Countering dominant immigration trends - an evaluation of the implications of bespoke UK resettlement schemes

Resettlement policies are a long-standing practice in the UK and globally. Migration is a fluid concept, and types of migration have been defined and redefined throughout history. Today, mobility equals migrant and sedentary equals state (Nail, 2015), and to some extent, migration is defined by states. This framing of migration by the state paves the way for resettlement policies that are reflective of not only the government’s overall stance towards immigration but also the perception of particular migrants based on demographics, the geopolitical landscape and international norms. Within the UK, much of the debate around migrants and migration policies is driven by hostility (Griffiths and Yeo, 2021). Resettlement policies largely sit outside this dominant narrative as outliers in immigration policy. The aim of this chapter is to examine this paradox, recognising the importance of government-sponsored resettlement schemes and their place in the broader, hostile immigration ecosystem. Resettlement policies are not unfamiliar to the migration system in the UK. Earlier resettlement policies, such as the European Voluntary Workers in Britain (1945–51), are examples of humanitarian resettlement that blur the dichotomy between humanitarian and economic migration (Kay and Miles, 1988). This underscores the notion of the economic benefit of refugees and the unveiling of the ‘accidental Keynesian’ (Hansen, 2017). Resettlement is considered the most desired pathway for forced migrants, particularly those residing in refugee camps (Dryden-Petersen, 2016). However, the resettlement pathway fails to adequately alleviate the increasing pressures of forced migration. The gap between resettlement needs and annual departure following the submission of resettlement to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is increasing (UNHCR, 2022). In the following, we present an overview of the three policies under examination, set out the research approach, present the policy evaluation, and discuss key themes raised by the evaluation and implications for future policy.