Refugee Entrepreneurship

A Case-based Topography

Sibylle Heilbrunn, Jörg Freiling, Aki Harima, Sibylle Heilbrunn, Jörg Freiling, Aki Harima

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9783319925332
• eBook ISBN:
  9783319925349
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Strategia di business
• Index: Business

Through a global series of case studies, this pioneering book delves into refugee entrepreneurship - a major economic, political and social issue emerging as a top priority. Stories from Australia, Germany, Pakistan and many other countries, highlight the obstacles facing refugees as they try to integrate and set up businesses in their new countries. Engaging contributions set the stage for a cross-analysis of the particularities and limitations faced by refugee entrepreneurs, culminating in an extended discussion about the future implications of refugee entrepreneurship for theory, policy and practice. This interdisciplinary book explores the motivations and drivers of refugee entrepreneurship, making it an insightful read not only for those engaged in entrepreneurship, but also for those interested in migration studies from a variety of academic disciplines.

© The Author(s) 2019

Sibylle Heilbrunn, Jörg Freiling and Aki Harima (eds.)Refugee Entrepreneurshiphttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92534-9_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Sibylle Heilbrunn¹ and Rosa Lisa Iannone²

(1)

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

(2)

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

Sibylle Heilbrunn (Corresponding author)

Email: [email protected]

Rosa Lisa Iannone

Email: [email protected]

Keywords

EntrepreneurshipRefugee theoryCase studies

End Abstract

1.1 Refugees Out of the Shadows

Global migration is a key factor of the twenty-first century and has become a matter of great interest—economically, politically, socially and culturally. Understanding the patterns and underlying impacts of global migration is of pressing importance, as both the increasing number of media reports and academic studies reflect. Whereas about 90% of the world’s migrants move on a voluntary basis, usually for economic reasons, the remaining 10% seek asylum and refuge, having fled their countries in an escape from persecution and violence (Woetzel et al. 2016). Today, political strife and human rights violations, amplified by the ravages of war, play out on the international stage where refugees have emerged as the “heart of the definition of the world order and the debates it raises” (Fassin and Rechtman 2009, 253).

With 67.75 million forcibly displaced people worldwide at the end of 2016, and with that number rising, among which are 22.5 million refugees, our times are recording the highest levels of migration in history (UNHCR 2017). Figure 1.1 depicts the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), asylum seekers and refugees across recent years, with 17 million in 2000—an amount that nearly quadruples in 2016.

Fig. 1.1

Number of refugees worldwide, 2000–2016, by type (in millions). *Totals in the figure include IDPs , asylum seekers, refugees, returnees (including IDPs and refugees), stateless persons and others of concern (beneficiaries of UNHCR aid and services) (UNHCR 2018)

The highest yearly increase in the number of people seeking refuge, globally, was reported in 2005–2006, as shown in Table 1.1. From 2012 to date, however, there has continued to be increases, which has contributed to our current record numbers.

Table 1.1

Yearly increase of total refugees, worldwide (2000–2016)

Year	Yearly increase/decrease (%)	Year	Yearly increase/decrease (%)
2000–2001	17.0	2008–2009	5.8
2001–2002	5.0	2009–2010	−7.0
2002–2003	−18.6	2010–2011	4.5
2003–2004	14.8	2011–2012	1.1
2004–2005	7.8	2012–2013	19.6
2005–2006	56.2	2013–2014	28.2
2006–2007	−3.6	2014–2015	16.3
2007–2008	8.8	2015–2016	6.0

^aPercentages have been calculated based on totals from Fig. 1.1 (UNHCR 2018)

Indeed, the question of integrating migrants and refugees is one of ever-growing urgency. Globally, societies are becoming more diverse and heterogeneous, and therefore it has become essential that host countries find strategies that aim not to reproduce the hardships or injustices from which their many newcomers have often fled. Nevertheless, in a large number of communities , refugees and asylum seekers remain among the most marginalized groups of migrants, exposed to discrimination, impoverished living conditions and high rates of joblessness (Bloch 2008, 2014). Government policies regarding refugees have come into focus, with a particular interest in employment issues, considered to be a key element of successful inclusion and integration (Ager and Strang 2008; Heilbrunn et al. 2010). Current academic research demonstrates that refugees face many difficulties when trying to enter the labor markets of their new countries of residence (CORs): they face country-specific legal restrictions, personal and structural discrimination, and an unwillingness on the part of authorities to accept documentation and credentials, among many other challenges (Ayadurai 2011; Bloch 2008; Fong et al. 2007; Heilbrunn forthcoming; Lyon et al. 2007; Wauters and Lambrecht 2008). Additionally, refugees and asylum seekers often have to acquire foreign language skills and new knowledge, intensely and rapidly, in accordance with the demands of their respective host countries (Bloch 2008; Yi Cheung and Phillimore 2014; Lyon et al. 2007; Miyares 1998; Omeje and Mwangi 2014; Sheridan 2008). Such orientation and integration objectives must be prioritized, although placated by the complexities of immigration journeys that have often led to devastating circumstances, including acute stress (George 2010; Khoury and Prasad 2016; Wauters and Lambrecht 2008) and trauma (Silove 1999). Furthermore, within this unbalanced and fragile state of affairs, factors of diversity in needs, culture, generations and overall groups compound the necessity for targeted, effective responses. Refugees depart from a wide variety of countries of origin (COOs) at various points in their lives and, thus, do not establish homogenous groups in host countries (Vertovec 2007). For this very reason, a call for increased collaboration among stakeholders, including researchers and policymakers, beckons.

It is in this light that Refugee Entrepreneurship: A Case Based Topography’s contributors have come together, with lessons learned from 16 case studies that examine the enablers and challenges faced by refugees who self-employ in their new CORs. As one of the strongest illustrations of self-determination in the backdrop of rebuilding one’s life, the stories presented herein delineate the distinctive and shared experiences in entrepreneurship by refugees; where a vulnerable population, wit...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Umayyad: A Syrian Refugee Business in Bremen, Germany
• 3. Cham Saar: The First Syrian-German Cheese Manufacturer
• 4. “Our Table”: Between Activism and Business in Dublin, Ireland
• 5. The Story of an Adolescent Afghan Refugee Who Became an Entrepreneur in France
• 6. “FlüchtlingMagazin” (Refugee Magazine): A Syrian Social Business in Hamburg, Germany
• 7. The Story of Jonny, an Eritrean Entrepreneur in Tel Aviv, Israel
• 8. A Case Study of an Ethiopan Refugee in Germany
• 9. The Blessing African Boutique and City Market Food: A Congolese Refugee Business in Darwin, Australia
• 10. Refuge to Centre Stage: The Story of Arash
• 11. From Hell To … An Entrepreneurial Life: An Iranian Refugee in France
• 12. From Refugee to Trader: In the Footsteps of Marco Polo
• 13. Internally Displaced Entrepreneurs in Pakistan: The Case of Abdullah
• 14. Refugee Entrepreneurship: A Case Study from the Sultanate of Oman
• 15. Entrepreneurship in Extreme Environments: Businesses in the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya
• 16. From Cameroon to South Africa: From Refugee to Successful Businessman
• 17. The Resilience of a Syrian Woman and Her Family Through Refugee Entrepreneurship in Jordan
• 18. Refugee Entrepreneurship: Learning from Case Evidence
• Back Matter