As refugee situations have increased in scope, scale and complexity, there has been increased recognition of the need to expand the size of refugee resettlement programmes (UNHCR 2019). While projected global resettlement needs have reached more than 1.4 million in 2020, only 55,680 refugees submitted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) were resettled in 2018 (UNHCR 2019). Expanding access to third country solutions is one of four objectives set out in the Global Compact on Refugees (UNHCR 2018a). UNHCR has drawn up a strategy to expand the number of resettlement places and the range of countries engaged in resettlement. Building on modest existing resettlement programmes launched in the 2000s, the United Kingdom (UK) and Japan are among the countries which have committed to further developing their resettlement programmes.
However, the schemes differ markedly in their approaches to resettlement with Japan focusing upon economic self-sufficiency through immediate employment; and the UK, through the Community Sponsorship Scheme (CSS), on providing refugee families with an informal support network of volunteers intended to facilitate integration. Both schemes are intended to rapidly aid resettlement and eventual integration, but emphasise different integration domains as their starting points. Given the argument that integration is inherently multi-dimensional and context specific (Ndofor-Tah et al. 2019), this paper compares and contrasts the ways in which refugee resettlement programmes prioritising different integration domains influence refugee experiences of integration more widely.
In the following section we outline theories of refugee integration before introducing the Indicators of Integration Framework (IOI) (Ndofor-Tah et al. 2019). The framework is underpinned by key principles which build on integration theory and empirical research; these principles provide the theoretical framing for the paper and guide data analysis. The paper then establishes the similarities and differences in approaches to refugee resettlement policy and practice in the two countries, and briefly outlines the different country contexts and experiences of migration and diversity. We then set out our methods used to collect in-depth interview data from refugees resettled under the resettlement programme in Japan and the CSS in the UK. Our findings explore the different foci of the two programmes, before concluding that both models have weaknesses as well as strengths, and that neither approach enables the holistic approach to integration outlined in the IOI.
Refugee integration
Despite long standing interest in migrant integration, there is still no agreement about what exactly constitutes successful integration, and in academic literature it remains contested (Castles and Miller 2003; Penninx and Garcés-Mascareñas 2016). Theories from social psychology tend to focus on processes of social, psychological and cultural change emerging from exposure to other cultures. Over the years, thinking has evolved from the unidirectional school of thought with an emphasis on migrant assimilation or absorption into the dominant culture, to bi-dimensional and interactive perspectives (see Van Hieu 2008). Berry’s influential model proposes two independent dimensions underlying processes of acculturation (maintenance of culture and identity, and identification with aspects of host society). Integration is said to occur when individuals can adopt the cultural norms of the host society, while at the same time retaining their own cultural identity (Berry 1997).
Such models have been criticised for assuming integration is a linear process along which the migrant moves ever closer to the host society, and for assuming a monocultural host society into which migrants acculturate (Van Hieu 2008; Penninx and Garcés-Mascareñas 2016). Portes and Zhou’s (1993) model of segmented assimilation acknowledged how stratification along class, ethnic and other lines in the host society itself might influence the integration process. They consider that migrants adapt to one of three forms: acculturation and integration into mainstream ‘white’ America; assimilation into an ‘underclass’ of unemployment and poverty, or assimilation into a pre-existing ethnic enclave. Although the theory recognises socio-economic and structural influences on integration, it still assumes a one-way process in which migrants acculturate or integrate into a dominant society with little responsibility placed on the host society (Castles and Miller 2003).
More recent definitions have attempted to theorise integration as distinct two-way processes occurring in different dimensions. For example, Heckmann 2005) defines integration as ‘ … a long-lasting process of inclusion and acceptance of migrants in the core institutions, relations and statuses of the receiving society’. He has conceptualised integration as involving four dimensions or levels: structural integration (housing, employment etc.), cultural integration (acculturation), interactive integration (social relations and networks) and identificational integration (belonging). Penninx and Garcés-Mascareñas (2016) suggest integration encompasses three analytical dimensions in which migrants may, or may not, become part of society: the legal-political, the socio-economic, and the cultural-religious. Importantly, their model recognises the role of host society and they argue that a focus on these dimensions requires attention to whether migrants are accepted and how they are positioned in each of the three dimensions. While this approach offers a potential framework for empirical analysis it offers a limited account of the multi-dimensional nature of integration. A more comprehensive framework which underscores and unpacks the multiple domains across which integration occurs was developed by Ager and Strang (2008) for policy makers and practitioners and focuses specifically on refugees.
Indicators of integration framework
One of the most comprehensive articulations of the multiple dimensions and holistic nature of integration processes is the UK Home Office’s revised Indicators of Integration (IoI) framework (Ndofor-Tah et al. 2019). The framework draws on integration theory and empirical evidence building on the influential model of integration developed by Ager and Strang (2008). The social networks and employment models adopted in the Japanese and UK resettlement initiatives are both key indicators of integration in this holistic model of integration. The IoI framework presents 14 inter-related domains recognised as important for measuring integration; these domains are organised into four types of indicators of integration (see Fig. 1). Markers and means (employment, education, health and social care, housing and leisure) represent major areas of attainment generally recognised as critical to integration but also means to success in other domains.
