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Paper short abstract:

This work sought to place the program logic of rural dispersal of refugees into sharp relief with refugee experiences; to construct a narrative framework of the confluence of environmental and public health disasters on an background of locally experienced global macro trends.

Paper long abstract:

The Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) scheme embodies the push for rural refugee dispersal, linking long-term asylum to working in regional Australia. However, the discourse of resource allocation paired with rural revival is often occurring on a background of communities grappling with various phases of environmental or economic disaster.

Our research sought to counter assumptions in current rural resettlement research, including: rurality as monoculture; the rural Idyll; and positioning refugee groups as a solution rural development.

This work consists of 4 years on in-depth ethnographic fieldwork including semi-structured interviews with rurally based humanitarian entrants and stakeholders; and direct observation of workplace, health and social spaces. The rural settings of 3 country towns provide a nuanced understanding of the impact on rural dispersal policy of humanitarian entrants.

Our study discovered that many people from refugee background in regional communities remained globally connected, were frequently exploited in the labour market and subject to ethnocentric biomedical practices.

The research coincided with multiple environmental and public health disasters, revealing instances where vulnerability to disaster was institutionalised or socially pre determine (structural violence). This research found socioeconomic vulnerabilities intersect with structural failures in under services areas (including health, education and key human services).

While in theory rural dispersal policy serves to enhance rural development, in practice it often translates to compelling vulnerable groups to live in underserviced areas. Compounding this issue, natural disasters and public health crisis contribute to refugee displacement globally and thwart policies of rural refugee settlement locally.