The RRN Research Digest provides a synopsis of recent research on refugee and forced migration issues from entities associated with the RRN and others.

You can download the digest in PDF format here: RRN Research Digest No. 133

NEW RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

Lokot, M. (2022). Unravelling Humanitarian Narratives: Gender Norm Change during Displacement?. Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, 4(2), 22-31. The paper examines how colonial and neoliberal imperatives influence dominant gender narratives about refugees and IDPs. Based on ethnographic data from Syrian refugees in Jordan and interviews with local and international humanitarian practitioners, this paper grapples with the problems associated with fixating on ‘change’ during displacement. It proposes ‘resistance’ as an alternative way of analyzing gender and shifts the focus from displacement to provide insights about gender norms before conflict.

[New Book] Martani, E., Helly, D. (eds.) (2022). Asylum and resettlement in Canada. Historical development, successes, challenges and lessons. Genova: Genova University Press. While Canada is considered the world leader in the protection of refugees, the Canadian protection system exhibits a series of deficiencies, ranging from detention policies and deportation, down to integration obstacles and other associated challenges. In addition, other issues including violence, vulnerability, denial of rights, and growing hostility toward migrants and refugees undermine the overall health and image of the system. This book is a project aimed at addressing this topic and its associated challenges. The overall goal is to provide readers with an in-depth account of Canada’s refugee protection programs, their origins and development, their achievements, challenges and metamorphoses, with a particular accent given to the role of community involvement in these programs. 

Hamilton Byrne, W., Gammeltoft-Hansen, T., Piccolo, S., MØller, N. H., Slaats, T., & Katsikouli, P. (2023). Data-Driven Futures of International Refugee Law. Journal of Refugee Studies. As refugee law practice enters the world of data, it is time to take stock of what refugee law research can gain from technological developments. This article outlines a computationally driven research agenda to tackle refugee status determination variations as a recalcitrant puzzle of refugee law. It first outlines how the growing field of computational law may be canvassed to conduct legal research in refugee studies at a greater empirical scale than traditional legal methods. It then exemplifies the empirical purchase of a data-driven approach to refugee law through an analysis of the Danish Refugee Appeal Board’s asylum case law. It outlines methods for comparison with datasets from Australia, Canada, and the United States. The article concludes by addressing the data politics arising from a turn to digital methods, and how these can be confronted through insights from critical data studies and reflexive research practices.

Transnational Biographies. Changing We-images, Collective Belongings and Power Chances of Migrants and Refugees. Gabriele Rosenthal (ed.) (2022). Göttingen: Göttingen University Press, Göttingen Series in Sociological Biographical Research. The articles in this volume focus on migrants at their place of arrival and ask questions such as: How do they look back on their life histories and migration paths? What dynamics and processes led to their migration projects, and how do they explain their motives? The studies in this volume show that leaving and arriving are interrelated: leaving one’s home region is part of a long process, partly planned and partly unplanned, which is determined by complex collective, familial and individual patterns, and which has significant consequences for the action patterns and participation strategies of migrants in their arrival societies. This book also shows which patterns enable some migrants to realize their goals in their present situation, and which constraints or obstacles make it impossible for others to do so.

Liza G. Steele, Lamis Abdelaaty & Nga Than (2023) Attitudes about refugees and immigrants arriving in the United States: a conjoint experiment, Ethnic and Racial Studies. Using original data from a nationally representative conjoint survey experiment conducted in 2019, the authors examine whether US citizens’ attitudes toward refugees are distinct from their attitudes toward other types of immigrants to the US, and how applicant attributes shape American citizens’ preferences about the admission of foreigners. They find that immigrant and refugee reasons (as defined by law) for migrating to the US affect attitudes, with refugee reasons garnering greater support. The labels “immigrant” and “refugee” on their own have smaller effects, in general, but can be salient in combination with other characteristics. They also find marked effects of newcomers’ characteristics, especially country of origin, profession, gender and religion.

Isaakyan, I., Triandafyllidou, A., & Baglioni, S. (2023). Immigrant and Asylum Seekers Labour Market Integration upon Arrival: NowHereLand: A Biographical Perspective . Springer Nature. This open access book discusses labour market integration policies in various cultural contexts. The authors Juxtapose policies and practices to the experience of recently arrived migrants, refugees and asylum seekers and discuss the actors involved, such as state and local authorities, employers, and migrant support organizations.

REPORTS AND POLICY BRIEFS

Jane Linekar & Bram Frouws (2022) Climate change, environmental stressors, and mixed migration, Insights and key messages drawn from a decade of MMC research and 4Mi data collection, Mixed Migration Centre (MMC). This paper presents seven key messages on climate change, environmental stressors, and mixed migration, drawn from years of MMC research and 4Mi data collection, to bridge the conversations taking place in different sectors. 

Derya Ozkul (2023), Automating Immigration and Asylum: The Uses of New Technologies in Migration and Asylum Governance in Europe, Algorithmic Fairness for Asylum Seekers and Refugees (AFAR) Project. From lie detection tools tested at the borders to dialect recognition technologies, many new technologies are being used and tested on migrants, including asylum seekers, across Europe. The new report by the AFAR project shows the multitude of uses of new technologies across Europe at the national and EU levels. In particular, the report explores in detail the use of forecasting tools, risk assessment, and triaging systems, processing of short- and long-term residency and citizenship applications, document verification, speech and dialect recognition, distribution of welfare benefits, matching tools, mobile phone data extraction and electronic monitoring, across Europe. It highlights the need for transparency and thorough training of decision-makers, as well as the inclusion of migrants’ interests in the design, decision, and implementation stages. 

Going the Distance: Immigrant Youth in Canada’s Labour Market, World Education Services (WES) & Internationally Trained Physicians of Ontario (ITPO), February 9, 2023. This report examines the disparity between the high levels of academic success immigrant and refugee youth achieve and the challenges they encounter when seeking to enter the workforce. It also provides several programmatic and policy recommendations to facilitate the inclusion and long-term advancement of immigrant and refugee youth.

Monteiro, S., Pillai, N., & Kianpour, M. (2023). Online Communications and Service Delivery in Canada’s Settlement Sector: The State of Affairs. This study establishes a Canada-wide baseline for online platform usage, effectiveness, and inclusiveness during the pandemic, focusing on social media platforms. It found that only about half of Settlement Service Provider Organizations were using social media to communicate and deliver services to newcomers. Similarly, only about half found that the platforms were effective in meeting the needs of their clients.

IRCC Immigration Data Release: Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal. IRCC has just released preliminary data for the full year 2021 on the number of permanent resident admissions, study and work permit holders, asylum claimants, and users of immigration settlement services. The data show that in 2021, 60,154 refugees became permanent residents in Canada, 136% increase from 2020.” Over 90 IRCC statistical tables are refreshed monthly. The majority of these monthly data tables cover the period from 2015 through to the most recent month available for external publication and may be used to conduct historical comparisons.

NEWS AND BLOG POSTS

Adam Severson, ‘The Asia-Pacific’s Next Refugee Crisis Is Coming – Ready or Not’, The Diplomat, 7 February 2023. Last year marked 20 years since the creation of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, and Related Transnational Crime. Commendable for its longevity, serious-minded policy dialogue, and capacity building, the Bali Process’ potential as a platform for regional cooperation on irregular movement remains unrealized. 

Alyna Smith, Caterina Rodell, Sarah Chander and Petra Molnar, ‘Racist algorithms and AI can’t determine EU migration policy’, EU Observer, 9 February 2023. In migration, AI is increasingly used to make predictions, assessments, and evaluations based on racist assumptions it is programmed with. But with upcoming, legislation to regulate Artificial Intelligence (the EU”s “AI Act”), the EU has a chance to live its self-proclaimed values, set a global standard and draw red lines on the most harmful technologies.

Mizanur Rahman, ‘Refugees must participate in decision making that affect their own lives’, Science Norway, 10 February 2023. The case outlined in this article demonstrates how crucial it is to include the people affected by the policy or decision. Those who will be affected by a decision should be able to be part of that decision-making process. Participation also makes groups feel empowered and helps policymakers make better decisions.

Evan Jones, ‘Are we forgetting the Myanmar crisis?’, Bangkok Post, 4 February 2023. Myanmar’s political and humanitarian dynamics are not expected to improve in the near term. As such, host states such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India must come up with to come up with pragmatic, humanitarian, and strategic approaches to supporting refugees within their borders.

EVENTS, RESOURCES, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

New IRCC mailbox for asylum technical support. IRCC has created a new mailbox for technical support related to the online asylum application (eApp) via the IRCC Portal. You can now submit your questions related to the eApp or report technical issues to the following address: IRCC.AsylumTechSupport-SupportTechAsile.IRCC@cic.gc.ca.

The RRN Research Digest provides a synopsis of recent research on refugee and forced migration issues from entities associated with the RRN and others.

