In Different Voices: Auckland Refugee Communities’ Engagement with Conflict Resolution in New Zealand

Refugees face well-documented challenges in adapting to life in a new country, including accessing formal justice mechanisms and institutions and engaging in forms of dispute resolution that are culturally relevant, appropriate, and sensitive to the communities involved. Nevertheless, how refugee communities deal with intra- and inter-community conflicts is an under-studied aspect of the settlement process in refugee resettlement states. This article focuses on how three groups (refugee community leaders, conflict resolution professionals, and policy advisors and analysts) integrally involved in conflict resolution matters with refugees in New Zealand, one of the 26 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) resettlement states for refugees, perceive the key sources of conflict within and between refugee communities, other migrant communities, and the host society. It examines the ways refugee communities in New Zealand’s largest city attempt to address conflicts and the problems and continuing difficulties they face in attempting to meet government expectations of achieving successful integration while dealing with conflict issues. Recommendations for future policy consideration by decision-makers in relation to refugees and conflict resolution (such as government support for traditional or culturally adapted early intervention conflict resolution methods and mechanisms used by refugee communities, and dedicated training in refugee and migrant awareness for professionals working in conflict resolution) are also included in this article.