When the “vulnerable” talk back: subjective responses and individual experiences of young refugees

In the context of international protection and reception, an increasing amount of interest has been given to the assessment of vulnerability among forced migrants in order to provide special provisions and guarantees to ‘vulnerable refugees’. However, a common definition of vulnerability does not exist. The systematisation of individuals’ experiences in pre-defined bureaucratic categories risks ignoring the contextual and contingent nature of migrants’ vulnerability, the subjective and biographical differences among those considered vulnerable and the agency of each individual facing conditions of vulnerability. Thus, in the context of the H2020 project MIMY, this paper proposes to explore the experiences and feelings of the people living in an apparent condition of vulnerability. Based on in-depth interviews with young adults who obtained refugee status in Luxembourg but still live in ‘temporary’ reception centres, the current study wants to move beyond the bureaucratic vulnerability label, questioning the relationship between structural, contingent and material conditions of vulnerability and the subjective experiences and responses of the active agents who occupy them. Additionally, bringing the stories and perspectives of young refugees living in Luxembourg to the forefront, the study points to the variability of vulnerability at the individual level in the context of integration. We propose to analyse such plurality of stories through the lens of agency and temporality, as the unique product of past personal experiences, current situations of difficulty and conditions of(in)security (based on the interrelationship between obstacles and resources) and individual future perspectives and feelings of self-efficacy.