Paper short abstract:

This paper studies housing of female asylum seekers in the small but hospitable city of Göttingen through the reception policies of German federal states as well as support networks woven by civic initiatives and explores various contention about the housing settings as gendered spaces.

Paper long abstract:

This paper studies housing of female asylum seekers in the small but hospitable city of Göttingen through the reception policies of German federal states as well as support networks woven by civic initiatives. While the housing in the city of Göttingen is an orchestrated effort by the local government and humanitarian organization housing the asylum seekers in collective shelters, the private housing being offered to those with better prospects to stay, even if with uncontentious cases of medical condition requiring hygiene and care. Therefore, the accommodation of female asylum seekers reveals contention among various actors about the rationalization and implementation of gender-specific needs about housing in collective spaces. The contention mainly revolves around refugee shelter lacking "minimum standards" of housing. The concerns among civil society, as well as asylum seekers arise about especially shelters deemed to be temporary, warehouses and other buildings put into service as housing as an emergency response after the long summer of migration 2015. On the other hand, the asylum seekers with unfavorable prospects to stay may be also forced out of the shelters with fear of deportation and seek refuge in church asylum, shared apartments and squatter housings promoted by civic initiatives. This paper, focusing on the female asylum seekers caught in a limbo residing in these places, explores the contention on refugee housing in urban settings as gendered spaces. It also inquires the tension between the housing and home emerging in these settings, through a narrative-biological approach on everyday home-making of asylum seekers.