Abstract
Humanitarian programmes that offer support and aid to disenfranchised and displaced populations often focus on transient minorities in a state of hyper-vulnerability. Constant relocation of these groups from unsafe environments resulting from humanitarian crises or housing instability leaves a disproportionate segment of this population with inadequate housing or temporary shelter. Despite the best efforts of relief organisations, some disenfranchised and displaced groups view humanitarian outreach as a last resort and opt to meet their needs independently. Too often, these minorities are cast in a pitiable light and regarded as separate from the macro-societies they are part of. In this way, the border that defines these groups result from a state of being rather than a drawn boundary. How marginalised minority populations reject the larger society and sustain themselves outside conventional economic sectors is a subject of long-standing interest. This interest draws upon volunteer experience with habitat for humanity between 2005 and 2009 and first-hand accounts and statistical data of outreach to groups seeking asylum. These efforts are part of an ongoing examination of undercaste micro-communities in Lebanon and the US that are shunned within greater macro-societies.
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Notes
- 1.
Undercaste micro-communities refer to collectives of minorities, marginalized and existing on the fringes of the macro-societies. These communities are forged by strong social ties and the utilization of branching informal networks to the extent where participation in formal economies that provide little benefit or are unprocurable is rendered optional.
- 2.
Hyper-vulnerability refers to the marginalized state minorities, utilizing informal economies within their micro-communities, reach after encountering a breaking point.
- 3.
Derived from UN-Habitat (2003), The Challenge of Slums; UN-Habitat (2013), The State of the World Cities Report 2012/13.
- 4.
Protracted refugee situations (PRSs) occur when refugees are in exile for five or more years after their initial displacement without immediate prospects for implementing durable solutions (UNHCR 2004, ExCom).
- 5.
A routine statement by Lebanese governmental, municipal, and local community representatives when opposing the option of hosting Syrian refugees in Lebanon was, “We learned from the Palestinian camp experience.” (UN-Habitat et al. 2015, p. 45).
- 6.
Lebanese municipalities imposed at least 45 curfews on Syrian refugees in 2014. Human Rights Watch, http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/10/03/lebanon-least-45-local-curfews-imposed-syrian-refugees, accessed 14 June 2018.
- 7.
IRC Economic Impacts of Syrian Refugees (2016a) https://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/document/465/ircpolicybriefeconomicimpactsofsyrianrefugees.pdf.
- 8.
Labour laws evict Syrian refugees across Lebanon and shut their businesses down. The New Arab, https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/4/4/lebanon-displaces-syrian-refugees-forces-them-to-close-businesses, accessed 20 June 2018.
- 9.
Um Laith’s name was changed by the IRC for her safety.
- 10.
Syrian refugees in Lebanon live in fear after Arsal. Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/08/syrian-refugees-lebanon-live-fear-arsal-170826083802752.html, accessed April 15, 2018.
- 11.
See UNHCR and UNDP Impact of Humanitarian Aid on the Lebanese Economy 2015, http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Impact%20of%20Humanitarian%20Aid-UNDP-UNHCR.PDF, p. 5.
- 12.
After Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico was in the dark for 181 days, 6 h and 45 min. Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/puerto-rico-hurricane-recovery/?utm_term=.b4dad52a98de, accessed May 20, 2018.
- 13.
Hurricane Maria death toll may be more than 4600 in Puerto Rico. CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/29/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-death-toll/index.html, accessed May 2, 2018.
- 14.
FEMA’s plan underestimated the Puerto Rican hurricane. POLITICO, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/15/puerto-rico-hurricane-fema-disaster-523033, accessed May 22, 2018.
- 15.
How Trump favored Texas over Puerto Rico. POLITICO, https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/27/donald-trump-fema-hurricane-maria-response-480557, accessed 22 May 2018.
- 16.
FEMA Region II Hurricane Annex for Puerto Rico & US Virgin Islands (2014) https://cdn.muckrock.com/foia_files/2018/03/20/2018-FEFO-00223_Response_Document.pdf
- 17.
Exodus from Puerto Rico grows as the island struggles to rebound from Hurricane Maria. The Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/exodus-from-puerto-rico-grows-as-island-struggles-to-rebound-from-hurricane-maria/2018/03/06/b2fcb996-16c3-11e8-92c9-376b4fe57ff7_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.bc9c51f0c055, accessed 12 May 2018.
