The main scientific conclusions related to the role of socio-economic status and deciding on a place in exile; choosing when to flee; maintaining a relationship to the home country; and gender.
Firstly, socio-economic status impacted destination wishes differently to what is usually assumed. The informants in this research had the capital to make it to Europe, but some had started in neighbouring countries to Burundi and many discussed plans for their next move to be back to the African continent. The reasons for this were both personal and socio-economic. People wanted to be closer to home and friends and family, but having experienced a large fall in socio-economic status when moving to Europe and usually being unable to climb the ladder completely the dreams and plans of a return to the African continent also related to ideas of where it is easiest to maintain high socio-economic status.
Secondly, socio-economic status impacted on when people fled Burundi. Even though all the informants had capital and could make arrangements quite quickly to flee they did not leave as soon as the situation in Burundi became insecure for them. On the contrary, the informants used their capital to avoid fleeing. They did this by being mobile within the capital city, within the country or by crossing borders to neighbouring countries temporarily. This required capital to lease new houses on short notice, to have jobs where it was possible to work from home or to have the capital to be able to take unpaid leave. High socio-economic status was thus used to delay fleeing as long as possible.
Thirdly, socio-economic status, and its fall on arrival in Europe impacted the relationship to Burundi. As a very poor country, without a welfare system, people helping each other out financially when possible is a highly important part of being part of Burundian society. It varied between informants how successful they were in maintaining their socio-economic status. A few (mostly women whose husbands were in well paid jobs on the African continent) still enjoyed a relatively high socio-economic status and could for example buy land in Burundi after having fled, thus clearly "investing" in the dream of return. More importantly they could also continue support those less fortunate in Burundi. For the majority of informants sending money to Burundi was getting more difficult and there was a sense of shame for not being able to support people they way they used to. Due to this shame they were less and less in touch with people back home in Burundi.
Fourthly, socio-economic status impacted gender relations. Although divorce rates in Burundi are very low, informants all agreed that this changed once people had fled to Europe. Some of the men spoke of a change in culture or had ideas that displacement changes people. The women, who are usually the instigators of divorce, however connected the higher divorce rate to the fall in socio-economic status. Prior to displacement all informants had been in relationships where both husband and wife had university education and jobs linked to that education. They paid people for housework, childcare, gardening and sometimes driving. Once they came to Europe they had less means and were in a society where only the very well off can afford to have a number of staff in their household. All the women spoke about this and that all this extra work ended up as their responsibility. The women also spoke of the difficulties their husbands went through when not getting jobs or jobs they found fulfilling. The loss in socio-economic status was felt as a loss of masculinity for the men. The additional unpaid labour was a burden which usually landed on the women and was identified by the women as the most common reason for divorce amongst Burundian displaced couples.
The results of the research come at an important time when there is more need than ever for evidence-based discussion and policies on African migration to Europe. The engagement with media has helped generate a discussion on the different experiences of displaced people in Iceland and it is expected that the forth-coming policy note, written in English will reach a larger audience, including policy makers, particularly in the Nordic region.
