| dc.description.abstract | The numbers of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced persons has reached a record high in 2019. According to UNHCR, by the end of 2018 the total had reached over 70 million people. These people are continuously confronted with stereotypes or neglect, a form of labelling and emerging conflicts in the receiving countries - places they call their new homes. The category “refugee” and other connected labels have become predominant labels in people’s lives. To understand the process of cultural adaptation and to examine the prevalent labels in a refugee context, a case study in a refugee camp in Malawi was conducted. As places like Dzaleka Refugee Camp function and represent a complex organisational setting with culturally heterogenous challenges faced by asylum-seekers and refugees, staff and host community alike, the use and existence of labels shall be examined. The underlying empirical data is based on thirteen weeks of field research conducted in 2019 in Malawi’s only refugee camp: Dzaleka. Through interviewing people living at the Camp, this research aims to fill the existing gap of seeing “refugees” not just as one group receiving one label, but rather as people who are facing several labels. Likewise, this research underlines the need in for a change of refugee policy in Malawi, as the predominant labels and conflicts faced by people living in the camp can be connected to the dominant policies of Malawi. It became apparent that the use of the legal label is not the only relevant categories refugees find themselves in. The culturally connected practices play an important role in people’s everyday life. Furthermore, labels implemented by the host community as well as the organisations working in the camp have an influence on how refugees see themselves, how their identity is perceived and most importantly, which benefits and limitations those labels hold. | |
