Refugee Resettlement: Models in Action

A model of refugee resettlement containing two axes is proposed: volume of refugee intake and emphasis on economic or cultural adaptation. The resultant fourfold scheme yields three types of resettlement activities which can be sustained over a protracted period of time: large volume/primacy on economic adaptation; moderate volume/primacy on economic adaptation; moderate volume/primacy on cultural adaptation. Large volume/emphasis on cultural adaptation, however, is a type which is structurally unstable and in practice would modify into another form. Refugee resettlement practices of three major receiving countries, Canada, France, United States, reflect principles derived from these three stable types. France and Canada exemplify moderate intake with emphasis on economic adaptation, although Quebec uniquely demonstrates moderate intake/emphasis on cultural adaptation. Practices in the United States overwhelmingly correspond to large volume/emphasis on economic adaptation.