You can download the digest in PDF format here: RRN Research Digest No. 132

NEW RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

Saunders, N. R., Gandhi, S., Wanigaratne, S., Lu, H., Stukel, T. A., Glazier, R. H., … & Guttmann, A. (2023). Health Care Use and System Costs Among Pediatric Refugees in Canada. Pediatrics, 151(1). Resettled refugees land in Canada through 3 sponsorship models with similar health insurance and financial supports but differences in how resettlement is facilitated. This study examined whether health system utilization, costs, and aggregate 1-year morbidity differed by resettlement model. The report concludes that Health care use and morbidity of PSRs suggest they are healthier and less costly than GARs and BVOR model refugees. Despite a greater intensity of health care utilization than Ontario-born, overall excess demand on the health system for all resettled refugee children is low.

Dumitru, S. (2023). The ethics of immigration: How biased is the field? Migration Studies, Oxford University Press, 1-22. This article takes nationalism as an implicit bias and provides a method to assess its depth. The method compares principles that ethicists commonly discuss when immigration is not at stake with principles advocated in the ethics of immigration. To interpret the results, a distinction between mild and heavy bias is established. When a basic principle in ethics is under-discussed or absent from the ethics of immigration, the field is ‘mildly biased’. When its negation is commonly advocated, the field is ‘heavily biased’. The preliminary results suggest that the field is heavily biased: methodological nationalism seems to turn ethics into its opposite.

Erdoğan, M. M. (2023). Syrians-Barometer. A framework for achieving social cohesion with Syrians in Turkey. Syrians Barometer (SB)-2021 is one of the most comprehensive annual field studies on the subject of Syrians in Turkey conducted simultaneously with Turkish society and Syrians. The research aims to understand and analyze social encounters, opinions, attitudes, anxieties, expectations and, most importantly, perceptions through comprehensive surveys and focus group meetings. It attempts to observe the trends of change and suggest policy recommendations.

Refugee Survey Quarterly New issue 41(4) December 2022. One of the oldest peer-reviewed journals, Refugee Survey Quarterly, focuses on the challenges of forced migration from multidisciplinary and policy-oriented perspectives. The latest issue includes two open-access articles:

• Milner, J., Alio, M., & Gardi, R. (2022). Meaningful refugee participation: an emerging norm in the global refugee regime. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 41(4), 565-593. This article argues that meaningful refugee participation is an emerging norm that has the potential to become the standard of appropriate behavior in global decision-making fora. Despite progress, the authors argue that the pursuit of differentiated approaches to refugee participation by norm entrepreneurs may constrain efforts to advance the norm. By examining efforts by States, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and refugee-led initiatives in recent years, they seek to highlight the similarities and differences between these initiatives and the extent to which they meet the threshold for norm emergence. Through this analysis, they consider the current state of the norm of meaningful refugee participation and present some possible scenarios for the future of the norm.
• Putri, R. A. A. K., & Gabiella, D. (2022). The Organisational Pattern of Rohingya Refugee Community in Malaysia: Structural Opportunities, Constraints, and Intra-Community Dynamics. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 41(4), 673-699. This article draws attention to the proliferation of Rohingya community organizations in Malaysia. It argues that the ambivalent asylum policy and increasingly unfavorable socio-political environment of the host state were mediated by the organizations through support from the accumulated social capital and established social networks in their localities. The article contributes to debates on refugee self-reliance and their prospective role in enhancing host countries’ social and economic life, as indicated by the Global Compact on Refugees. It is also relevant to general debates about refugee mobilization in transit countries in Southeast Asia.

Other articles in this issue include:

• Ambivalent (In)Securities: Comparing Urban Refugee Women’s Experiences of Informal and Formal Security Provision, Sarah Linn
• The Privilege to Work: Syrian Refugees in Jordan, Technical and Vocational Education Training, and the Remote Work Loophole, Jinan Bastaki; Lorraine Charles
• “Syria is Our Mom, UK is Like Aunty”: The Psychosocial Experiences of Acculturation in Syrian Refugees, Mujahid Asmal-Lee; Helen Liebling; Simon Goodman
• Between Aspirations and Law: Protection Consciousness among Congolese Forced Migrants in Rabat, Ruben Wissing
• Between a Rock and a Hard Place: a Human Rights Assessment of the Fate of Excluded Asylum-seekers and Criminal Refugees in Australia, Júlia Zomignani Barboza

REPORTS AND POLICY BRIEFS

Perzyna, M., Akbar, M., Ellis, C., Monteiro, S., Nalbandian, L., & Smith, C. D. (2022). Immigration policy ‘on the fly’: A critical review of pandemic policymaking in Canada. This report critically reviews key administrative trends and immigration policy responses and their significance for different groups of migrants. The findings show that while the federal government responded with rapid border closures for non-citizens, it immediately began to carve out exceptions for non-discretionary purposes. Ultimately, essential mobility into Canada was defined according to economically driven criteria, with the pandemic sometimes used as an excuse to exclude migrants considered undesirable, particularly asylum seekers, and to achieve administrative efficiencies. Migrants and asylum seekers continue to be made vulnerable by Canada’s immigration and refugee policies.

NEWS AND BLOG POSTS

Ukraine crisis doesn’t herald a new era for refugee rights in Japan, Petrice R Flowers, East Asia Forum, Jan. 11, 2023. In March 2022, the Japanese government announced that it would accept Ukrainians fleeing the war. It soon became clear that initial hopes that this might lead to long-term changes in Japan’s refugee policy were unwarranted. Not only would the announced plan have little impact on Japan’s restrictive refugee policy, but it would also have little impact on the vast numbers of people fleeing Ukraine.

Why some groups are quitting Canada’s popular refugee sponsorship program? By Nicholas Keung, The Toronto Star, Jan. 17, 2023. Canada’s Syrian resettlement project spurred an outpouring of public support for refugees, but now the federal government is trying to ease the growing pains that have come with the hugely popular private sponsorship program.

Biden Administration Invites Ordinary Americans to Help Settle Refugees, By Miriam Jordan, New York Times, Jan. 19, 2023. In a major effort to open the door to more refugee resettlement, the Biden administration will begin inviting ordinary Americans to directly sponsor the arrival of thousands of displaced people from around the world into their communities.

EVENTS, RESOURCES, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

SPRING Research Project Podcast by Eliza Bateman and Tihomir Sabchev (University of Ottawa Refugee Hub). This podcast explores the nuts and bolts of the Canadian Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program, which empowers ordinary individuals to directly engage in the welcome and settlement of refugee newcomers.

Canadian Immigration Research Portal. Let’s say you want to know how many asylum seekers came to Canada from Iran in 2020. Where do you go to find out? What if you want to apply for a grant to start an after-school program in Lethbridge and you need to know how many 14-year-old refugee children live in the area? The Canadian Immigration Research Portal, can be the solution. This new tool provides statistical, demographic data to the public.

The RRN Research Digest provides a synopsis of recent research on refugee and forced migration issues from entities associated with the RRN and others.

You can download the digest in PDF format here: RRN Research Digest No. 131

NEW RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

[Open Access] Banerjee, P., Canefe, N., & Chowdhory, N. (Eds.). (2022). A South Asian Journal on Forced Migration Contemporary Wars and Politics of Dispossession: Afghanistan and Ukraine. Refugee Watch, Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group. This special issue of Refugee Watch focused on the forced migration crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine, addressing the significance of forced migration studies within the larger context of history, politics and critical methodological interventions in the post-colonial context. This issue aims to facilitate a robust conversation amongst scholars on the Afghan exodus defined in the long dureé and not just the American invasion of the country, and, the recent Ukrainian refugee crisis concerning the Russian invasion of the Ukrainian war. Both armed conflicts and chronic insecurity continue to have accumulative consequences for those affected in their respective regions.

[Open Access] Isaakyan, I., Triandafyllidou, A., & Baglioni, S. (2022). Immigrant and Asylum Seekers Labour Market Integration upon Arrival:NowHereLand: A Biographical Perspective. Springer. Through an inter-subjective lens, this book investigates the initial labour market integration experiences of migrants, refugees or asylum seekers, characterized by different biographies and migration/asylum trajectories. The book gives voice to the migrants and seeks to highlight their experiences and understandings of the labour market integration process in the first years of immigration. It adopts a critical, qualitative perspective but does not remain ethnographic. Each chapter discusses the migrant’s intersubjective experiences with the relevant policies and practices and with the relevant stakeholders, whether local government, national services, civil society or migrant organizations.

[Open Access] Kinchin, N., & Mougouei, D. (2022). What can artificial intelligence do for refugee status determination? A proposal for removing subjective fear. International Journal of Refugee Law. Viewing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in refugee status determination (RSD) as part of the digital transformation of the refugee regime forces us to consider how it may affect decision-making efficiencies, as well as its impact(s) on refugees. Assessments of harm and benefit cannot be disentangled from the challenges AI is being tasked to address. Through an analysis of algorithmic decision-making, predictive analysis, biometrics, automated credibility assessments, and digital forensics, this article reveals the risks and opportunities involved in the application of AI in RSD. On the one hand, AI’s potential to produce greater standardization, mine and parse large amounts of data, and address bias, holds the significant possibility for increased consistency, improved fact-finding, and corroboration. On the other hand, machines may end up replicating and manifesting the unconscious biases and assumptions of their human developers, and AI has a limited ability to read emotions and process impacts on memory.

