Borders, Boundaries, and Exclusion in the Icelandic Asylum System

Grounded in theories of borders and boundaries, this article critically engages with the processes through which asylum seekers in Iceland are excluded from full participation in society. Immigration laws and bureaucratic barriers contribute to this exclusion, which is a result of restrictions on la...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Refuge
Main Authors: Helga Katrín Tryggvadóttir, Unnur Dís Skaptadóttir
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
French
Published: York University Libraries 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.7202/1055573ar
https://doaj.org/article/0d307abbb31745d9983ca0b29ba4c621
Description
Summary:Grounded in theories of borders and boundaries, this article critically engages with the processes through which asylum seekers in Iceland are excluded from full participation in society. Immigration laws and bureaucratic barriers contribute to this exclusion, which is a result of restrictions on labour market participation, lack of housing, temporality, and lack of meaningful activities. We discuss how borders and boundaries create the identity of the asylum seeker and how the participants in this study experience that identity. We identify three main areas of exclusion: social exclusion, isolation, and cultural boundaries.