To begin the discussion, I will attempt to answer the research questions I posed at the beginning of this text.
Rq1: What is the necessary structure of fieldwork with people on the run?
It is necessary to prepare well before the fieldwork. As the first hypothesis suggests, preparation includes education about international politics, humanitarian issues, and knowledge about the ethnographic fieldwork method.
It is also very important to have some kind of supervision, although it is hard to have it in a
"classical way" because volunteers and activists come and go, there is no constant group.
As the second hypothesis suggests, there is a big difference between theory and practice. It is almost impossible to have a constant group and mentor/supervisor in the same place at the same time all the time. Another thing is that not all volunteers and activists do the same thing and face the same issues. For example, people who run a kitchen or work on legal documents face a lot of questions from others, which can be overwhelming. On the other hand, these groups of people are not looking for the people in the ruins or handing out food, so they don't see a lot of violence or disease. People working on the streets can more often find themselves in a dangerous situation - violence and intimidation from the police or violent people, or unfamiliar streets where they can get lost. In my opinion, this necessary support can be provided individually and online if possible. It can also be done as a self-organized support group between volunteers and activists, which exist at the moment, but that alone is not enough.
The fourth hypothesis follows with the questioning of self-policing on the ground. In my experience, it is easy to slip into "work mode" without reflecting on your own feelings and thoughts because there are so many things to do and it is hard to stop once you are inside and aware of the lack of people giving support and the lack of political will to make things better.
It has also happened to me that I simply forget myself when I am facing hundreds and hundreds of people who do not have basic human rights.
Rq2: What is special about the goals of social work as a human rights profession in relation to people on the run?
As a practice-based profession that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people (IFSW, 2013.), social work with people on the run needs to be radical, denounce illegal practices, push for systemic change, advocate for people who are silenced, but at the same time listen and learn from them. The third hypothesis is about this and at the same time questions the link between practice and theory. I would highlight the mutual learning/teaching part as one of the most important processes in fieldwork. It is a unique way of learning that cannot be done in any other way and it gives experiential knowledge that can be used in different situations. It is also quite difficult because of language barrier, cultural differences, religious views etc. but the point is to get other perspectives than your own to understand situations around you better.
The idea of solidarity is an important guide for the development of self-organized, autonomous groups that are sufficiently empowered and supported to achieve the goal.
Rq3: What are the qualitative added values of fieldwork that bring a deep understanding of the problems of people on the run for social workers?
Without fieldwork, I would not be able to see the whole picture. Just by working in organizations and institutions in countries that are a desirable destination for people, you can partly gain knowledge and experience. When you are on the ground and meet people who are still fleeing, you can see a whole list of problematic policies, challenges, illegal practices, etc.
Once you know both sides, you can start thinking about new ways and opportunities that are more functional. You can also better understand some behavior patterns once people are on
"safe ground" and thus offer better support.
Through the experience of this fieldwork, I have gained new experiences and insights, met different people who have given me new perspectives, and I have learned a lot. I can pick out a few conclusions that I have come to along the way.
As social work students and future professionals, it is necessary that we acquire knowledge not only within the faculty, but through active participation in society.
As I have shown throughout this thesis, there are many situations in the field that are unexpected, new, and shocking. Every day spent in the field brings experiences that help in the next similar situation. In such moments, theoretical knowledge is insufficient and very often deficient, and immediate response is needed. Fieldwork is a unique opportunity to get to know oneself and others on a different level. The experiential knowledge that a person acquires through fieldwork is later applicable in work.
Field work, in this case with people on the run, needs good preparation, which includes education about the historical and political context of states, understanding of national and international laws and regulations to make the work more concrete and productive.
Without this kind of prior knowledge, it is very difficult to understand certain situations and responses. This opens the possibility of mistakes that are unnecessary and can be avoided.
Also, with proper preparation, it is possible to develop better and more functional plans and ways of providing support. It ensures that the support is legal and does not endanger activists or people on the street.
One area that needs to be emphasized more and worked on more by the faculty is advocacy.
What I think is lacking in social work practice (as well as theory) is advocacy. Formal education could provide a framework and a foundation, basic tools that are easier to understand and apply in practice. Advocacy is one of those things that can have a very positive impact on a whole group of people if done well.
For local work to be successful, it is necessary to connect with the local community, listen to their arguments and adapt to the way they work.
Through my experience, I have learned that one of the most important things is to listen to the local community that is active in the area I work in myself. I have repeatedly experienced unnecessary conflict and difficulties caused by ignoring the local community. It has often happened that international volunteers and activists do more harm than good because they
cause tensions between the locals or the police and the people on the move, and in the end it is the people on the move who suffer the consequences.
It is necessary to have some form of supervision for volunteers and activists to de-stress themselves and reduce the possibility of burnout and other stress related syndromes. Working with people on the move is extremely demanding on all levels. There are simply too many needs and too few people. This very often leads to feelings of helplessness. There are a lot of things happening in a day, a lot of information, it's intense. If a person has no measure, it can very easily lead to a mental and physical breakdown, which is what happened to me. The consequences are then long term and it takes a lot of work on oneself to stabilize the person.
This kind of field work should not be a free service for which the government does not have the will to find a solution, but an activist one that requires changes in practice and theory, legislation and justice.
When we talk about people on the run, and this can be applied to other areas as well, it is not enough to just "do" this part of meeting basic human needs. If there are illegal practices, like pushbacks or violence, every individual has an obligation to point it out, to respond. If there is a larger group of people, it is possible to organize and gather testimony, as some organizations do. And with the evidence try to put pressure for changes in the system.