenon, several elements remain to be explored in future work.

First, this study only included refugees in primarily one refugee camp. It would be

interesting to see if there are differences in how families are affected in a variety of

refugee camps. Although one family was officially assigned to Vial Refugee Camp on

Chios Island, most of their daytime activities were located in Souda Camp where the

other research participants were housed. Conducting studies in a variety of refugee

camps would give a larger and richer perspective to the pre-flight, flight, and post-flight

experiences of the individual and the family.

Second, while the present study was conducted with an adult majority male

population due to the circumstances involved, wider representation from the female

population would provide a valuable and richer context to the phenomenon studied. The

perspective of the adult female refugee needs further consideration in represented in the

study, both were under the age of 12. Thus, the interview questions for these children

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were much less abstract than those for the adults. This somewhat limited the depth and

variety of information obtained from them. In addition, because of their young age, they

may not have had the cognitive capabilities to describe their experiences fully. Whereas

two teenage boys were represented in the present study, an addition of female teenagers

would give added dimension to the phenomenon.

Third, although the present study included follow-up interview sessions with each

adult participant, following the family members over a period of time would provide

more information about the family processes and how the phenomenon of being a refugee

affects the individual and family dynamics and characteristics over a longer period of

time. Fourth, although volunteering and building trust with refugees prior to the selection

process and interview stages was notably beneficial for the present research study,

possible future studies would benefit from additional time at the camps and a decrease in

volunteer duties. Fifth, multiple techniques to collect data (e.g., video, photography,

journaling, formal observation) could provide more information to shed light on the

phenomenon.

Sixth, although the camp in the present study represented the majority Middle

Eastern ethnicity, none of the participants in the present study were representative of the

small percentage of refugees in Souda Camp from African nations. According to the

UNHCR report, the majority of refugees in Greece are from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq

(UNHCR, 2017). Although the breakdown in this study is comparable to that of Greece’s

breakdown, a more diverse sample may lead to the description of more diverse

experiences to expand the understanding of family and individual processes.

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Finally, additional research would also benefit from the application of a

theoretical perspective in addition to the human ecology theory. For example, Urie

Bronfenbrenner has been a major influence in advocating ecological research in human

development; his work could inform future studies that focus more on an individual than

family experience.

Exploration into these issues would enhance the study of the phenomenon and

potentially give credibility to additional programming or possibly create more effective

programming for a better life for individuals and families in refugee camps and during

the transitional phasing and assimilation into host countries. A broader range of

experiences will lead to a more complete understanding of the phenomenon of

displacement and living as a refugee. Future studies expanding on the present study,

could lead to programmatic development, in particular the continued education of

children who are in limbo, often unable to continue their education, as in this study while

they are in a refugee camp. However, it will be important to rely on qualitative methods

to learn about the experiences in rich context and the various family and individual

processes of those experiencing statelessness including the phases of pre-flight, flight,

and post-flight.

Conclusions

The fourteen individuals, including four youth, from seven families interviewed in

this phenomenological study provided an understanding of the phenomenon of

statelessness through the displacement of people in refugee camps. While their stories of

the pre-, trans-, and post-flight experiences can be difficult to read, the hopes and dreams

they have for the future are encouraging. Their stories of making hard decisions for the

114

benefit of their individual and family survival and quality of life are characteristic of

assumptions and activities described in the human ecology theory. Providing programs

and services in refugee camps that can help these families, such as formal educational

opportunities for the children and youth, integration of skills for a successful launch into

the host country, and educational/skill-training opportunities for women and children, can

provide additional motivations for these families and ideally contribute to making their

dreams a reality.

While programs may not solve the global refugee crisis, the understanding gained

through this study of the phenomenon of statelessness has demonstrated a common goal

for the refugee to begin a better life. Although the circumstances in the country of origin

may not be solved, the betterment of men, women, and children fleeing dangerous

situations and risking life and limb to begin a better life deserved attention.

115

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APPENDIX A

ORGANIZATION OF RESEARCH

123

Purpose Research Question Adult Interview

Question(s)

PAST: Experience of

leaving one’s home

country

What is the experience of

leaving one’s home country

for individuals and families?

