European refugees in (white) Australia: identity, community and labour market integration
Abstract
Introduction: Refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina1 (’Bosnia’ in further text) were the largest single component of the Australian humanitarian immigration program during the 1990s (Jupp 2002). Almost without exception, Bosnians arrived as ‘quota refugees’ with permanent visas, and have mostly settled in large Australian cities. Over the past decade, an estimated 4,000–5,000 settled in Perth, Western Australia, and between 12,000 and 14,000 in Sydney and surrounding areas of New South Wales. This research has been conducted in Perth and Sydney. While exploring the process of Australian resettlement of Bosnians I have identified several key issues. These issues — identity, community and re-establishing ‘normal life’ — featured prominently in refugee narratives. The central condition for the re-establishment of ‘normalcy’ seemed to be gaining employment, and for professional people, gaining a satisfactory occupational status. All three issues are exceedingly complex and also very much interconnected in the process of resettlement of Bosnians in Australia. The issue of community seems to be central; Bosnian communities represent a relevant micro-context of resettlement, both in terms of identity reconstruction and employment, especially in the early stages of resettlement.