Sackett, Blair. 2022. “A Uniform Front?: Power and front-line worker variation in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya.” Ethnography. Drawing upon ethnographic observation in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya and interviews with aid workers, this article examines three types of humanitarian workers (international, national, and refugee), who work directly with refugee clients. Workers use day-to-day work practices to structure where, when, and how they interact with refugee clients. However, refugee workers at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy are less equipped to use these practices. As a result, they are vulnerable to increased criticism and accusations of corruption from co-workers and are uniquely affected by criticism from the refugee client community. By examining their day-to-day work practices, this paper illuminates how inequalities in power among workers contribute to differences in work practices and vulnerability in workplace interactions – and reinforces refugees’ marginalization.

Ogoe, S. (2022). Measuring success: predictors of successful economic integration of resettled female refugees. PhD thesis – University of Manitoba. This dissertation examines the successes and challenges of refugee women in the Canadian labour market. The author addresses the question: What characteristics predict economic success among refugee women in Canada? This dissertation uses Critical Race theory, Intersectional theory and Segmented Labour Market theory informed by a quantitative research design to address this question. The findings suggest that the barriers in the Canadian labour market help to sustain existing racism, discrimination and inequality that refugee women experience.

REPORTS AND BRIEFS

Nakache et al. (2022). Migrant Vulnerability in the Canadian Protection System: The View of Migrants, Public Servants and on-the ground Practitioners. VULNER Research Report 2, Canada. Throughout the VULNER project, the Canadian team seeks to answer three questions: How are the ‘vulnerabilities’ of migrants defined in the relevant Canadian legislation, case law, policy documents and administrative guidelines? How do Canadian decision-makers understand and address the ‘vulnerabilities’ of migrants? Finally, how do the legal frameworks and the implementation practices concretely affect vulnerabilities experienced by migrants in Canada? This second report describes how the vulnerability is addressed and accommodated within the claims for protection, according to civil servants and practitioners. Furthermore, it explicitly outlines key factors of vulnerability in migrants’ lives. Overall, participants’ responses indicate that immigration status and health (both mental and physical health) act as intersecting factors of vulnerability in migrants’ lives.

We Were Warned: Unlearned Lessons of Famine in the Horn of Africa by Abdullahi Halakhe, Refugees International. December 9, 2022. Below-average rainfall and drought are causing an unprecedented food emergency for 40 million people in the Horn of Africa. This report outlines the current situation, lessons from the past, and a way forward to save thousands of lives before it is too late.

NEWS AND BLOG POSTS

Ukraine war: Poland welcomed refugees with open arms at first, but survey shows relations are becoming more strained by Felix Krawatzek & Piotr Goldstein, The Conversation. December 7, 2022. Ukrainians were initially welcomed with open arms in Poland, but there are signs that the relationship might be strained. Among them are diverging views on critical historical events and figures. Nevertheless, there are still signs of solidarity between the two populations – but increasingly, Ukrainian refugees are seen as a burden.

Electronic monitoring in community could reduce immigration detention, document states by Paul Karp, The Guardian Australia. November 22, 2022. The Australian Department of Home Affairs started the “alternatives to held detention” program, which in its first phase, conducted research on “international detention models, the use of parole and bail in domestic jurisdictions, dynamic risk assessment models, and how electronic monitoring could be utilized in an immigration context”.

Australia: Many Children Returned from Syria Detention Doing Well, Human Rights Watch, November 21, 2022. Many children repatriated from detention camps for Islamic State (ISIS) suspects and their families in northeast Syria are successfully reintegrating into their home countries, according to this Human Rights Watch report. Australia is urged to allow the return of an estimated 30 or more Australian children and 16 women who remain in camps and prisons in northeast Syria. Detained Australian men should also be returned as soon as possible.

Five migration solutions for Europe for 2023 by Bram Frouws, The New Humanitarian, December 6, 2022. This article provides ideas to help break the policy impasse and reduce the dangers and abuse people face while on the move. European debates about migration are intractable, polarising, and broken, fuelling a downward spiral of ever more extreme policies aimed at keeping people out. To break this cycle, there is a desperate need to reframe the conversation to focus on achievable policy goals that will benefit both people on the move and the countries they aim to reach.

EVENTS, RESOURCES, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

[CYRRC’s new podcast mini-series] The Refuge: Policy Matters features discussions between policy makers, academics, community partners and people with lived experience about how to better support children, youth, and families with refugee experience in Canada. The most recent episode features Ali Duale (MLA for Halifax Armdale and former refugee from Somalia), Dr. Nicole Ives (Associate Professor of Social Work at McGill University), and Sherman Chan (Director of Family and Settlement Support at MOSAIC B.C.), discussing the importance of newcomers’ sense of belonging, factors affecting belonging, and recommendations on how to improve belonging for newcomers to Canada.

The RRN Research Digest provides a synopsis of recent research on refugee and forced migration issues from entities associated with the RRN and others.

You can download the digest in PDF format here: RRN Research Digest No. 130

NEW RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

[Open Access] International Migration Review, Vol. 56.4. This edition of the journal is thematically sorted into three sections. The first section examines incorporation, assimilation, and migration policy. The second discusses migrant families in the contexts of gender, marriage, and parenthood. The third section has articles about geopolitics, humanitarian aid, and bureaucracy in migration. This edition also includes three book reviews, all of which are open-access.

[New Book] Pacifico, A. (2022). Environmentally Internally Displaced Persons in the Northeastern Backlands of Brazil: A Case Study, Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book addresses the relationship between internally displaced persons (IDPs) by natural disasters to search for legal and policy responses not yet applied in the region. Its focus is categorizing those environmentally displaced persons as IDPs, so they receive international legal protection, even without binding norms and institutions to protect them. The book makes some suggestions to categorize and protect such people from disasters, including, for instance, a network society communicative model based on collaboration among local people, the government, international organizations, and NGOs. A free 30-page sample is available here.

Drolia, M., Papadakis, S., Sifaki, E., & Kalogiannakis, M. (2022). Mobile learning applications for refugees: a systematic literature review. Education Sciences, 12(2), 96. This research article focuses on mobile learning for refugee education. It presents the results of a systematic literature review from 2015 to 2020, which revealed two new emerging characteristics: interwoven psychological and educational features and refugees’ cultural features in the apps. The summarization and categorization of the app’s characteristics aim to contribute to mobile learning research and impact game developers, educators, and NGOs according to refugee needs.

Phillimore, J., Pertek, S., Akyuz, S., Darkal, H., Hourani, J., McKnight, P., … & Taal, S. (2022). “We are forgotten”: forced migration, sexual and gender-based violence, and coronavirus disease-2019. Violence against women, 28(9), 2204-2230. Adopting a structural violence approach, this article explores, with survivors and practitioners, how early coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic conditions affected forced migrant sexual and gender-based violence survivors’ lives. Introducing a new analytical framework combining violent abandonment, slow violence, and violent uncertainty, the authors show how interacting forms of structural violence exacerbated by pandemic conditions intensified existing inequalities. Abandonment of survivors by the state increased precarity, making everyday survival more difficult, and intensified pre-pandemic slow violence, while increased uncertainty heightened survivors’ psychological distress. Structural violence experienced during the pandemic can be conceptualized as part of the continuum of violence against forced migrants, which generates gendered harm.

[Open Access] CIHS Bulletin, Issue #102, Canadian Immigration Historical Society September 2022. This expanded issue commemorates the exile of Ugandan Asians by Idi Amin Dada in 1972, and more particularly, Canada’s humanitarian resettlement of over 6,000 individuals affected by this decree in 90 days. Contributors in this issue are mostly Canadian immigration officials who went to Uganda. On this 50th anniversary of the expulsion, the authors delved into their memories and photographic archives to tell readers about their involvement in the Canadian program during those tense, disorienting, and dangerous times.

REPORTS AND BRIEFS

World Migration Report 2022, IOM. Since 2000, IOM has been producing world migration reports. The World Migration Report 2022, the eleventh in the world migration report series, shows that the estimated number of international migrants has increased over the past five decades. The total estimated 281 million people living in a country other than their countries of birth in 2020 was 128 million more than in 1990 and over three times the estimated number in 1970. It also confirmed that COVID-19-related immobility had become the “great disrupter” of migration.

Global Report on Internal Displacement 2022, Internal Displacement Monitoring Center. IDMC’s Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) is the world’s leading source of data and analysis on internal displacement. This year’s edition includes a special focus on internally displaced children and youth. Part 1 presents updated data and analysis of internal displacement at the global level. Data and contextual updates are included in the regional overviews and country spotlights. Part 2 explores the impacts of displacement on children and youth, so often invisible in displacement data, while highlighting promising initiatives that address some of their challenges.