1-1. Tell me about your

background, your home

country, your age, your

family, etc. (various

demographic questions)

1-2. Tell me about your

experiences in your home

country that caused you to

leave.

-What were the

reasons for leaving

your home country?

PRESENT: Effect of

displacement process on

family structure

What is the

experience

of living in a

refugee

camp for

individuals

and

families?

How does

living in a

refugee camp

affect family

structure,

roles, and

relationships?

1-3. Describe a typical day

as a refugee in Chios.

-What do you do in

the morning after you

wake up?

-What do you do

during the day?

-What do you do in

the evening / at night?

1-4. How is family life

different in the refugee

camp from when you were

in your home country?

2-1. Describe how the

transitions from your home

country to the refugee

camp have changed your

family and you as an

individual.

-What is your family

structure here?

-How have your roles

changed? Who does

what in your family?

124

-How has your job or

responsibilities as a

parent changed?

-How have other

family members’ jobs

or responsibilities

changed?

PRESENT: Potential

benefits of the refugee

experience after turmoil

within the home country

What are

perceived

benefits of

being a

refugee after

leaving one’s

home

country?

2-2. Describe what makes

you feel sad about living in

the refugee camp. What

would make it better?

2-3. Describe what makes

you feel happy about living

in the refugee camp.

2-4. Are there any benefits

of being a refugee?

FUTURE: Perceptions of

the future

How do refugees perceive

the future for themselves and

their families?

2-5. What do you hope to

see happen in the future

after you leave the refugee

camp?

Purpose Research Question Child Interview

Question(s)

PAST: Experience of

leaving one’s home

country

What is the experience of

leaving one’s home country

for individuals and families?

1. Draw a picture about

leaving your home.

PRESENT: Effect of

displacement process on

family structure

What is the

experience

of living in a

refugee

camp for

individuals

and families?

How does

living in a

refugee camp

affect family

structure,

roles, and

relationships?

4. Draw a picture of what

you do during the day

here.

5. Draw a picture of what

you do at night here.

PRESENT: Potential

benefits of the refugee

experience after turmoil

within the home country

What are

perceived

benefits of

being a

refugee after

leaving one’s

home

country?

2. Draw a picture about

what makes you feel sad

about living here.

3. Draw a picture of

something that makes you

happy about living here.

125

FUTURE: Perceptions of

the future

How do refugees perceive

the future for themselves and

their families?

6. Draw a picture of what

you want to happen in the

future (when you leave

here).

126

APPENDIX B

PICTURES OF RESEARCH SITE (SOUDA CAMP)

127

128

129

130

131

APPENDIX C

INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD FORMS

132

6.13.2017

Recommendation from local institution on research project by Ms Kim Parrish

Protocol Title: Living as a refugee: An exploration with displaced people in refugee camps in Greece

Institution authoring the IRB APPROVAL: Mississippi State University

The IRB committee met on June 13th 2017 to offer extra, advisory recommendations concerning the project by Ms. Parrish entitled Living as a refugee: An exploration with displaced people in refugee camps in Greece.

The IRB committee recommended the following:

 Particular emphasis to be paid to pregnant women who should be excluded from the study.  

 Ethical considerations regarding the involvement of children should receive heighten attention.  

 The Principal Investigator (PI) should also liaise with the local (Chios) authorities informing them on the study. As in all islands that are receiving refugees from the Aegean Sea there are organized hotspots, we recommend that Ms. Parrish

approached the Chios hotspot and also informed local authorities on the project.  

 The PI could contact the UN Refugee Agency http://www.unhcr.org/ as more information on culturally-relevant  

Translator/interpreter commissioned for this particular project should sign a confidentiality agreement stating that she/he will not

disclose names and will also operate with the use of aliases.   This document provides only advisory recommendations on the

project. It does not constitute a formal IRB approval by Hellenic American University as this project was not a Hellenic

American University Project.  

We hope this is useful advice for the completion of the project.

