Abstract

This is an ethnographic account of refugee resettlement as it occurs in a Reception House for government sponsored refugees. This thesis explores issues of agency and negotiation for those defined as refugees in an environment that can be complex, bureaucratic and controlled. Since Canada Immigration privatized the area of refugee resettlement, immigrant serving agencies are funded by the government to facilitate the refugee resettlement process. The contradictions of a system developed to assist refugees are explored at the local level. This thesis attempts to challenge the notion of forced migration, the image of refugeeness and homogenizing the people of the refugee category. While there is vast literature that deals with asylum seekers or refugee claimants, very little has specifically been written about government sponsored refugees. Although these refugees are accepted to Canada as permanent residents, they are still subjected to many of the same stereotypes as other refugees without permanent status.