Asylum Seeking and Human Development

This work is an analytical study of the education and training for asylum seekers in Denmark. The Education and Activation policy was introduced in 2003 in the Danish asylum system. Among other things, the policy was to enable asylum seekers receive lessons in Danish and English languages as well as participate in unpaid work in Danish institutions. This book is a multi-sited ethnographic study of these training programs. Theoretically, arguing out the Danish asylum system as a Total Institution, asylum seekers are positioned as vulnerable people. The research continues to find out how these vulnerable asylum seekers are empowered through their participation in this training program. Using the Capabilities Approach in Human Development, analysis and conclusions are made that there is a level of empowerment which ultimately helps in the integration of refugees in Denmark. However, two suggestions are made in relation to the program. Adherence to these suggestions is believed to increase the level of empowerment and freedom for asylum seekers - ‘freedom within the asylum walls’.