Sincerely yours  

133

Themis Kaniklidou, Ph.D. IRB Committee Chair  

APPENDIX D

TRANSLATOR CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT

134

Confidentiality Agreement

I understand and agree that information disclosed orally or in written form or

discussed at the meeting may include confidential information that is proprietary to

agencies sponsoring the proposed research and/or involves the privacy rights of the

individuals.

I agree that I will not disclose or divulge in any manner any confidential or

private information revealed at the meeting in any form or manner to any third party for

any purpose whatsoever. “Confidential or Private Information” as used in this Agreement

shall not include:

 Information of knowledge in my possession prior to disclosure at the IRB

meeting;  

 Information generally available to the public or thereafter becomes generally

  available to the public through a source other than Mississippi State University;

 Information that was rightfully obtained by me from a third party, who is under

no   obligation of confidentiality to Mississippi State University with respect to

such   information.  

 Information or knowledge regarding unethical or illegal activities that come to

light   during the course of committee activities. In the unlikely event that the

committee should discover any unethical or illegal actions have taken place,

members are obligated to report such information to the appropriate university

personnel.  

Signature: ______________________________ Date: 6/15/2017

Print Name: Nameh Salem_______________

135

APPENDIX E

RECRUITMENT SCRIPT

136

Recruitment Script for Participation

“Hi! My name is Kim. I am a student from the U.S. who is volunteering here in the camp

and also conducting research to graduate with a doctoral degree. I want to learn about

past, present, and future experiences of refugee individuals and families.

I would like to invite you and your children who are at least 8 years old to participate in

my study. Would you be willing to talk to me and allow your child to talk to me?”

IF YES

“I would need your signature as permission from you and your eligible children to

participate in the study.

137

Is that ok?”

نص التطوع للمشاركة

لمخيم ألدير تحية! أنا أسمي كيم. أنا طالبة من الواليات المتحدة متطوعة هنا في هذا ا

الالجئين ات بحثا للدراسة لتؤهلني للتخرج بشهادة دكتورة. أنا أريد التعرف على اختبار

الفردية والعائلية في زمن الماضي والحاضر والمستقبل.

ى المشاركة في أنا أريد أن أدعوك وأبناؤك اللذين يناهزوا الثمانية أو أكبر من العمر ال

دراستي لهذا البحث. هل عندك وأبنك الرغبة للتكلم معي في هذا الموضوع؟

أذا كان جوابك نعم ___________________

بحاجة الى توقيعك أعاله لرضيك وأبنك المؤهل للمشاركة بي هذا البحث."أنا

هل انت توافق؟

نص التطوع )للشاب الفتى(

138

لمخيم ألدير تحية! أنا أسمي كيم. أنا طالبة من الواليات المتحدة متطوعة هنا في هذا ا

ئين الفردية لالجبحثا للدراسة لتؤهلني للتخرج بشهادة. أنا أريد التعرف على اختبارات ا

والعائلية في زمن الماضي والحاضر والمستقبل.

لتكلم معي أنا أريد أن أدعوك الى المشاركة في دراستي لهذا البحث. هل عندك الرغبة ل

في هذا الموضوع؟

أذا كان جوابك نعم ___________________

؟توافق هل انت "أنا بحاجة الى توقيعك أعاله لرضيك بالمشاركة في هذا البحث.

مقدمة نص التطوع

يحتم التسعدني موافقتك للتكلم معي عن اختباراتك كالجئ في هذا المخيم. تذكر أنه

عليك ان تجاوب على أي سؤال أذا كنت ال تريد االجابة.

"دعنا نبتدئ.

139

APPENDIX F

CONSENT FORMS (ENGLISH AND ARABIC)

140

Mississippi State University 

Informed Consent Form for Participation in Research

Title of Research Study: Living as a refugee: An exploration with displaced people in

refugee camps in Greece

Study Site: Refugee Camps in Chios, Greece coordinated by A Drop in the Ocean

Researchers: Kim M. Parrish, PhD candidate at Mississippi State University, USA

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore the experience of individuals and

family members seeking refuge in Chios, Greece and to examine the effect of the

displacement process on family structure, relationships and roles within the family,

potential benefits on family structure, and perceptions of the future.

