| Summary: | Thesis: S.M. in Architecture Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture, 2016. === Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. "Due to the condition of the original material, there are unavoidable flaws in this reproduction"--Disclaimer Notice page. === Includes bibliographical references (pages [116]-118). === International concern over displacement has increased dramatically after the mass influx of refugees to Europe during 2015. According to UNHCR data, one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum'. While the number of stateless people is increasing, the usual framework for providing humanitarian help is proving inadequate When it comes to the inclusion of stateless people to a political community, only 21 percent of all asylum applications in the European Union were accepted in 2015, leaving more than 800,000 people in a stateless limbo 2. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently published the memo "Alternatives to Camps Making It Work" to address temporarily housing stateless people in camps outside the legal boundaries of the state. The memo suggests that camps should only be formed as a strategy of exception. In reality, within 2014, 32.5 million people were living under humanitarian protection for up to 20 years . With the UN announcement of a 17 billion dollar deficit 4, the maintenance of these spaces is not sustainable anymore and a more effective way to fund and provide humanitarian help is necessary. This thesis investigates the Refugee Crisis in the framework of the European continent, specifically the East Mediterranean Refugee Route, as a medium to identify opportunities for the sustainable future of stateless people in the twenty-first century departing from the dysfunctional medium of admissions and the failed paradigm of camps. The finding of the jurisdictional tabula rasa at the extraterritorial space of the non-Schengen borders of the EU is the opportunity supporting the design of an autonomous entity for the stateless. I suggest a network of complementary settlements that allow the self-determination of displaced populations and that operate in a mutually symbiotic relationship with adjacent communities. The alternative for the stateless is tested at the border passage from Greece to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Vardar Valley. === by Melina Philippou. === S.M. in Architecture Studies
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