- 18.
Morning Consult National Tracking Poll (2017) https://morningconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/170916_crosstabs_pr_v1_KD.pdf
- 19.
Puerto Rico is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis. Where is the media? The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/26/puerto-rico-brink-humanitarian-crisis-media, accessed May 14, 2018.
- 20.
Puerto Ricans are Americans, but that doesn’t matter to the U.S. Huffington Post, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opinion-agrelo-puerto-rico-citizens_us_5a981fa8e4b0e6a5230595f7, accessed May 14, 2018.
- 21.
OCHA Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (2004) http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/43ce1cff2.pdf
- 22.
Puerto Rico Hurricane Maria (DR-4339). FEMA, https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4339, accessed June 26, 2018.
- 23.
Housing Resources for Residents of Puerto Rico Displaced by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. FEMA, https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2017/10/30/4339/housing-resources-residents-puerto-rico-displaced-hurricanes-irma-and-maria, accessed May 15, 2018.
- 24.
Unable to Prove They Own Their Homes, Puerto Ricans Denied FEMA Help. NPR, https://www.npr.org/2018/03/20/595240841/unable-to-prove-they-own-their-homes-puerto-ricans-denied-fema-help, accessed May 15, 2018.
- 25.
Puerto Rico hurricane recovery worsened by nearly 1 million homes built illegally. Newsweek, http://www.newsweek.com/puerto-rico-housing-hurricane-illegally-806808, accessed May 15, 2018.
- 26.
After Disaster, San Juan’s Poorest Residents are at Risk of Losing Their Lifeline. CPI, http://periodismoinvestigativo.com/2018/05/after-disaster-san-juans-poorest-residents-are-at-risk-of-losing-their-lifeline/, accessed May 15, 2018.
- 27.
Puerto Rico’s Operation Bootstrap. Brown University Library, https://library.brown.edu/create/modernlatinamerica/chapters/chapter-12-strategies-for-economic-developmen/puerto-ricos-operation-bootstrap/, accessed May 15, 2018.
- 28.
Hurricane Maria strikes Puerto Rico after pummeling Caribbean. New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/hurricane-maria-strikes-puerto-rico-pummeling-caribbean-gallery-1.3508527, accessed May 14, 2018.
- 29.
Puerto Rico’s Slow Hurricane Recovery Is Suffocating Small Business. Bloomberg Business week, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-07/puerto-rico-s-slow-hurricane-recovery-is-suffocating-small-business, accessed May 14, 2018.
- 30.
Puerto Rico’s Agriculture and Farmers Decimated by Maria. The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/us/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-agriculture-.html?mcubz=0&_r=0, accessed May 14, 2018.
- 31.
Puerto Rico’s Tax Dodgers Hide in Plain Sight on Every Corner. Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-22/puerto-rico-s-tax-dodgers-hide-in-plain-sight-on-every-corner, accessed May 14, 2018.
- 32.
A FEMA program has sheltered thousands of Puerto Ricans since Hurricane Maria. But now, the evacuees fear its days are numbered. Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-hurricane-housing-20180423-story.html, accessed May 16, 2018.
- 33.
Puerto Rico Professionals in Limbo: Massachusetts Laws Create Roadblocks to Employment. The Valley Advocate, http://valleyadvocate.com/2018/01/05/puerto-rico-professionals-limbo-massachusetts-laws-create-roadblocks-employment/, accessed May 16, 2018.
- 34.
Name has been changed by request.
- 35.
Refers to the American Dream, a societal ethos of the United States that embodies the attainment of personal freedoms and material prosperity.
- 36.
The working poor is individuals employed or seeking employment, 27 weeks in the labour force or more, yet their incomes still fall below the official poverty level.
- 37.
Housing Insecurity Dashboard. Enterprise Community Partners, http://www.housinginsecurity.org/, accessed July 9, 2018.
- 38.
See: Right-to-work states: Georgia, http://www.nrtw.org/right-to-work-states-georgia/.
- 39.
- 40.
For more information, see: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap.
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Snowden, M.J. (2023). Displaced: Vulnerability and Survival Within Segregated Undercaste Micro-Cultures. In: Zaman, Q.M., Hall, G.G. (eds) Border Urbanism. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06604-7_17
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