Procedures

Adult: If you participate in this study, you will be interviewed about your personal

experiences with relocation or leaving your home country. If you agree to participate in

this study, in Stage 1, you will complete the consent form. In Stage 2, you will be asked

questions about your experience as a refugee. In Stage 3 and/or 4, you will be asked

more questions as a follow-up to your answers from Stage 2. Each interview will last

about 30 minutes. Over the 4-stage period, the total time you will spend participating

will be approximately 90 minutes.

The interviews will be audio recorded for transcription purposes. You will be

given a pseudonym for added protection, privacy, and anonymity. In other words, your

real name will not be used in communication, publication, or data sharing. Our

conversations will be audibly recorded.

If you agree to participate in this study, on Stage 1, you will complete the consent form.

Stage 2, you will be asked 3 or more questions about your experience as a refugee. Stage

3 and/or 4, you will be asked more questions as a follow-up to your answers from Stage

2. Each interview will last about 30 minutes. Over the 4-stage period, the total time you

will spend participating will be less than 90 minutes.

Parent: If you have children who 8 years or older and able to participate, they will be

asked to draw pictures describing their experience as a refugee.

If you allow your child to participate in this study, in Stage 1, you will complete the

parental permission form and your child will complete an assent form. In Stage 2, your

child will be asked to draw pictures expressing their experiences as a refugee. In Stage 3

and/or 4, your child will be asked to talk about those pictures. Your child will spend less

than 60 total minutes drawing pictures and talking about them over the 4-stage period.

Our conversations will be audibly recorded.

Observations will be conducted in the refugee camps in Chios, Greece by the researcher.

141

Risks or Discomforts

Participation in this study is voluntary. The study will have minimal risks or discomforts

for adults or children. However, some participants may feel worried or uncomfortable

about answering the questions. If you or your child don’t want to participate, you or your

child can stop at any time. The information you provide will be confidential. No real

names will be connected to the answers.

Benefits

Your contribution to the study will expand the story of the refugee crisis in the world,

calling attention to how displacement affects family roles and relationships.

Incentive to Participate

The participants will receive a thank you certificate for participation. Children who

participate will receive a frame for one of the pictures that they drew.

Alternatives

Your refusal to participate will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which you or

your child(ren) are otherwise entitled.

Confidentiality

Personal identities will not be disclosed in this study. To ensure privacy and

confidentiality, pseudonyms will be used for adults and children who participate.

Please note that these records will be held by a United States state entity and therefore are

subject to disclosure if required by law. Please note that these records will be held by a

state entity and therefore are subject to disclosure if required by law. Research

information may be shared with the MSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the

Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) and others who are responsible for

ensuring compliance with laws and regulations related to research. The information from

the research may be published for scientific purposes; however, your identity will not be

given out.

Questions

If you should have any questions about this research project or want to provide input,

please feel free to contact Kim Parrish by phone +1 601.573.7322 or by email at

[email protected] or Donna Peterson by email at [email protected].

For questions regarding your rights as a research participant or to request information,

please feel free to contact the MSU Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) by e-

mail at [email protected], or visit our participant page on the website at

http://orc.msstate.edu/humansubjects/participant/.

To report problems, concerns, or complaints pertaining to your involvement in this

research study, you may do so anonymously by contacting the MSU Ethics Line at

http://www.msstate.ethicspoint.com/.

Research-related injuries

http://www.msstate.ethicspoint.com/

142

In addition to reporting an injury to Kim Parrish at +1 601.573.7322 and to the Research

Compliance Office at +1 662.325.3994, you may be able to obtain limited compensation

from the State of Mississippi if the injury was caused by the negligent act of a state

employee where the damage is a result of an act for which payment may be made under

§11-46-1, et seq. Mississippi Code Annotated 1972. To obtain a claim form, contact the

University Police Department at MSU UNIVERSITY POLICE DEPARTMENT,

Williams Building, Mississippi State, MS 39762, +1 662.325.2121.

