ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the experiences of refugee settlement and uses a theoretical lens of belonging to understand the multiple aspirations associated with integration, social cohesion and participation in a new host society. It focuses to inform the theory and practice of belonging to transnational refugee settlement. The chapter explores the dynamics and will use the term 'refugee' while acknowledging that it remains contested and contestable in the academic literature and through people's narratives and identities. The book emphasizes the lived experiences of discrimination and exclusion inhibits particular groups' indigenous knowledges and pathways to healing. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees acknowledges (UNHCR) notes that 86 per cent of the world's refugees are settled in neighbouring countries and the top ten countries hosting refugees are classed as developing.
