Persistent precarity? Examining refugee resettlement to Norway as a durable solution

Bibliographic Data

ID24226154
AuthorsAstrid Espegren (0009-0007-0087-1411, Norwegian University of Science and Technology), Ingunn Bjørkhaug (0000-0002-8962-2740, The Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research)
Year2026
Pages1-19
Publication date2026-04-15
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1369183x.2026.2655053
OpenAlexW7154456754
LanguageEN
References cited54

As the number of resettlement places worldwide has drastically declined in recent years, selection for resettlement has increasingly become a privilege granted to only a small fraction of refugees in need of a durable solution. Although resettlement provides protection and new opportunities, it can also perpetuate precarity. Drawing on interviews with Norwegian public officers who interact with refugees before and after resettlement, this study examines institutional, legal, and policy barriers that can contribute to precarity for refugees with limited education. These challenges highlight a tension between migration policies which prioritise individuals from protracted refugee situations, often with limited formal education, and integration policies which emphasise rapid labour-market entry and impose stringent requirements for permanent residency. Building on these insights, this article contributes to the academic debate on durable solutions by exploring how the challenges refugees encounter both before and after resettlement can transform and prolong, rather than eliminate, precarity.

durable solutions · integration policy · labour market entry · migration policy · Norway · permanent residence · Precarity · protracted refugee situations · refugee resettlement · Migration and Exile Studies · Migration, Racism, and Human Rights · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

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