Voluntary Participation 

Please understand that your participation is voluntary. Your refusal to participate will

involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which you or your child(ren) are otherwise

entitled. You may discontinue your participation at any time without penalty or loss of

benefits.

Adult without children: Please take all the time you need to read through this document

and decide whether you would like to participate in this research study.

If you agree to participate in this research study, please sign below. You will be

given sent an email or text copy of this form for your records.

_______________________Participant Signature Date ________________

______________________ Investigator Signature Date ________________

Adult with child(ren): Please take all the time you need to read through this

document and decide whether you would like to participate in this research study. If you

agree to give permission for your child to participate in this research study, please sign

below. You will be given sent an email or text copy of this form for your records.

_______________________ Parental Consent Signature/Date ___________

_______________________ Investigator Signature/Date _______________

Options for Participation in studies in the future. Please initial your choice for the options

below:

______ The researchers may contact me again to participate in future research

activities.

______ The researchers may NOT contact me again regarding future research.

Version 3.29.2017

143

جامعة والية المسيسيبي

وثيقة أعالنية لموافقة المشاركة في البحث

.عيشة أالجئ: بحث عن شعب مرحل مشتت في مخيمات أالجئين في اليونان :عنوان دراسة البحث

مخيمات أالجئين في كيوس اليونان المنسق بواسطة أ دراب أن ذي أوشن :مركز الدراسة

كيم م. باريش, مرشحة لرتبة الدكتوره في جامعة والية المسيسيبي في أمريكا :الباحثون

الغاية

س اليونان ان غاية هذا البحث هو االستعالم عن اختبارات األشخاص وافراد العائلة الملتجئين في كيو

لعائلة والمنافع المحتملة التي يتخذها افراد اوالتعرف عن تأثير النزوح والتهجير على بنية العائلة والعالقات واألدوار

.والتشخيص للمستقبل

أجراءات

.أذا اشتركت في هذه الدراسة ستسأل عن اختباراتك الشخصية حين نزوحك وتركك لوطنك :الكبار

أذا وافقت على المشاركة في هذا البحث سوف تكمل وتتمم مرحلة الطرح األول من وثيقة التصديق

مرحلة الطرح الثاني سيطرح عليك أسئلة عن اختبارك كالجئ. في مرحلة الطرح الثالث والرابع والموافقة. في

سيطرح عليك أسئلة أكثر بالمزيد لملحق جواباتك في مرحلة الطرح الثاني. ستدوم كل مقابلة ثالثين دقيقة. بعد انجاز

دقيقة. ستسجل المقابالت لتؤهل النسخ. مرحلة الطرح الرابع يكون الوقت الكلي الذي صرفته في المشاركة تسعين

وستعطى اسما مستعارا للحماية الزائدة لشخصيتك وسريتك. وبكلمة أخرى سوف ال يستعمل اسمك الحقيقي في أي

.اتصاالت أو أعالم أو مشاركة معلومات

أذا وافقت على المشاركة في هذا البحث سوف تكمل وتتمم مرحلة الطرح األول من وثيقة التصديق

الموافقة. في مرحلة الطرح الثاني سيطرح عليك أسئلة عن اختبارك كالجئ. في مرحلة الطرح الثالث والرابع و

سيطرح عليك أسئلة أكثر بالمزيد لملحق جواباتك في مرحلة الطرح الثاني. ستدوم كل مقابلة ثالثين دقيقة. بعد انجاز

مشاركة تسعين دقيقةمرحلة الطرح الرابع يكون الوقت الكلي الذي صرفته في ال .

