Paper short abstract:

This paper examines how refugee youth, who reside in countries that do not offer access to equitable labour, social, and political rights, confront the boundaries of their immobility by actively identifying strategies of hope that enable them to prepare for a future of belonging.

Paper long abstract:

Today, the majority of refugee youth are hosted in countries that neighbour their home of origin, holding liminal and precarious legal, social, and political statuses. In these countries of first asylum, refugees are often unable to access labour rights, be mobile, or gain access towards citizenship pathways. Yet, refugee youth in these countries are expected to remain in education and build their aspirations towards an 'unknowable future' (Dryden-Peterson 2017), despite being 'neither here or there' (Turner 1969, p. 69); they are unable to return home or move onto countries that offer resettlement opportunities. In this paper, I argue that refugee youths' experiences call attention to the need to move beyond ideas of being 'stuck' and 'waiting' in these forms of immobility. Drawing on a study with Syrian refugee youth in Jordan and Lebanon, I draw on notions of hope and liminality to reflect on the ways Syrian refugee youth in Jordan and Lebanon actively stretch boundaries of immobility. Reflecting on how refugee youth themselves make sense of their spaces, the findings show that refugee youth actively identify strategies that enable them to find 'belonging' within their spaces and to move forward by building their biographical narratives, constructing appropriate networks, and exploring the relevant skills that protect their sense of selfhood. The reflections of this paper highlight how refugee youths' aspirations for belonging remain absent in policies and financially-driven partnerships between the 'Global North' and 'Global South' which dictate refugees' mobility rights.