Exploring the problems and possibilities of capacity building in refugee organisations: the case of Manchester refugee support network (MRSN).

Nyoni, Green Agrippah (2016) Exploring the problems and possibilities of capacity building in refugee organisations: the case of Manchester refugee support network (MRSN). Doctoral thesis (PhD), Manchester Metropolitan University.

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Abstract

The following thesis has engaged an empirically informed liberationist’s analysis to investigate the role of discriminatory tendencies in the destruction and demonizing of asylum seekers in the UK. The argument is that the hostility directed towards asylum seekers appears to be rooted in a racist connotation that has been perpetuated by successive governments through the legislation of immigration laws that criminalize this group will be explored. Refugees and asylum seekers, by virtue of their position in British Society, face discrimination because of the embedded hegemony of the masked sociological racism, which has replaced biological racism. Successive governments’ control of asylum seekers through immigration has brought to this group a life of destitution and the inability to integrate and develop active citizenship. This study was done with the partnership and participation of Manchester Refugee Support Network (MRSN), which is a refugee led organisation that advocates for the rights of refugees and asylum seekers thus giving a voice to the voiceless. A triangulation approach which involved participatory action research, encompassing formative activities and comparative and liberating perspectives in the quest for social justice was used. This approach inspired the participants to develop participatory and collaborative principles, which in turn presented a channel for them to have a voice. As a result of this the participants were able to challenge and educate those who had oppressed them. The formative approaches in the feedback of my data analysis given to the participants in strategic meetings not just gave them the freedom of deliberation and having the final decision on the course of action to follow but also taking the lead in the implementation. The key actions included improving the services provided by MRSN, fundraising, and developing new campaigns, hence building its capacity. The capacity building entailed the exploration of suggested new projects and training of community leaders to embrace collaborative principles, which aimed at improving governance in community organisations and MRSN. New fundraising strategies were explored in order to seek flexible funds that would allow for projects that had in the past proved difficult to get despite being of paramount demand for example immigration advice. Campaigns included the fight for Basic Rights, Right to Work and against destitution, and the campaigns became more inclusive, and focused on the agenda set by the participants and directed at the right people and were educational.