Olivia Petie

Olivia Petie

Hotel Accommodation for Asylum Seekers in the UK: (in)hospitality and home in precarious accommodation

Supervisors: Professor Jenny Phillimore and Dr Jennifer Allsopp

Olivia’s research examines hotels as a form of precarious accommodation for asylum seekers in the UK, and the relationship between hospitality and home. The research aims to understand how hospitality is or isn’t offered to asylum seekers in the UK through Home Office hotel accommodation; and the implications of living in such

accommodation on the lives of asylum seekers as they establish ‘home’ in the UK. The project has the following objectives:

  • To understand how hotels are used as accommodation for asylum seekers in the UK, including the policies and processes in place which contribute to precariousness.
  • To examine how asylum seekers experience hospitality in hotel accommodation over time, including specific actions, policies, relationships, or conditions they encounter.
  • To investigate the implications of hotel accommodation on the lives of asylum seekers and their ability to establish a new ‘home’ in the UK. 

Olivia’s research will draw on qualitative longitudinal research, creative methods and stakeholder interviews to explore these questions.  

Qualifications

  • BA Combined Honours – Human Geography with English Literature (Newcastle University)
  • MA Human Geography Research (Newcastle University)

Research interests

  • Forced migration and refugee studies (integration, welfare, asylum support and provision, accommodation)
  • Migration studies
  • SGBV and human trafficking
  • Covid-19 and pandemic research
  • Gender and feminism
  • Creative and narrative research methods
  • Qualitative longitudinal research

Biography

Olivia is a part-time ESRC funded Doctoral Researcher at the University of Birmingham, based within the Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS). Her research explores how hotels are currently being used as longer-term accommodation for asylum seekers in the UK, drawing on concepts on hospitality and home. She has a BA in Combined Honours – Geography with English Literature, and an MA in Human Geography Research both from Newcastle University. 

In 2022 Olivia was selected to participate in the EUniWell MADEINEUROPE Winter School alongside other postgraduate students in the field of migration. Olivia expanded her knowledge of the field through participating in cross-disciplinary lectures and seminars on different migration topics, and presenting at a three-day symposium at the University of Florence. 

Additionally, in 2023 Olivia was selected as one of two PhD Students at the University of Birmingham to be winners of the EUniWell PhD Thesis Competition for category of individual and social wellbeing. The prize included funded participation at a research communication workshop at the University of Nantes. 

Alongside her academic work, Olivia has over 7 years of experience working in applied social research and evaluation across the third and public sector. She is currently a Senior Research Manager at Ecorys, working on a range of research and evaluation projects for different clients. Her prior experience includes working as the Senior Evaluation Officer for Chevening Scholarships, and as a Research and Evaluation Manager at Renaisi. 

In her spare time Olivia supports Care4Calais with English classes and clothing distributions for asylum seekers in hotel accommodation, and is a Trustee for the national refugee befriending charity, HostNation.

Conference papers

Petie, O (October 2022), Hotels as places of (in)hospitality in the UK asylum system, 6th RSA MICaRD Research Network Conference, University of Lincoln, UK. 

Petie, O (June 2022), Hospitality or Hostility? Hotel accommodation in the UK asylum system through Covid-19 and beyond, MadeinEurope Winter School Symposium, University of Florence, Italy

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