144

أذا كان عندكم أبناء في عمر الثمانية سنوات وأكبر وبمقدرتهم المشاركة سيطلب منهم ان :الوالد أو الوالدة

.يرسموا صورا تعبر عن اختبارهم كالجئين

أذا سمحتم ألبنكم المشاركة في المرحلة األولى سوف تكملوا وتتمموا أمالء طرح السماح للوالدين وأبنكم

مل ويتمم وثيقة التصديق والموافقة. في مرحلة الطرح الثاني سيطلب من أبنكم ان يرسم صورا تعبر عن اختباره يك

كالجئ. وفي مرحلة الطرح الثالث والرابع سيطلب من أبنكم ان يتكلم عن هذه الصور. سيصرف ابنكم اقل من ستين

.دقيقة في رسم الصور والتكلم عنهم في مرحلة الطرح الرابع

يؤدى المراقبة الباحث خالل وجوده في مخيمات أالجئين في كيوس اليونانس .

نسبة االنزعاج

. ولكن المشاركة في هذا البحث الدراسي طوعي وال يشكل أي خطرا أو انزعاجا على الكبار واألطفال

بنك عدم المشاركة ااو بعض المشاركين من الممكن ان يشعروا بالقلق وعدم الراحة في أجابتهم لألسئلة. أذا اردت انت

ظهر على األجوبةيفيمكنكم التوقف في أي وقت كان. المعلومات التي تقدموها تبقى مؤتمنه سريا. وال أي أسم حقيقي .

المنافع

اسهامك في موضوع هذا البحث يوسع أطار القصة ألزمة أالجئ في العالم ويدعو االنتباه والنظر الى كيفية

لعائلية لسبب التهجر والترحيلتأثر العالقات واألدوار ا .

تشجيع للمشارك

لتي سيستلم المشاركون شهادة شكر لمشاركتهم. وسيستلم المشاركون الصغار أطارا ألحدى الصور ا

.رسموها

التناوب

.رفضك للمشاركة ال يضمن وال يشكل أي عقوبة عليك أو خسارة لك وال على أوالدك

____________________________________________________________

ضمانة السر

145

أسماء سوف ال يكشف عن هوية األشخاص في هذه الدراسة. لتأمين الضمانة والسرية الشخصية سيستعمل

لواليات امزيفة للمشاركين من الكبار والصغار. ولمعلوماتك أن هذه التصريحات سوف تبقى محفوظه ضمن كيان

مع مجلس المراجعة أال أذا أوجب طلبها قانونيا. ويمكن مشاركة معلومات البحث المتحدة األمريكية ولن تبدى للعيان

ث. ومن الممكن ان ومكتب الحفاظ عن األبحاث االنسانية لجامعة والية المسيسيبي ولكل من يذعن قانونيا ألمور البح

.تنشر محتويات ومعلومات البحث لغاية علمية ولكن بدون اعطاء واجالء هويتك

أسئلة

ا كان عندك أي سؤال أو تريد التزويد على المعلومات لهذا البحث يمكنك ان تتصل ب كيم باريش على أذ

أو دونا بيترسن على [email protected]نمرة +1 601.573.7322 أو في البريد االلكتروني على

[email protected] .

امج بخصوص األسئلة عن حقوقك كمشارك في البحث أو لطلب المعلومات الرجاء االتصال بمكتب برن

الحفاظ عن األبحاث االنسانية لجامعة والية المسيسيبي على البريد االلكتروني

[email protected] أو يمكنك زيارة صفحتنا على

http://orc.msstate.edu/humansubjects/participant/ لتقديم تقارير عن قلق او شكاوى بخصوص .

ون التعرفة عن هويتك بالخط األخالقي لجامعة والية المسيسيبي تورطك في هذا البحث الدراسي يمكنك االتصال وبد

./http://www.msstate.ethicspoint.comعلى

عطل وضرر متعلق بالبحث

لألبحاث المطاوعةوالى مكتب 601.573.7322 1باإلضافة الى تقديم تقارير الى كيم باريش على نمرة +

العطل , من الممكن أن تحصل على تعويض محدود من جامعة والية المسيسيبي أذا كان مسبب662.325.3994 1+

ة البوليس والضرر عمال مهمال من قبل أحد موظفي والية المسيسيبي. للحصول على طلب االدعاء اتصل في مديري

, 39762بي م س والية المسيسيبي بناية وليمز والية المسيسي في حرم الجامعة على العنوان: مديرية بوليس جامعة