Social connections recognise the key importance of three types of social networks to integration. Social bonds are relationships between people who share a sense of identity; social bridges are connections with people of a different background; and social links are relationships which connect people to institutions. Broadly, social connections support integration by facilitating access to information and resources and promoting a sense of belonging (Suter and Magnusson 2015) and are at the heart of the UK’s CSS programme. Five Facilitators (language, culture, digital skills, safety and stability) represent the key areas of competence which facilitate or support integration processes. Foundation contains the domain of rights and responsibilities combining responsibilities and rights of both migrant and host community.
The IOI are informed by four principles. The first is that integration is a multi-dimensional process occurring across multiple domains (Ager and Strang 2008). This implies that success in a single area, such as having employment, does not by itself indicate integration. Contrasting the Japanese and UK resettlement cases enables us to explore the integration resources realised at different starting points: employment and social connections. The second principle is that integration is multi-directional requiring adaptation and change by all those involved. This understanding of integration may not be fully embraced or practiced in Japan where there is a clear inclination towards tabunka kyousei or “multicultural coexistence” (see Phillimore et al. forthcoming) which stresses assimilation and cultural homogeneity rather than celebration of diverse cultures but may be experienced differently in the UK with different attitudes towards and experience of multiculturalism.
The third is the principle of shared responsibility: refugees, members of the host community, institutions, local, and national governments all have roles in integration processes. As we set out below the Japanese resettlement model places much emphasis on refugees’ responsibility conceiving this in terms of independence, but also suggests a role for employers. In the UK responsibility is shared with Community Sponsor (CS) volunteers.
Fourthly integration is context specific and can only be measured in relation to particular populations, and in a particular location, whether that be national, socio-geographic, neighbourhood, workplace etc. Factors such as refugee age, gender, and levels of vulnerability need to be considered. Contextual factors also include the broader socio-political environment and nature of neighbourhoods and workplaces (Phillimore 2020). Such contextual factors mean that no universal integration goals can be set.
Refugee resettlement in Japan
Japan has long experience with resettlement beginning with the Indo-Chinese refugee admission programme from 1979 to 2005 (Hashimoto 2019). This evolved into a semi-permanent resettlement programme in 2015. So far 194 individuals originating in Myanmar (50 families) have been resettled. Despite its small size, the resettlement programme has become the main route to be protected as a refugee in Japan because chances of success via spontaneous asylum seeking are extremely low (Nyūkoku Kanrikyoku 2020).
In principle, resettling refugees are identified as eligible for resettlement by UNHCR but countries determine their own criteria for deciding which refugees they welcome from those identified by UNHCR (Hashimoto 2018). Japan is an ethno-nationalistic society (see Phillimore et al. forthcoming) with an ageing population, and labour market shortages in some sectors wherein accessing social welfare is stigmatised and financial independence viewed as the cultural norm (see Liu-Farrer et al. forthcoming). The Japanese Government applies restrictive selection criteria and determines that only ‘refugees who demonstrate integration prospects in Japanese society and who are expected to find a gainful employment to lead an independent life’ are qualified for resettlement (Naikaku Kambō 2008a). This proviso ensures that only refugees who can engage in fulltime employment within 6 months of arrival will be resettled.
Once selected as candidates, refugees go through comprehensive health checks and receive two to three weeks of cultural and language orientation as well as pre-departure orientation. Upon arrival in Japan, refugees attend the Refugee Assistance Headquarters (Refugee Assistance Headquarters (RHQ) 2018) Reception Centre in Tokyo, where two fulltime caseworkers are assigned for each family. They enter a six-month state provided orientation programme which includes 429 h of Japanese language training and 90 h of cultural orientation. Adult refugees participate in vocational training and school age children attend induction classes. After this period caseworkers arrange employment for adult refugees, arrange school enrolment for children, locate housing, and complete the administrative procedures for refugee families to start a new life (Refugee Assistance Headquarters (RHQ) 2018). Most refugees are dispersed on a no-choice basis to areas in or proximate to the Tokyo metropolitan area, although since 2018 refugees have been sent to southern Japan where there is little experience of hosting refugees.
Upon relocation, they receive income support from the government for 180 days while they attend on-the-job training in their allocated workplace (Naikaku Kambō 2008b). Refugees are employed in industries with a shortage of low-skilled labour, such as agriculture, cleaning, construction, and manufacturing. An interpreter supports refugees in the first month to help them understand their tasks and provide health and safety briefings. Meanwhile, support from the central government quickly dwindles, as it expects the refugees to be more or less independent after the initial RHQ integration course. Once relocated support is offered by local caseworkers working only on a part-time and semi-voluntary basis. They assist refugees with day-to-day life to help them connect with local stakeholders. Social welfare provision is generally restricted and strongly discouraged in Japan, and more than one adult refugee per family needs to be employed to earn enough income to meet their daily needs. Refugee adults are expected to adapt quickly to a completely different environment and to earn wages, to make ends meet, while taking care of their children. Although refugees are employed, generally considered a key measure of integration, there is a leap in experience between their days at the reception centre where all needs were publicly provided, and independent living. The Japanese resettlement model could be described as a self-reliance model, wherein refugees are responsible for all aspects of their integration in local communities, and there is little official institutional responsibility. Social connections receive little attention with emphasis placed firmly on refugees’ financial independence.