NEWS AND BLOG POSTS

Nadeera Ranabahu, Huibert Peter de Vries and Zhivan Basharati, ‘Refugees who set up businesses enrich NZ financially, culturally and socially – they deserve more support‘, The Conversation, 25 November 2022. This article includes interviews highlighting the need for greater small business assistance within the mix of support services provided to refugees resettling in New Zealand.

Ali M Latifi, ‘In Afghanistan’s shadowy new conflict, new displacement and new civilian abuses’, The New Humanitarian, 23 November 2022. The UN has accused the Taliban of ‘collective punishment’ as it tries to quell a brewing rebellion.

Max Walden, ‘Refugees may become victims of Malaysia’s electoral politics’, The Interpreter, 15 November 2022. The plight of Myanmar Rohingyas exposes Southeast Asia’s disjointed policies and fragile human rights protections.

Geoffrey Cameron and Shauna Labman, ‘How Canada plans to break records with its new refugee targets‘, The Conversation, 16 November 2022. While most news reports focused on the significant rise in economic immigrants, the refugee targets are record-breaking.

If Canada sticks to its plan, it will resettle more refugees in 2023 than in any year since before 1979.

Sikanyiso Masuku, ‘Why it’s important to understand the unique plight of internally displaced people in Africa‘, The Conversation, 16 November 2022. The longer displacement lasts, the more difficult it becomes to resolve. More than 15 countries in Africa have protracted displacement situations lasting over five years.

Lawrence Huang, Ravenna Sohst and Camille Le Coz, ‘Financing Responses to Climate Migration: The Unique Role of Multilateral Development Banks’, Migration Policy Institute, November 2022. As climate change increasingly contributes to migration and displacement in many parts of the world, there is a pressing need for measures that build resilience and prevent displacement, as well as those that help climate-affected people move to safety and support receiving communities. 

Camila Bustos and Jeffrey Chase, ‘Tackling Climate Change Displacement at COP27’, Just Security, 14 November 2022. The World Bank estimates that more than 143 million people could be internally displaced by slow-onset disasters in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia by 2050. 

The RRN Research Digest provides a synopsis of recent research on refugee and forced migration issues from entities associated with the RRN and others.

You can download the digest in PDF format here: RRN Research Digest No. 129

NEW RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

[Open Access] Grabska, K., & Horst, C. (2022). Special Section: Art and Conflict. Conflict and Society, 8(1), 172-191. The special section explores the role of art practice in transformation in contexts of violent conflict and displacement. The articles focus on artists that either create in the context of oppression and control or respond to these contexts by creating spaces of resistance, life in and with violent conflict, transformation, and inspiration. The articles discuss a range of initiatives and artistic practices that take place in various contexts, from artists involved in societal transformation in Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Syria, to artists working in Palestine, Chad, Sri Lanka, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[Open Access] Neureiter, M. (2022). The Effect of Immigrant Integration Policies on Public Immigration Attitudes: Evidence from a Survey Experiment in the United Kingdom. International Migration Review, 56(4), 1040–1068. Drawing on intergroup threat theory, this article argues that immigrant integration policies can improve public attitudes toward immigrants and, particularly, toward refugees and asylum-seekers. Examining evidence from an original survey experiment conducted in the United Kingdom, the author found that support for admitting asylum-seekers increases when respondents are made aware that prospective asylum-seekers will be required to partake in language and civic education courses. Similarly, support for admitting asylum-seekers increases when respondents are told that future asylum-seekers will only have limited access to welfare.

[Open Access] Riva, R. (2022). Tracing Invisibility as a Colonial Project: Indigenous Women Who Seek Asylum at the U.S.-Mexico Border. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 20(4), 584-597. Central American Indigenous women seeking asylum in the United States are officially classified as Latinas or Hispanic. However, the erasure and consequent invisibility of Indigenous identity causes assimilation and jeopardizes Central American Indigenous women’s procedural rights. The author addresses the complex relationships of migrants whose identities are intertwined with geography, different states, and racial representations while claiming that the invisibility of Indigenous women from Abya Yala who cross borders responds to the white settler colonial project.

[New Book] Arar, R., & FitzGerald, D. (2022). The Refugee System: A Sociological Approach, Polity. This book tells how one Syrian family, spread across several countries, tried to survive the civil war and live in dignity. This story forms a backdrop to explore and explain the refugee system. Departing from studies that create siloes of knowledge about just one setting or “solution” to displacement, the book’s sociological approach describes a global system that shapes refugee movements. Changes in one part of the system reverberate elsewhere. Feedback mechanisms change processes across time and place.

Sorrell-Medina, Z. (2022). A strategy typology: Unearthing how U.S.-immigrant-serving nonprofits contribute to immigrant inclusion outcomes. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 1-14. Literature reveals that immigrant-serving nonprofits enact strategies contributing to local policy and other immigrant inclusion outcomes. However, this empirical relationship has yet to be systemically and holistically examined across contexts. Drawing on 30 qualitative interviews with immigrant-serving nonprofit practitioners operating throughout various U.S. cities, the author specified over 100 strategies organizations employ to contribute to immigrants’ rights and legal and cultural inclusion in society. Research, policy, and practice implications are discussed.

Carlson, E., & Hou, F. (2022). Cultural involvement and preference in ethnic accommodation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 91, 191-199. Ethnic identity often entails a strong migration component bringing people from disparate cultures into new interaction and generating awareness of group distinctions. This close link between migration and ethnic identity suggests that social science tools used to study one of these subjects may help study the other. In this spirit, the authors apply concepts originating in the study of immigrant acculturation to the broader subject of ethnic accommodation. A continuous-case approach applies Berry’s bi-dimensional theoretical perspective on acculturation using measures of cultural involvement and cultural preference for respondents from different ethnic groups. These groups are defined by visible minority status, linguistic contrasts, and different national origins. These results give us new insights into comparative ethnic accommodation patterns, applicable in a wide range of other societal contexts beyond the Canadian data examined here.

[New Book] Bisaillon, L. (2022). Screening Out: HIV Testing and the Canadian Immigration Experience. UBC Press. The immigration system – a core social institution in Canada – includes mandatory HIV screening within a medical inadmissibility regime designed to exclude people with HIV. This is a narrative-driven analysis of the medico-legal and administrative practices governing immigration to Canada. Following the sequence of events in the application process of a woman from sub-Saharan Africa in her interactions with an immigration doctor of western European descent, this book is an institutional ethnographic mapping of the Canadian immigration process from the perspective of the very people to whom the exclusionary health policy is directed.

[New Report] Dennler, K., & Garneau, B. (2022) Deporting Refugees: Hidden injustice in Canada. The first half of the report sheds light on the removals process, success rates of legal options, and how timing affects individual cases. The second half examines how CBSA’s structure and mandate allow poor practices by CBSA officers to persist, which means people who face risk upon return may be removed. Finally, the report ends with recommendations for the federal government and service providers. While this report is aimed at policymakers and frontline organizations, additional resources relating to the removal process were compiled in partnership with Romero House Toronto, including a guide for people on the deportation process, and a data repository of government documents and data relating to removals and legal options.

[Report] Supplementary Protection Pathways to the United States: Lessons from the Past for Today’s Humanitarian Parole Policies by Yael Schacher, Refugees International, November 10, 2022. This report, informed by research trips, discussions with legal experts, and interviews with people seeking protection pathways to the United States, recommends ways the administration should reform its current use of parole. The author concludes that the administration should take inspiration from past uses of parole that supplemented refugee protection, expand innovative approaches to additional populations, and better account for the needs of parolees after arrival.

NEWS AND BLOG POSTS

Laura Madokoro, Migrants deserve the right to make decisions about where they live, The Conversation. October 31, 2022. People do not give up their right to be mobile or make decisions about their lives simply because they are forced to flee untenable circumstances. Human rights are inevitably constrained, but they still exist. Recent government actions would have people believe otherwise. However, sacrificing the capacity of some people to be treated as fully-fledged human beings puts that right at risk for everyone.

Abul Rizvi, Is the Pacific Engagement Visa Australia’s first climate change humanitarian visa? Pearls and Irritations. November 4, 2022. The new Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV) has more similarities to a humanitarian visa than a labor supplementation visa. At 3,000 permanent resident places per annum, it could be Australia’s first climate change humanitarian visa.

Kenan Malik, Sealed borders are a fantasy, and talk of invasion is toxic. There is an alternative, The Guardian. November 6, 2022. The system is broken, but the reasons proposed for it being so have been grievously wrong. The cause of the brokenness is not a surge of migrants and asylum seekers, still less an “invasion”, but the result of a policy that has deliberately and accidentally turned a manageable situation into a crisis.

Geoffrey Cameron & Shauna Labman, How Canada plans to break records with its new refugee targets, The conversation. November 15, 2022. Every November, Canada’s immigration minister presents an annual report to Parliament that includes immigration targets for the next three years. This year,  these immigration targets have grabbed headlines for their goal of admitting 500,000 permanent immigrants a year by 2025. While most news reports focused on the significant rise in economic immigrants, the refugee targets are record-breaking.

