ABSTRACT

Involuntary family separation can have severe consequences for the health and well-being of refugees. Through an analysis of interviews with refugees who are attempting, or who have attempted in the past, to bring family members to Finland via family reunification, we show how the passage of time and the uncertainty of not knowing when the family separation will end affect refugees who try to reunite with their families. Our research argues that the prolonged family separation, caused by immigration legislation, bureaucratic practices, and administrative obstacles, can be regarded as administrative violence practiced by countries like Finland against refugee families. Refugees’ health and well-being are often studied against the backdrop of the traumatic experiences they have had in their countries of origin. However, this perspective blurs how immigration bureaucracy causes prolonged and forced family separation, and how, consequently, administrative practices may further traumatize people.