Tipos de aprendizaje que guían el proyecto: CLIL, el debate en congresos científicos y

I begin in Chapter Two by offering an overview of the research context for this project as well as a detailed description of the specific methodology employed to gather data. The chapter begins by describing the particular moment in time that characterized the region when research was carried out between the summer of 2015 and the fall of 2017. This includes a description of the recent political changes in Myanmar as well as a timeline of activity leading up to the commencement of UNHCR’s voluntary repatriation program. This is followed by a summary of the preliminary research conducted in 2015 as well as its impact on the overall study. The next section goes on to describe the

commencement of the primary research period beginning in January of 2017 with three months of archival work at The University of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre. This section also includes a detailed description of the research site, Mae La refugee camp, located on the Thai-Myanmar border. The second half of the chapter offers a discussion of the methodology used in this study including descriptions of the project design, research population, recruitment and data collection, accuracy of data and methods of analysis. In the final section, a brief commentary is offered in regards to the ethical challenges faced in the field.

Chapter Three begins with an analysis of how Thailand’s unique history of

diplomacy, nationalism and independence has colored the current political landscape in regards to labor migration, as well as how it has intersected with current refugee policy.

This is followed by a discussion of how the political and economic reforms happening within Myanmar are currently shaping diplomatic relations with Thailand and

consequently affecting the fate of refugees residing in camps along the border. The chapter

then offers a brief commentary on the emergence of special economic zones as a potential solution to both forced and irregular migration while offering a word of caution about the risks of development-induced displacement. The final section explores how refugees

waiting in the confines of a camp are especially at risk of forming a new working underclass known as “the precariat” which may undermine attempts at creating economic security while derailing efforts towards voluntary repatriation.

Chapter Four begins with an overview of how anthropologists have approached the issue of time and temporalities in different cultures while also exploring how theoretical constructions of time intersect with experiences of waiting, liminality, and exile. This is followed by a discussion of the theoretical frameworks that conceptualize time as a tool of resistance and argue for its applicability to the protracted refugee situation along the Thai-Myanmar border. The next section focuses on refugee experiences of exile as well as illustrating how religion has played a role in transforming the exilic experience in the case of Baptist Karen refugees. In the final section, attention is focused on summarizing the importance of including experiences of time, waiting and exile within the broader literature of forced migration as well as why modes of resistance should always be considered in relation to repatriation design.

Chapter Five begins with a discussion of the internationally accepted protocol for resolving a protracted refugee crisis in relation to the Thai-Myanmar situation. This is followed by an explanation of the current voluntary repatriation program being

implemented by UNHCR and an update on its status. The remainder of the chapter focuses on research outcomes regarding refugee perceptions of return. This includes both reported barriers to repatriation as described in interviews with refugees as well as other barriers

identified through qualitative analysis and observation. In concluding remarks, I offer a summary of the impossible choice many Karen are currently facing in Mae La camp in relation to return.

Chapter Six begins with a discussion of how durable solutions have evolved in response to protracted refugee situations as well as an examination of what has recently been termed the ‘fourth durable solution’. Following this is a brief commentary on the rise of strategies that seek to promote self-reliance prior to return and how they may aid sustainable forms of repatriation. In the final section, special consideration is paid to the notable emergence of a ‘model village’ to house returning refugees and IDPs in Myanmar in relation to its efficacy as a durable solution.

Chapter Seven concludes with a discussion on the theoretical contributions of this work to the anthropology of forced migration and the study of temporalities. This is followed by a discussion of the applied contribution to refugee policy and how we might imagine a protracted form of protection. Additionally an update on the events that have transpired on the border following the conclusion of fieldwork is provided as well as recommended directions for future research.

Chapter 2

RESEARCH CONTEXT AND METHODOLOGY

2.1 Introduction

In order to provide context for the following chapters, it is important to note the particular moment in time that characterized the region when research was carried out for this project between the summer of 2015 and the fall of 2017. Over the past 33 years, in what has been one of the most protracted refugee situations of global record, the status of refugees along the Thai-Myanmar border has oscillated between ‘crisis’ to ‘forgotten tragedy’ to ‘political predicament’ to ‘impending resolution’. As such, these

characterizations often ebb and flow, like a cyclical changing of the tide as various governments, agreements, programs, and people come and go. The only constants that have remained are the camps themselves, symbolic spaces of a deteriorating peace process, and the people who are trapped within them, living in limbo between the revolving blades of “progress”. It is a paradoxical fate to be both indifferent to change due to a lived

experience of prolonged stasis, but also to experience perpetual anxiety at the uncertainty of the future. Thus when forced to live for decades confined to a small geographic space which requires dependency on foreign aid to survive, one becomes consumed with finding ways to ‘move on’, even if physical movement itself is impossible. It is within these confines that my research sits, albeit on the crest of one of the more promising waves of change.