EVENTS, RESOURCES, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

[Seminar Recording] Local Integration: A Durable Solution in need of Reinvigoration? Dr. Nicholas Maple – Refugee Law Initiative, University of London. November 8, 2022. Based on recent work co-authored with Dr. Lucy Hovil, this talk will examine how states seek to evade local integration: from the multiple tactics used by wealthier governments to elude responsibility; to how countries hosting the greatest numbers of refugees (such as those in Africa) have allowed significant numbers of refugees into their territory but have then maintained a short-term approach to hosting. As a result, a mix of global, national, and local processes and forces have effectively conspired to diminish local integration to the point that it has vanished from the political arena.

The RRN Research Digest provides a synopsis of recent research on refugee and forced migration issues from entities associated with the RRN and others.

You can download the digest in PDF format here: RRN Research Digest No. 128

NEW RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

[Open Access] Thorson, E., & Abdelaaty, L. (2022). Misperceptions about Refugee Policy. American Political Science Review. This letter explores the prevalence of misperceptions about refugee policy and tests whether correcting these misperceptions changes attitudes toward refugees. An experiment directly compares the effects of correcting misperceptions about existing refugee policy (e.g., the refugee admission process) with correcting misperceptions about the outcomes of refugee policy (e.g., the proportion of refugees in the United States and the percentage who receive welfare benefits). The results suggest that including descriptive information about existing U.S. policy in media coverage of refugees could correct misperceptions and change attitudes.

[Open Access] Koubeissy, R., Audet, G., Papazian-Zohrabian, G., & Arvisais, O. (2022). “Making a difference” with Syrian refugee students in Lebanon: Reconstruction and theorization of teachers’ stories of practice in emergencies. PROSPECTS, 1-17. This article is built on a research project on pedagogical interventions with refugee students in emergencies that the authors conducted with teachers in Lebanon. More specifically, based on stories of practice, the article aims to explore how teachers were in a position to exercise their role with Syrian refugee students in the Lebanese crisis context. The analysis of the stories allows for reflection on several elements, including the shared responsibility of different school actors, schools, and other organizations, concerning the support they must give teachers to ensure their well-being, resilience, and safety.

[Open Access] Niraula, A., Triandafyllidou, A., & Akbar, M. (2022). Navigating Uncertainties: Evaluating the Shift in Canadian Immigration Policies during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Canadian Public Policy. Reviewing the relevant policy documents and analyzing 22 semi-structured qualitative interviews with stakeholders in Ontario, this brief critically examines the impact of two transition measures: the amendments to Express Entry and the Temporary Residence to Permanent Residence Pathway Program. It also analyses Canadian migration management during the pandemic at three levels: the macro level (i.e., transition measures and attainment of national goals), the meso level (i.e., stakeholders’ evaluations of the transition measures), and the micro level (i.e., stakeholders’ perceptions of migrants’ experiences with the transition measures).

[Open Access] Olinto, B. (2022).The Challenges of Settlement and Integration: Exploring Canada’s Response to Venezuelan Migration. Working Paper No. 2022/10. TMCIS and CERC. This article explores perspectives and opinions from 35 Venezuelan community leaders and nonprofit representatives regarding the needs and challenges of the Venezuelan newcomer and refugee population in five Canadian cities, as well as their struggle for community engagement and political participation in the domestic context. The analysis sheds light on how Venezuelan immigrants have navigated the complexities of migration in North America and faced the difficulties of coming from a country with an immigration rather than an emigration history.

[New book] Gélinas-Proulx, A., & Shields, C. M. (Eds.). (2022). Leading for Equity and Social Justice: Systemic Transformation in Canadian Education. University of Toronto Press. This collection emphasizes the systemic nature of inequality and supports the necessity of systemic change to target not only individuals but also structures, policies, and far-reaching practices. Focusing on various marginalized groups – including the Indigenous community, LGBTQ2S+ peoples, refugees, newcomers, and specific groups of teachers – chapters explore transformative leadership in practice and how to achieve inclusion, respect, and excellence in schools. The authors argue that leadership involves much more than simply putting policy into practice; this book promotes the need for leaders to recognize their role as advocates and activists.

[New Book] Scott-Smith, T., & Breeze, M. E. (Eds.). (2020). Structures of Protection? Rethinking Refugee Shelter (Vol. 39). Berghahn Books. Questioning what shelter is and how we can define it, this volume brings together essays on different forms of refugee shelter, intending to widen public understanding about the lives of forced migrants and develop a theoretical understanding of this often ignored part of the refugee experience. Drawing on a range of disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, law, architecture, and history, each chapter describes a particular shelter and uses this to open up theoretical reflections on the relationship between architecture, place, politics, design, and displacement.

NEWS AND BLOG POSTS

Christiano D’Orsi, Several reflections on the displacement in the Sahel due to climate change, African Law Matters, October 28, 2022. Since the droughts of the 1970s, the Sahel has experienced significant poverty. It is now a region where 80% of the population lives in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1.90 a day. For decades, the region has experienced chronic food shortages, with up to 18 million people facing severe food insecurity over the summer of 2022 – the highest number since 2014. The author spotlights the massive displacement of populations within the region that was caused by this situation.

Tristin Hopper, Immigration has never been higher, and Canadians have never been more pleased with it, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, October 31, 2022. According to a telephone survey of 2,000 Canadians, record-high numbers agree with the notion that Canada “needs more immigrants.” This is in tandem with record-low numbers of Canadians who report a belief that “immigration levels are too high.”

Mat Nashed, In Türkiye, Syrians and Afghans live in fear ahead of 2023 elections, The New Humanitarian, October 27, 2022. As the highly charged political debate in Türkiye intensifies ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections next year, the situation for refugees and asylum seekers in the country is becoming increasingly precarious. 

Rick Noack, Meg Kelly, Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Ladka Bauerova, How the E.U. has fallen short on promises to Ukrainian refugees, The Washington Post, October 26, 2022. Seven months on, 27 E.U. countries accommodated Ukrainian refugees to an extent they claimed was impossible during the Syrian migrant crisis of 2015 and 2016. However, temporary protection has been far from a golden ticket. Many refugees have had to move from place to place and have yet to secure employment. Within a refugee population consisting primarily of women and children, mothers with young kids say it has been especially hard to find time to seek job interviews or enroll in language lessons.

Lawrence Huang, Why Financing Responses to Climate Migration Remains a Challenge, Migration Policy Institute, October 2022. Climate change is already shaping migration and displacement, affecting who moves, where, and when. More frequent and severe extreme-weather events worsen disaster displacement, while slow-onset events such as sea level rise and droughts disrupt habitats and trigger even more movements. Climate change also exacerbates many of the existing drivers of migration, making conflicts more common and livelihoods less secure. Despite years of alarmist, even apocalyptic, discourse that climate change would lead to hundreds of millions, if not billions, moving to the Global North, funding the scale of efforts needed remains a persistent challenge.

EVENTS, RESOURCES, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

[Interactive Tool] Queer Refugee Hearings Program. Developed by Capital Rainbow Refuge. This is an interactive toolkit that is helpful for claimants and service providers and works as a guide to prepare refugee claims based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and/or sex characteristics.

The RRN Research Digest provides a synopsis of recent research on refugee and forced migration issues from entities associated with the RRN and others.

You can download the digest in PDF format here: RRN Research Digest No. 127

NEW RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

Bradley, M. (2022). Colonial continuities and colonial unknowing in international migration management: the International Organization for Migration reconsidered. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 1-21. Drawing on extensive archival research, this article analyses how colonial interests and biases shaped IOM’s establishment, founding documents, and vacillating positions in decolonization movements. It examines the organization’s role in moving colonists out of newly independent states; facilitating settler colonial states’ preference for white migrants and advancing Western interests in having an international migration forum in which opposition to exclusionary policies was virtually non-existent. In particular, it questions the agency’s involvement in supporting white migration to Southern Africa in the apartheid era, and the sanitization of such work from IOM’s institutional history. Theoretically, the article analyses these dynamics through the lens of ‘colonial unknowing’, laying the foundation for deeper, historicized understandings of IOM’s continued, contested roles in migration management.

Citizenship, Refugees, and Migration in the European Union, in Giugni and Grasso, eds., Handbook of Citizenship and Migration, Edward Elgar, 2021. This chapter provides an overview of the historical development of citizenship and migration in Europe, from the early 19th century to this day. It explains how the first world war and its aftermath resulted in the transition across much of Europe from multi-ethnic and multinational communities to ethnic-national states. The chapter further looks at how those arguing for European citizenship have tried since the war to develop and enhance common European rights and free movement, nonetheless, the development of EU citizenship faces continuing challenges.

