Military, Political Science, Social Services & Welfare, Public Policy 

Despite its title, this book focuses on British policy toward refugees in the 20th century. The authors establish unequivocally that asylum for the persecuted is a "privilege granted by the state and not an automatic right" and is constrained by limited resources. Often, the "privilege" seems an outcome of political circumstance, economic calculation, and overt racism. Since all major refugee groups are included, the book permits comparison between British treatment of anti-Communist Poles and Hungarians in the 1950s, for example, and European Jews and Ugandan Asians. Less successful are the efforts to explain the interplay of "global, national, and local" factors in the overall refugee situation. However, the authors' account of the work of grass-roots organizations on behalf of refugees in the county of Hampshire, an important settlement area, is an example of fine scholarship and distinguished altruism. Although this book is most suitable for larger academic libraries, it is useful for any library with good collections in European history and Holocaust studies.AZachary T. Irwin, Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.  

This is a study of the history of global refugee movements over the 20th century, ranging from east European Jews fleeing Tsarist oppression at the turn of the century to asylum seekers from the former Zaire and Yugoslavia. Recognizing that the problem of refugees is a universal one, the authors emphasize the human element which should be at the forefront of both the study of refugees and responses to them. - from Amzon 

Contents

INTRODUCTION: Refugees, Place and Memory……………....................................P. 1
World History, Local Studies and the Refugee …………………................................p. 1
Localities and the Refugees ……………………………………….......................................P. 6
International Change and the ‘Refugees Crises’ ………………................................p. 8
Defining Refugees and Common Trend in
Twentieth-Century Movements ……………………………………....................................P.11

PART1 THE CLOSING OF ASYLUM, 1900-1932
1. Refugees In The Age Of Mass Immigration: From The Late Nineteenth Century To The First World War …………………………………….............................................p. 19
The Origins of the Jewish Refugee Movement……………………………......................P. 19
The Growth of Anti-Alienism in Britain and Beyond …………………….....................P. 22
Refugees and Local Society …………………………………………….................................P. 31

2.Refugees And The First World War ………………………………...............................P.43
Anti-Alienism in the First World War ………………………………................................p. 44
The Arrival of Belgian Refugees ………………………………………................................P. 47
The Local Impart of Belgian Refugees ………………………………..............................P. 54
The memory and the Significance of the Belgian Refugees …………....................P.57

3. Triumphant Anti-Alienism: the Absence of Asylum, 1999-1932……...........P. 64
The Absence of Armenian Refugees in Post -1918…………………….......................P. 66
Post war Anti-Alienism ……………………………………………….....................................P. 73
The background to Atlantic Park Hostel ………………………………............................P. 76
The Establishment of Atlantic Park Hostel in the
Context of International Politics ………………………………………...............................P. 81
Atlantic Park and British Jewish Politics ………………………………............................P. 88
Lie in Atlantic Park Hostel and the Local Impact ……………………….......................P. 90

PART 2 THE FASCIST ERA, 1933-1945
4. Refugees from the Spanish Civil War………………....................................P. 103
The Rise of Fascism and the Spanish Civil War …………………….........................P. 103
Support for the Republicans and Assistance to the Refugees …………...............P. 105
The Arrival of the Children and Life in the Camps………………...........................P. 110
Responses to the Refugees ……………………………………….................................….p. 119
The Legacy of the Basque Refugees ……………………………...............................…p. 123


5. Refugees from Nazism, 1933-1939
Introduction: the meaning of asylum during the 1930s ……………....................P. 126
Patterns of refugees movement, 1933-1937………………………….........................P. 130
The Anschluss and Austrian Jewry …………………………………...............................P. 133
‘Kristallnacht’ and After ……………………………………………....................................p. 137
Local Responses in Britain to the Jewish Plight……………………..........................P. 145
The Refugee’s Children Movement…………………………………................................P. 154
Domestic Service And Nursing……………………………......................................... P. 157
Smaller Work Schemes……………………………………..........................................…P. 160
Local Initiatives ……………………………………………...............................................P. 150
Conclusion: Place and Identity …………………………………....................................P. 164