.662.325.2121 1هاتف +

mailto:[email protected]

http://orc.msstate.edu/humansubjects/participant/

http://www.msstate.ethicspoint.com/

146

مشاركة طوعية

لى ابناءك عالرجاء أن تفهم بأن مشاركتك هي طوعية وليست اجبارية. رفضك للمشاركة ال ينجب عليك وال

خسارة أي فائدة. أي عقاب او خسارة. يمكنك أن تتوقف عن المشاركة في أي وقت بدون أي عقاب او

الكبار بدون أبناء: الرجاء أن تأخذ كل الوقت الذي تحتاجه لقراءة هذه الوثيقة للقرار عن رغبتك في

ك نسخة عن هذه المشاركة في هذه الدراسة. أذا قررت ان تشارك في البحث الرجاء أن توقع امضاءك ادناه. ستعطى ل

الوثيقة لتحفظها.

ضاء المشارك ________________ التاريخ________________________ أم

________________________ أمضاء الباحث _________________ التاريخ

الكبار مع أبناء: الرجاء أن تأخذ كل الوقت الذي تحتاجه لقراءة هذه الوثيقة للقرار عن رغبتك في المشاركة

ك ادناه. ستعطى لك ذا البحث فالرجاء منك أن توقع امضاءفي هذه الدراسة. أذا وافقت ان تسمح ألبنك بالمشاركة في ه

نسخة عن هذه الوثيقة لتحفظها.

_______________________أمضاء موافقة األهل ________________ التاريخ

________________________ أمضاء الباحث __________________ التاريخ

الرجاء التعليم على احدى الخيارات ادناه:اختيارات للمشاركة في األبحاث في المستقبل.

______ يمكن للباحثين ان يتصلوا بي مرة ثانية للمشاركة في األبحاث في المستقبل.

______ ال يمكن للباحثين ان يتصلوا بي مرة ثانية للمشاركة في األبحاث في المستقبل.

147

Assent Form for Youth

Project Title: Living as a refugee: An exploration with displaced people in refugee camps in

Greece.

Investigator: Kim Parrish

Your parent knows that I am going to ask you to participate in this interview. I want to know

about your life in a refugee camp. It will take about 30 minutes of your time to complete drawing

pictures and talking about your drawings.

Your name will not be written anywhere on the drawings. No one will know these answers came

from you.

If you don’t want to participate, you can stop at any time. There will be no bad feelings if you

don’t want to do this. You can ask questions if you do not understand any part of the instructions.

Our conversations will be audio recorded.

Do you understand? Is this OK? If yes, see below:

Participant’s Name (Please Print) ___________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Signature Date

_____________________________________________________________

Investigator’s Signature Date

148

وثيقة التصديق والموافقة لألطفال

: عيشة أالجئ: بحث عن شعب مرحل مشتت في مخيمات أالجئين في اليونان.لقب المشروع

: كيم باريشالباحثة

ع على حياتكيعلم والديك بأنني سوف اسألك للمشاركة في هذه المقابلة. أنا أريد التعرف واالطال

عنهم. لتكملة الرسوم والصور والتكلمأالجئين. ستؤخذ من وقتك نحو ثالثين دقيقة في مخيم

سوف ال يكتب اسمك على أية صورة. وسوف ال يدري أحد بأنك أعطيت هذه الجوابات.

ن تسأل أذا اردت أن توقف المشاركة في أي وقت يمكنك التوقف وبدون الشعور باألسف. يمكنك أ

أسئلة أذا لم تفهم أي قسم من التعليمات.

م أنظر الى ما يلي:هل تفهم؟ أتوافق؟ أذا نع

أسم المشترك )أكتب بوضوح( ________________________________________

التوقيع ______________________________ التاريخ __________________

توقيع الباحث __________________________ التاريخ __________________

149

APPENDIX G

INTERVIEW OPENING SCRIPT

150

INTERVIEW OPENING SCRIPT:

“I’m glad you have agreed to talk to me about your experiences as a refugee living in this

camp. Remember that you do not have to answer any questions that you do not want to.