Johannesson, L. (2022). The Symbolic Life of Courts: How Judicial Language, Actions, and Objects Legitimize Credibility Assessments of Asylum Appeals. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 1-19. This article asks how the legal-administrative practice of assessing the credibility of asylum applications gains legitimacy in the eyes of the public, policymakers, and legal professionals despite resting on highly disputable assumptions. To answer this question, the author draws on interviews, observations, and written judgments from the Swedish administrative courts to explore how symbolic messages are tacitly conveyed through judicial language, activities, and objects. The analysis suggests that cohesive, albeit tacit, messages about credibility assessments being accurate (rather than arbitrary), objective (rather than subjective), professional (rather than lay), and just (rather than unjust) are produced to both near and distant audiences. The study contributes to the literature on credibility assessments by offering a theoretical perspective that can unpack the relationship between symbolic communication in courts and perceived legitimacy for disputed practices within asylum determinations and migration control.

Special Issue Introduction: Chan, Y. W., & Lan, P. C. (2022). The politics of sanitization: Pandemic crisis, migration, and development in Asia-Pacific. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal. This special issue considers the policies, including health and non-health measures, that impact migrant workers and migration. While COVID control measures are often phrased in medical language and policy discourses, they often serve multiple goals, including political and social control. The papers in this issue cover different places in Asia and the Pacific. The authors propose the “politics of sanitization” as a conceptual framework to examine the multiple dimensions of state governance and the variegated impacts upon migrants, including: (1) sanitizing space and borders, (2) stigmatization and sanitizing migrants’ bodies, (3) sanitizing ethnic borders and the national body, and (4) reorganizing the borders of sanitization and membership of the society. Read the full issue here.

Mursal, A., & Dong, W. (2022). Should Canada Pay for Refugee Healthcare? A Social Justice Analysis of the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP). Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, 1-14. This paper provides a critical review of the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), drawing on concepts from social justice, migration, and market-oriented theories while examining policy rhetoric, legal ramifications, and media portrayals. The recommendations in this article aim to reduce health inequities and healthcare access barriers for the refugee population in Canada. Findings suggest that Canadian federal policies have contributed to refugee health disparities.

REPORTS AND POLICY BRIEFS

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) quality report – The Quality Performance in the Refugee Appeal Division 2020-21. The study reviewed 70 out of 1,282 appeals that were finalized without a hearing between October 1 and December 31, 2020 (the assessment period). The study assessed appeals and decided on their merits after a review of the information on file (documents provided by the appellant, the Minister, and the RPD record). The appeals were randomly selected in proportion to region, the language of the proceeding, ministerial intervention status, outcome, and specially selected case types. This report aims to provide a perspective to improve the Division’s performance overall. 

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) quality report –  The Quality Performance in the Immigration Division 2020-21. The study reviewed 80 out of 915 case files finalized between January 1 and March 31, 2021 (the assessment period). This includes 40 Admissibility Hearings (AHs) and 40 Detention Reviews (DRs). The case files were randomly selected in proportion to region, decision type (oral or written), and language of the proceeding.  This report aims to provide a perspective to improve the Division’s performance overall. 

The “Canadian Experience” Disconnect: Immigrant Selection, Economic Settlement, and Hiring, Impact Paper – Yilmaz Ergun Dinç, The Conference Board of Canada, October 4, 2022. This impact paper explores the economic costs and benefits of the ‘Canadian experience’ and recommends ways to improve the transition from temporary to permanent residency with the goal of economic integration. The report makes recommendations for federal and provincial governments and employers.

NEWS AND BLOG POSTS

Mary Lawlor, ‘People who help refugees are not traffickers or terrorists. Stop targeting them’, Middle East Eye, 14 October. As a UN special rapporteur, Lawlor highlights her latest report to the UN General Assembly called “Refusing to Turn Away”. The report details cases from every continent of people who don’t ignore what’s happening, sometimes on their doorsteps, to migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. But it also shows how, when people offer help, they risk being prosecuted, even jailed, for giving this help.

Amanda Coakley, ‘Winter Is Coming—for Ukrainian Refugees’, Foreign Policy, 12 October. As the cost of living has spiked across the EU in part due to rising energy prices following sanctions on Russian energy, the attitude toward Ukrainian refugees in Central and Eastern Europe is slowly beginning to turn. The shift has been fueled by relentless Russian disinformation about the economic burden of hosting refugees and populist politicians eager to seize the moment to further their agendas.

Noorulain Naseem, ‘Challenges to Pakistan’s Refugee Management’, South Asian Voices, 14 October. The situation in Afghanistan has become one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises since U.S. troops withdrew from the country in August 2021. Meanwhile, Pakistan remains stuck between a rock and a hard place as it struggles to balance its internal security and economic priorities with its international humanitarian obligations.

Anna Mehler Paperny, Afghans in UAE facility are ‘psychologically suffering,’ Canada refugee says, Reuters, October 13. Afghans living in a makeshift refugee camp in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) staged demonstrations this week protesting the uncertainty of their status, participants told Reuters, and one refugee now in Canada said they are “psychologically suffering.”

Lloyd Axworthy And Allan Rock, The Safe Third Country Agreement is unsafe – and unconstitutional, Special To The Globe And Mail, October 11, 2022. It is said that the measure of a society is how it treats those on its margins. When vulnerable asylum seekers arrive at the Canadian border, they deserve to be treated lawfully and with dignity. We can no longer assume they will be safe if we send them back to the U.S. Indeed, the evidence establishes the contrary. The authors argue that it is time to abandon the STCA, an agreement no longer worthy of its name. Lloyd Axworthy is chair of the World Refugee and Migration Council and a former Canadian foreign minister. Allan Rock is president emeritus of the University of Ottawa, and former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations.

EVENTS, RESOURCES, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

www.myrefugeeclaim.ca is now live for refugee claimants. My Refugee Claim is a guide for refugee claimants in Canada. My Refugee Claim helps you:

• get informed about Canada’s refugee protection process
• stay connected to people who can help
• be prepared every step of the way.

Please share with refugee claimants if you feel the resource might be helpful to them.

New infographic: Paying National Fees While Having Precarious Status. Are you a college or university student in Ontario paying international fees when you shouldn’t? Migrant workers, convention refugees/protected persons, folks who have first-stage approval for permanent residence, and their dependents should pay national fees (also called domestic fees) in Ontario. The purpose of this infographic is to raise awareness. Please use and/or share with others who might need it.

The RRN Research Digest provides a synopsis of recent research on refugee and forced migration issues from entities associated with the RRN and others.

You can download the digest in PDF format here: RRN Research Digest No. 126

NEW RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

Hyndman, J. (2022). Geo‐scripts and refugee resettlement in canada: Designations and destinations. The Canadian Geographer. Most immigrants to Canada who are not refugees contribute to decisions about where they settle; resettled refugees do not. This paper illustrates how one’s designated category of resettlement decisively shapes the place one begins life in Canada, and how each has a specific geographical trajectory—or geo-script. Geo-scripts are derived from refugee categories that effectively govern the spatial settlement patterns of refugees and, in turn, shape the opportunities and outcomes of the resettlement process. For example, government data show that 70% of resettled refugees do not move after they arrive in Canada. The geo-scripts of resettlement thus fundamentally shape people’s lives and livelihoods in Canada.

Shivakoti, R., & Milner, J. (2021). Beyond the partnership debate: Localizing knowledge production in refugee and forced migration studies. Journal of Refugee Studies, 35(2), 805-826.  There is a growing recognition in refugee and forced migration studies that research partnerships, especially those that cross geographies of the global North and global South, are both a blessing and a potential curse. Drawing on the results of a review of forced displacement research centres based in the global South and interviews with the directors of these centres, this article encourages a shift from focusing on research partnerships to an approach that supports the localization of knowledge production in refugee and forced migration studies.

New Fall Issue: International Migration Review (2022). The International Migration Review, 56(3). This edition is thematically sorted into four sections. The first section examines migrant (im)mobilities in the context of contested laws, geopolitics, and naturalizations. The second discusses refugee dynamics, integration, and the state. The third section has articles about race, religion, and migrant belonging. The fourth focuses on acculturation and transnational frameworks in Europe. Lastly, this edition includes seven book reviews, which are free to access.

Pötzschke, S., & Rinken, S. (2022). Migration Research in a Digitized World: Using Innovative Technology to Tackle Methodological Challenges, Springer Cham. This open access book explores the implications of the digital revolution for migration scholars’ methodological toolkit. New information and communication technologies hold considerable potential to improve the quality of migration research by originating previously non-viable solutions to a myriad of methodological challenges in this field of study. This book addresses a range of crucial issues related to researcher-designed data collections and the secondary use of ‘big data’, highlighting opportunities, challenges, and limitations.

