Refugee Label Analysis

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In order to capture the bureaucratic and transformational power of labels, the UNRISD issued the statement "We use labels not only to describe the world, but to make it" in 1993. Contextualizing the quote in terms of the refugee label, the phrase "describe the world" refers to how different actors manipulate the refugee narrative to influence public perception and "make it" refers to how these perceptions shape decision making of a particular agency. Through a discussion of how the media, refugees, and states engage with this label, this paper argues that these actors manipulate the refugee label to serve their institutional purposes. This analysis is broken into three parts to contrast how different perspectives conceptualize refugees and …show more content…

In the process of portraying refugees solely as victims, refugee agencies appeal to people's emotions for donations (McAdam 2013). Although these external funds compose of a majority of refugee organization funding, the agencies objectify refugees by exploiting the images and experiences of the displaced. Through this exploitation, NGOs describe refugees as victims without agency, which in turn leads to public stigmatization of refugees (Ludwig 2016). The potential of the refugee label to generate funds and skew public opinion was highlighted by news agencies covering hurricane Katrina. Instead of the more accurate label "Internally Displaced Persons", the media chose to label these victims as "refugees" because this image of vulnerability was more powerful to viewers and resulted in greater public donations (Masquelier 2016). The rise in revenue for media organizations and refugee agencies are consequences of the "CNN effect". This phenomenon describes how media outlets provoke responses of empathy and charity from the public and by presenting images of global crises (Robinson 1999). In context of refugees and the humanitarian intervention, media and refugee organizations create convenient images not only of vulnerable refugees without agency, but also of a sympathetic and philanthropic public (Wood 1985). Through the use of the …show more content…

This stigmatization is dehumanizing not only because the refugee is portrayed without agency, but also because the refugee label has been documented to act as a reminder of suffering (Ludwig 2016). In her study of 50 Liberian refugees and immigrants in Staten Island, Ludwig documents the socioeconomic and psychological consequences refugees face given their label. Unlike immigrants, refugees are perceived by government agencies and the public as passive victims in need of aid (Ludwig 2016). However, this is in stark contrast to how refugees view themselves and their futures. In order to get refugee status, the Liberian asylum seekers have acted upon their own agency and left their homes to travel to the United States. In contrast to the media depictions, these refugees wish to take full advantage of the opportunities their host countries offer and achieve the "American Dream" (Kasinitz 2008). This dissonance between the media's narrative and refugee reality leads to the refugees' heightened sense of vulnerability and further social exclusion. According to the testimonies of Liberian refugees, many felt that bearing the refugee label also constantly reminded them of the persecution they sought to escape. This perceived lack of economic autonomy and recurrent memory of trauma have provoked a refugee counter labelling

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