Let’s begin.”

151

APPENDIX H

INTERVIEW (ENGLISH AND ARABIC)

152

INTERVIEW/FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS (ENGLISH AND ARABIC)

ADULTS 

Stage 1 Interview Questions 

Interview Questions: The interview questions will be asked to adults.

1. Tell me about your background, your home country, your age, your family and

your occupation.  

2. Tell me about your experiences in your home country that caused you to leave.  

• What were the reasons for leaving your home country?

3. Describe a typical day as a refugee in Chios.

• What do you do in the morning after you wake up?  

• What do you do during the day?  

• What do you do after the night meal?  

4. How is family life different in the refugee camp from when you were in your

home country?  

Stage 2 Interview Questions 

153

Interview Questions: The interview questions will be asked to adults.

1. Describe how the transitions from your home country to the refugee camp have

changed your family and you.

• Tell me about each member of your family.

• How have your responsibilities changed in the family? Who does what in your

family?  

• How has your job or responsibilities as a parent changed?  

• How have other family members’ jobs or responsibilities changed?  

2. Describe what makes you feel sad about living in the refugee camp. What would

  make it better?  

3. Describe what makes you feel happy about living in the refugee camp.  

4. Are there any benefits of being a refugee? Talk about any benefits you

  experience since being in refuge.  

5. What do you hope to see happen in the future after you leave the refugee camp?

CHILDREN 

Interview Questions: The children will be asked to draw pictures and even write a

story with the pictures if they are able.

154

1. Draw a picture about leaving your home.  

2. Draw a picture of what you do during the day here.  

3. Draw a picture of what you do at night here.  

4. Draw a picture about what makes you feel sad about living here.  

5. Draw a picture of something that makes you feel happy about living here.  

6. Draw a picture of what you want to happen when you leave here.  

155

الیونانفي كیوس ینلمقابلة لالجئدراب ان ذي اوشن أسئلة

الكبار

أسئلة المقابلة ألول المرحلة

.للكبار أسئلة المقابلة: ستطرح أسئلة المقابلة

تك ومھنتك.عائل وعمرك وعنطنك وعن وك وخبرتك یئتأخبرني عن ب. 1

تجاربك في وطنك التي جعلتك تترك البلد.أخبرني عن . 2

ما ھي األسباب لتركك الوطن؟ •

.كیوسكالجئ في تقضیھ نموذجيم لیوأعطني وصفا . 3

ماذا تفعل في الصباح بعدما تستیقظ من النوم؟ •

النھار؟ خاللماذا تفعل •

وقعة طعام المساء؟ ماذا تفعل بعدما •

كیف تختلف حیاة العائلة في مخیم الالجئین عن حیاة العائلة في الوطن؟. 4

المرحلة ثانيأسئلة المقابلة ل

.للكبار أسئلة المقابلة: ستطرح أسئلة المقابلة

حالتك الشخصیة من وطنك الى ھذا المخیم عبر لي عن كیف غیرت ھذه التنقالت. 1

وحالة العائلة.

كل فرد في عائلتك. أخبرني عن •

العائلة؟رت مسؤولیاتك العائلیة؟ ماذا یفعل كل فرد في تغی كیف •

رب عائلة؟بصفتك وعملك تغیرت مسؤولیاتك كیف •

156

ل بقیة أفراد العائلة األخرى؟اعمأتغیرت مسؤولیات أو كیف •

وما یمكن الحزن.یجعلك تشعر ب یمبب عیشتك في المخسب عبر لي عن شيء .2

لتحسینھ؟ فعلھ

في المخیم.مكوثك عبر لي عن شيء یجعلك سعیدا خالل . 3

بصفتك الجئ؟ تكلم عن أي منفعة تختبرھا منذ كنت الجئ.. ھل من أي منافع لك 4

؟مخیم الالجئینفي المستقبل بعد خروجك من . ما تتأمل وما ھو تفاؤلك أن یحدث 5

157

APPENDIX I

ADIAN’S DRAWING

158

159

APPENDIX J

NASHTANNA’S DRAWING

160