Sabie, D., Ekmekcioglu, C., & Ahmed, S. I. (2022). A decade of international migration research in HCI: Overview, challenges, ethics, impact, and future directions. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 29(4), 1-35. This article presents a thorough discussion of the trajectories of international migration research in HCI. Summarizing a decade of data on how this research stream has evolved, the geographies and populations it encompasses, and the methodologies it utilizes. This data is enriched with qualitative data from researchers who reflect on their working experience in this area. Our analysis reveals how the domain has evolved from the European migrant crisis to a more global migration agenda and points towards a shifting focus from addressing immediate needs to acknowledging more complex political and emotional aspects of mobility

Caitlin Katsiaficas (2022). Refugee Integration and Mental Health: A Two-way Street? Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University. For many refugees in Europe, mental health challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic come on top of other stress and trauma experienced due to displacement. Moreover, mental health is linked to integration, and evidence suggests a bidirectional relationship between refugee integration and mental health—pointing to challenges and opportunities to promote reinforcing gains for individuals and communities. This paper explores existing knowledge about this relationship and how policies and practices that go beyond clinical mental health services can work to support both domains.  

Abdelaaty, L., & Hamlin, R. (Eds.). (2022). Special Issue: The Politics of the Migrant/Refugee Binary, Journal of Immigration & Refugee Studies 20(2). This special issue interrogates the categorization and labelling of border crossers, particularly the categories of migrant and refugee, as they are used in distinction with one another. The importance of this topic for the future of migration and refugee studies is difficult to overstate.

Summers, K., Crist, J., & Streitwieser, B. (2022). Education as an opportunity for integration: Assessing Colombia, Peru, and Chile’s educational responses to the Venezuelan migration crisis. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 10(2), 95-112.  With over 5 million Venezuelans fleeing their home country, Latin America faces its largest migration crisis. Colombia, Peru, and Chile host the greatest number of Venezuelan migrants in the region. Each country has responded differently to the crisis regarding the provision of education. Venezuelan migrants attempting to enter the primary, secondary, and higher education systems encounter various barriers, from struggles with documentation, and limited availability of spaces in schools, to cultural barriers and xenophobia. This paper examines the distinct educational policy responses to Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, Peru, and Chile.

Easton-Calabria, E. (2022). Refugees, self-reliance, development: A critical history. Bristol University Press. The promotion of refugee self-reliance is evident today, yet its history remains largely unexplored, with good practices, and longstanding issues often missed. This book documents a century of little-known efforts to foster refugee self-reliance through archival and contemporary evidence, including the economic, political, and social motives driving this assistance. The book tracks refugee self-reliance with five case studies as a malleable concept used to pursue ulterior interests. It reshapes understandings of refugee self-reliance and delivers important messages for contemporary policymaking.The first chapter is available open-access (free) here. 

Rap, S. (2022). ‘A test that is about your life’: The involvement of refugee children in asylum application proceedings in the netherlands. Refugee Survey Quarterly, 41(2), 298-319. Refugee children are often neither recognized as rights holders nor as active agents in asylum procedures. A one-sided view of these children as vulnerable objects is not in coherence with international children’s rights, including the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which regards all children as autonomous subjects and full bearers of rights. Through 21 in-depth interviews with unaccompanied, separated, and accompanied children in the Netherlands, their perceptions and experiences are collected and analyzed concerning their right to be informed and to participate in asylum application proceedings.

Hovil, L., & Maple, N. (2022). Local integration: A durable solution in need of restoration? Refugee Survey Quarterly, 41(2), 238-266. Local integration has long been seen as the “forgotten” durable solution to refugee displacement, evidenced by the reluctance of governments across the world to accord refugees new citizenship. This article goes further. It argues that local integration as a durable solution has not been merely forgotten, but deliberately avoided at a national, regional and international level.

REPORTS AND POLICY BRIEFS

The Future is Now: Strengthening High-Quality, Inclusive and Innovative Hybrid Service Delivery by Cansu Ekmekcioglu, Renee Black, and Marco Campana, AMSSA, Canada. This report sets out an ambitious vision of a technology enabled and innovative settlement sector in Canada, where every newcomer is supported throughout their settlement journey with equitable, inclusive, and high-quality hybrid services.

Migration Governance Indicators Data and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration: A Baseline Report, International Organization for Migration (IOM), May 5, 2022. This document analyses global, regional and thematic trends that emerge from MGI data concerning the general commitment and the range of associated actions for each of the 23 Global Compact for Migration objectives. The core of the document consists of 23 data bulletins displaying global and regional summary statistics of the answers to the MGI questions mapped against the respective Compact objectives.

Protection, Saving Lives, & Solutions for Refugees in Dangerous Journeys: Routes towards the Central & West Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic: UNHCR’s 2022-2023 Updated Risk Mitigation Strategy and 2022 Appeal, UNHCR, April, 2022. The number of victims who died, were reported missing or endured unspeakable violations of their human rights in 2021 bears witness to this very public and sustained tragedy, with no end in sight. Yet, public attention remains fixated on mixed movements by land from south to north. Much less attention was paid, and research done on the equally important south-to-south mixed movements, which present similar protection risks.

Trends in attitudes towards migration in Europe. A comparative analysis by Silke Goubin, Anna Ruelens, & Ides Nicaise, HIVA – Research Institute for Work and Society, 2022. This report investigates and discusses the changes in the perception of migrants and attitudes towards migration between 2002-2018 using the European Social Survey data. Both the evolution of migration perceptions within countries and the cross-national evolution across European countries are discussed and illustrated visually. Significant between-country differences emerged in Europe.

Honouring Canada’s Legacy in Afghanistan: Responding to the Humanitarian Crisis and Helping People Reach Safety, report of the Special Committee on Afghanistan, June 2022. The republic’s collapse unleashed shockwaves within Afghanistan and around the world. As the situation unravelled, many were rescued amid volatile and dangerous conditions. However, the final evacuation left behind people who had tried–with the coalition’s encouragement–to advance security, freedom, opportunity and dignity in their country. Within Afghanistan, there is now a tableau of vulnerability; millions of people are trying to avoid hunger, destitution, or retaliation.

Filling the Gap: Humanitarian Support and Alternative Pathways for Migrants on Columbia’s Edge by Rachel Schmidtke, Refugees International, June 17, 2022.  More migrants are taking immense risks to cross the Darién Gap, a dangerous 100 km stretch of dense jungle between Colombia and Panama. Refugees International visited Necoclí and Capurganá, Colombia—two critical junctions in the journey to cross the gap—to better understand humanitarian needs in the region.  

Hungry and unprotected children: The forgotten refugees by Natalia Korobkova, Michah Branaman & Delphine Valette, World Vision International, June 13 2022. In surveying refugee and internally displaced children in 2022, the authors looked at the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, as well as the emerging global hunger crisis and what it means for forcibly displaced girls and boys. The report brings attention to those refugees that the international community has left behind due to trending news. 

World report on the health of refugees and migrants, World Health Organization, 20 July 2022. A whole host of determinants influences health outcomes. However, refugees and migrants face additional determinants such as precarious legal status, discrimination, and financial barriers. This groundbreaking publication outlines current and future opportunities and challenges and provides several strategies to improve the health and well-being of refugees and migrants.

Joint Evaluation of the Protection of Rights of Refugees during the COVID-19 pandemic by Glyn Taylor and colleagues, COVID-19 Global Evaluation Coalition, July 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound and potentially lasting consequences for the rights of refugees. It has challenged the capacity and willingness of states to live up to their international responsibilities and obligations. Moreover, it is likely to continue to disproportionately affect the most vulnerable, especially those forcibly displaced from their homes. 

Paths of Assistance: Opportunities for Aid and Protection along the Thailand-Myanmar Border by Daniel Sullivan, Refugees International, July 12, 2022. At the Thai-Myanmar border, informal aid from local groups has become a vital lifeline for displaced communities. As the situation worsens inside Myanmar, the pathway is more critical than ever.

Retention of government-assisted refugees in designated destinations: Recent trends and the role of destination characteristics by Yasmin Gure & Feng Hou, Statistics Canada, July 27, 2022. Refugees resettled in Canada as part of the Government-Assisted Refugees (GARs) Program are assigned to designated communities across the country. The study found that the overall rate of retention among GARs in designated destinations by the end of the first full year after landing has increased considerably. As the dispersion of refugees across Canada continues to be a key objective of the government’s resettlement strategy, it is imperative to understand and identify the factors that may facilitate refugees’ retention in their designated community.

2022 Global Refugee Work Rights Report, Refugee International, the Center for Global Development, Asylum Access, July 28, 2022. This groundbreaking new report documents the extent to which refugees and other forced migrants continue to face barriers in achieving equitable economic inclusion around the world. By highlighting the gap between the rights that refugees and forced migrants have in law and practice, this report demonstrates the need to focus on implementation.

NEWS AND BLOG POSTS

The Human Rights Complexities of Migration in Africa by Cristiano d’Orsi, African Law Matters, June 23, 2022. This blog post reflects on how several African countries are distancing themselves from the traditional Eurocentric vision of human rights and how, sometimes, they contradict regional and sub-regional treaties concerning the rights of migrants. This last tension often occurs through the policy adopted by an African state’s government (or the relevant institutions). However, it is sometimes also revealed directly in the domestic law of a given country. 