Refugee resettlement in the UK
The UK has a different history of migration and asylum from that of Japan and has a relatively long standing experience of resettlement initiatives (Beirens and Fratzke 2017), although until recently resettlement numbers remained under 750 per year. In response to the crisis in Syria the UK significantly expanded its resettlement programme to launch the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) in 2014 which sought to resettle up to 20,000 refugees by 2020. This programme accepts refugees of any nationality who have fled the conflict in Syria for whom it is unsafe to return to their country of origin (UNHCR 2018b).
The UK’s Community Sponsorship Scheme (CSS) was introduced as part of VPRS in 2016 and since then nearly 450 refugees in around 62 families, have been resettled. In contrast to Japan, resettlement refugees in the UK are not subject to additional screening for employability potential. The resettled population may contain adults or children with relatively high long-term physical and psychological health needs and caring responsibilities (Collyer et al. 2018). Under the CSS refugees receive a one-day pre-departure briefing and on arrival in the UK are met at the airport by a CSS group. Sponsors are groups of volunteers who work together to provide funding and integration and settlement support to a family (Home Office 2016). Once a group agrees to support a refugee family the family is dispersed to the group on a no-choice basis. The group need not have any experience working with refugees, with many having no prior experience, but they must meet certain criteria, including securing appropriate funds and housing and being able to demonstrate how they will support integration. The minimum formal responsibility to support the family lasts for one year, with responsibility for housing lasting two years, after which time the sponsoring group can choose how much support they offer. Refugees are financially supported by the UK Government able to access Universal Credit, the social welfare safety net available to all eligible UK residents, which is widely acknowledged to place recipients below the poverty line (Craig and Katikireddi 2020). The CSS has come under criticism by some seen as a way that the state can absolve itself of responsibility for supporting refugees both socially and financially while others view it as the ultimate expression of solidarity and community (Guma et al. 2019). CSS groups can be located in any part of the UK. Although the UK has been thought of as a multicultural country with a long history of migration and refugee families may be sent to diverse multicultural urban areas, but many groups have established in rural or semi-rural areas with no experience of diversity.
The UNHCR has identified the sponsorship route as fundamental to its vision of expanding and developing third country resettlement (UNHCR 2019). The CSS is promoted as benefitting refugees through creating a welcoming community and promoting social cohesion (Ibid). Refugees gain from ready-made social networks with volunteers providing intense social support (Phillimore and Reyes 2019). Research on the importance of social networks in the lives of refugees, and the correlation with positive settlement outcomes is well-documented (e.g. Koser 1997; Hanley et al. 2018; Suter and Magnusson 2015; Cheung and Phillimore 2014). Underpinning the implementation of the programme in the UK is the assumption that personalised social support will accelerate the integration and settlement process (Phillimore and Reyes 2019). The extent to which such social networks facilitate integration across other areas such as employment, language learning and development of cultural knowledge remains to be seen. Given the importance of context in refugee integration arguably the location to which they are sent is likely to shape their integration experiences (see Phillimore 2020).
Comparing and contrasting UK and Japan
In this paper we compare and contrast the resettlement and integration experiences of refugees focusing on refugees from Myanmar who have been resettled to Japan since 2010 and refugees from Syria who have been resettled as part of the UK’s CSS scheme since its introduction in 2016. There are similarities and differences between the two schemes which make this exercise compelling and offer potential learning to aid integration and resettlement policy development in countries with resettlement initiatives. Firstly, at the time of writing a small number of families have been resettled under these schemes in each country: 50 in Japan and 60 in the UK. Secondly the families are resettled regardless of family connections and thus are generally not living in proximity to an established co-ethnic community or other refugee families. Thirdly many families are resettled and relocated on a no-choice basis often to areas with no experience of living with, or supporting, refugees. Yet there is a fundamental difference between the schemes and in attitudes to resettlement and integration as we have set out above.
The Japanese scheme is focused upon self-reliance with refugees arriving to employment after attending a cultural orientation programme and thereafter receiving negligible support. The UK scheme is focused upon social support with refugees’ independence and employability facilitated through interactions with a large volunteer body whose responsibility is to aid their integration. UK CSS refugees arrive directly to the community with no pre-dispersal support offered but they do have access to social welfare benefits. Further, although both groups of refugees are selected according to UNHCR criteria, Japanese refugees are screened on the basis of their potential to become self-reliant whereas UK resettlement refugees are not, with family groups potentially including refugees with significant health problems. The similarities and differences in the two schemes enable us to look expressly at different approaches to integration examining the ways in which integration with different starting points: via employment and social networks, plays out across the wider integration domains focusing on the principles of multi-dimensionality, multi-directionality, context and the shared responsibilities of employers and communities.