6. Refugees, the Second World War and the Holocaust ……….....................P. 172
War, Internment and After ……………………………………....................................…P. 172
War, Refugees and Local Memory……………………............................................P. 177
The Holocaust and Local Place ……………………...............................................P. 179
The End of Mass Rescue ………………………………….............................................P.181
The Destruction of Polish Jewry……………………………........................................P. 185
Local Knowledge of the ‘Final Solution’………………….......................................P. 193
The Final Stages of the Holocaust…………………..............................................P. 201
Survivors and the Local World………………………..............................................P. 206
Conclusion ………………………………………………….................................................P. 212

PART 3 REFUGEES FROM THE COLD WAR
7. Polish Refugees: Assistance to Wartime Heroes ………….........................P. 217
The Polish Background and Settlement in Britain………………...........................P. 218
The transition to Life in Britain …………………………………….................................p. 224
Life in the camps and employment in Britain ……………………............................p. 226
Local and national responses to the poles ……………………….............................p. 234
The aftermath of the polish settlement …………………………….............................p. 238

8. Refugees from Hungary: Anti- Communist Fervor Takes Hold…..............p. 241
The Hungarian background …………………………………………..................................p. 241
The Hungarian refugee movement …………………………………..............................p. 244
Responses to the Hungarian refugees ………………………………............................p. 248
Life in Britain ………………………………………………………….......................................p. 252
Hampshire and the refugees …………………………………………................................p. 258
Conclusion…………………………………………………………….........................................p. 259

PART 4 GOVERNMENT ENFORCED DISPERSAL DURING THE 1970S AND 1980S
9. Ugandan Asian Exiles: the Colonial Connection …………………...................p. 265
The Background to the Ugandan Asian Crisis …………………….........................…p. 265
Responses to the Ugandan Asian Refugees ………………………….........................p. 269
The dispersal policy ……………………………………………….......................................p. 274
Life in Britain ……………………………………………………............................................p. 281
Conclusion ………………………………………………………...........................................…p. 287

10. Refugees from chile: a gesture of international solidarity……….............…p. 289
The Chilean background ………………………………………........................................p. 289
The settlement of Chilean refugees ……………………………..................................p. 293
Settlement in Britain ……………………………………………........................................p. 297
British reception of the Chileans ………………………………...............................…..p. 301
The chileans’ experience of settlement …………………………...............................p. 302

11. Refugees from indo-china: a media driven resettlement scheme?..........p. 306
The flight from persecution …………………………………........................................p. 306
Offers of asylum ……………………………………………...........................................….p. 309
Settlement in Britain………………………………………….........................................…p. 313
The lives of Vietnamese refugees in Britain ……………………..............................p. 319
The reception camps and beyond ………………………………................................…p. 321
Popular responses to the Vietnamese……………………………................................p. 323
Refugee integration…………………………………………...........................................…p. 325
Conclusion ……………………………………………………….............................................p. 330

PART 5 WORLD ASYLUM SEEKERS AT THE END OF THE CENTURY: CLOSING THE DOORS
12. The Kurds: A Moment of Humanity in an Era of Restriction?..................P. 335
The Kurdish background ………………………………………….....................................p. 336
Responses in Britain ………………………………………………......................................p. 341
Responding to the Kurdish refugees at a local level………………........................p. 347
Kurdish refugee life……………………………………………........................................…p. 351

13. Refugees from former Yugoslavia: the last
‘programme’ refugees?............................................................................p. 355
The collapse of Yugoslavia………………………………………......................................p. 355
British responses to the crisis……………………………………....................................p. 360
The former Yugoslavs in Britain…………………………………….................................p. 366
Local responses…………………………………………………….........................................p. 370
Conclusion…………………………………………………………….........................................p. 372

14. Refugees from the former Zaire: the context of colour……………..............p. 375
The zairean background………………………………………………..................................p. 375
The zairean refugee movement………………………………………...............................p. 378
The use of detention and the assault on asylum……………………....................…..p. 381
Responses to zaireans in Britain………………………………………..............................p. 384
Local responses and zaireans refugees in Hampshire…………….....................….p. 387
Conclusion………………………………………………………….........................................…p. 390

Conclusion: asylum, refugees and ‘home’…………………………............................p. 397
The nature of asylum……………………………………………….....................................p. 397
Refugees……………………………………………………………...........................................p. 406
‘Home’………………………………………………………………............................................p. 411
Notes …………………………………………………………………...........................................p. 418
Bibliography………………………………………………………….........................................p. 483
Index…………………………………………………………………............................................p. 499