Trafficking in persons in Canada, 2020 by Shana Conroy & Danielle Sutton, Statistics Canada, June 9, 2022. This article uses police-reported and court data to provide an overview of trends in human trafficking incidents, prior police contact among accused persons and the outcomes of cases that go through the court system. In addition, the infographic ‘Police-reported human trafficking in Canada, 2010-2020′ presents some recent trends in police-reported data on human trafficking. 

Grim options, grim choices: trafficked girls in India by Paula Banerjee, 360 Info, June 20, 2022. Poverty and abuse often mean Indian girls and women see human traffickers as their ticket to a better life – this only worsened during the pandemic. However, there is more to the story: Indian girls and women often have few rights and protections even before they are trafficked. As a result, experts say they frequently see trafficking as their way out of poverty and into a life of at least some agency. 

Risking death to cross the Bay of Bengal by Sucharita Sengupta, 360 Info, June 20, 2022. Death is likelier than ever for migrants who travel across the high seas. Cases of boats capsizing in the Bay of Bengal, continue to rise, and nations should ensure proper disembarkation and rescue operations. These are the key to protecting refugees and stateless people from discrimination, persecution, deprivation – and death. Statelessness is not a legal problem but a humanitarian crisis. 

Global statelessness crisis keeps growing by Samir Kumar Das, 360 Info, June 20, 2022. With refugee populations growing, the spotlight is intensifying on nations that cast out the stateless – people who do not have citizenship in any country. The problem with statelessness lies in its circularity: since the law of the land establishes the legality of statelessness, legal recourse on the part of a stateless person is impossible. 

Afghan crisis is a migration crisis by Mujib Ahmad Azizi, 360 Info, June 20, 2022. Afghanistan is facing a perfect storm of threats, and climate change is pushing it to a breaking point. Yet, the world seems unaware of the coming catastrophe. The issues of climate change, conflict and growing numbers of displaced people have been raised in many UN meetings. Several warnings have shown that these are interconnected problems, but the magnitude has not been considered. 

There’s no such thing as a climate refugee by Sanjay Chaturvedi, 360 Info, June 20, 2022. Billions of people are likely to be displaced by climate change. However, calling them ‘climate refugees’ oversimplifies the complex reasons people flee their homes. The author argues that the issue demands and deserves to be approached in conjunction with – and not divorced from — other forms of migration of this Anthropocene era, one characterized by unprecedented acceleration of human impact on the earth.

Why Are Refugees Returning to Ukraine? By Alice Hickson, Newlines Institute, September 1, 2022. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has recorded more than 10 million border crossings from Ukraine into neighbouring countries. However, recent border-crossing data has shown a steady increase of refugees back into the war-torn country, currently totalling 3 million. The trend represents concerning evidence that many Ukrainians would rather live in danger inside Ukraine than live the uncertain life of a refugee.

Why the expressive arts, led by teachers in schools, matter for refugee children by Susan Barber, The Conversation, September 11, 2022. Canada rapidly settled nearly 47,000 Syrians fleeing conflict in 2015 and intends to welcome 40,000 Afghan refugees. Canada has also put no limit on the Ukrainian refugees it will accept. However, there is a history of a lack of success in supporting refugees after their arrival, specifically in reducing mental health issues like trauma in children.

EVENTS, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

The Refuge Podcast [Episode 8]: Youth Involvement in Research & Community Programs. Child and Youth Refugee Research Coalition. This podcast brings together youth with refugee experience, academics, and community partners to discuss critical issues affecting refugee children, youth, and families in Canada and beyond. In addition, this episode discusses the importance of involving youth in research and community programs. This episode is of particular interest to researchers, community organizations, and service providers.

The RRN Research Digest provides a synopsis of recent research on refugee and forced migration issues from entities associated with the RRN and others.

You can download the digest in PDF format here: RRN Research Digest No. 125

NEW RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

Abdelaaty, L. (2022). Do Rights Violations Deter Refugees, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Do crackdowns by destination countries deter refugees? Much of the existing literature conflates containment measures (forcibly restricting refugees in their home region or country) and deterrence policies (discouraging refugees by making the destination appear less attractive). In addition, empirical studies have focused almost exclusively on Western countries and analyzed the effects of acceptance rates or policy reforms on the number of asylum applications lodged. In contrast, this paper examines whether rights violations deter asylum-seekers and refugees by leveraging a global dataset drawn from reports by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. The author finds that deportation, detention, and encampment are not associated with decreases in asylum applications or refugee arrivals and may be associated with increases in them in some cases. While reduced access to the labour market may deter minimal numbers of asylum-seekers and refugees, there are other sound reasons for destination countries to eschew restrictive employment policies (50 free eprints)

Danisi, C., Dustin, M., Ferreira, N., Held, N., and Querton, C. (eds.). (2022). Sexuality, Gender and Asylum: Refugees at a Crossroads, Research Topic in Frontiers in Human Dynamics. In recent years there has been increasing research interest in SOGI asylum in Europe and beyond. Scholars from various disciplines have explored how SOGI claims are often treated in an inappropriate and stereotyped way with repercussions concerning claimants’ proof of membership of a particular social group (PSG), risk of persecution and credibility. Yet, despite this growing body of literature on SOGI asylum, it is clear that many theoretical, geographical and practical challenges and gaps remain. This editorial brings together interdisciplinary and original contributions that push the boundaries of our knowledge and understanding of SOGI asylum. Combined, these pieces contribute to the existing literature and current debates on SOGI asylum, advancing theoretical and policy debates on SOGI asylum.

(2022). Special issue: Refuge in Pandemic Times. Refuge : Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 38(1). This special issue celebrates the 40th anniversary of Refuge: One of the longest-standing bilingual, open access, peer-reviewed journals in the field of forced migration. It also brings together a rich compilation of pieces addressing forced migration, refugeeness, protection and resettlement under COVID-19.

Milner, J., Alio, M., & Gardi, R. (2022). Meaningful Refugee Participation: An Emerging Norm in the Global Refugee Regime. Refugee Survey Quarterly. Despite growing attention since 2016, the authors argue that meaningful refugee participation in the governance of the global refugee regime is not yet an established norm. By drawing on the norm lifecycle framework developed by Finnemore and Sikkink and an analysis of recent initiatives, the authors argue instead that meaningful refugee participation is an emerging norm that has the potential to become the standard of appropriate behaviour in global decision-making fora. Despite this progress, they argue that the pursuit of differentiated approaches to refugee participation by norm entrepreneurs may constrain efforts to advance the norm. By examining efforts by States, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and refugee-led initiatives in recent years, the authors seek to highlight the similarities and differences between these initiatives and the extent to which they meet the threshold for norm emergence. While meaningful refugee participation is not yet a norm in the global refugee regime, this research argues that a deeper understanding of its steady emergence holds important lessons for future research, policy, and practice.

Lems, A. (2022). Being-Here: Placemaking in a World of Movement (Vol. 35). Berghahn Books. Exploring the lifeworlds of Halima, Omar and Mohamed, three middle-aged Somalis living in Melbourne, Australia, the author discusses the interrelated meanings of emplacement and displacement as experienced in people’s everyday lives. Through their experiences of displacement and placemaking, Being-Here examines the figure of the refugee as a metaphor for societal alienation and estrangement and moves anthropological theory towards a new understanding of the crucial existential links between Sein (Being) and Da (Here). The introduction of the volume can be read here. 

Kolmes, S. A., Kolmes, S. K., & Lin, P. H. (2022). What Lies Ahead: How Aid for Climate Refugees Must Focus on Human Rights and Human Health. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 64(3), 7-16. This article analyzes two distinct perspectives for determining whether a person fleeing their country can be granted “climate refugee” status due to the negative environmental impacts on their country of climate change. One perspective comes from the UN Human Rights Committee, which states that an intermediate risk of serious harm must be present to prevent the return of a person seeking protection related to climate. The second perspective is from the pastoral guidelines of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which emphasizes the obligation to protect migrants when a climate crisis threatens the conditions necessary for a dignified life. Finally, the article explores the impact each approach has on people seeking protection.

REPORTS AND POLICY BRIEFS

The Future of Nationality in the Pacific: Preventing Statelessness and Nationality Loss in the context of Climate Change by Michelle Foster, Nicola Hard, Hélène Lambert and Jane McAdam, UNSW, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, University of Melbourne, and the University of Technology Sydney, May 2022. This ground-breaking new report provides the first in-depth look at the legal risks of statelessness and nationality loss in the Pacific as climate change hits. The report finds that under current laws, some Pacific Islanders who move abroad permanently risk losing their citizenship or the ability to pass it on to their children. Entitlements such as voting or standing for office play a powerful role in ongoing connection to home, even for citizens living elsewhere.

Digital Health Credentials and COVID-19: Can Vaccine and Testing Requirements Restart Global Mobility? by  Lawrence Huang, Migration Policy Institute (MPI), April 2022. This report examines the implications of digital health credentials for international travel and domestic access to services and venues. It explores what using these credentials could mean for specific mobile groups, including tourists and business travellers, labour migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, unauthorized migrants and students. It also offers policy recommendations to facilitate mobility and minimize risks for people on the move, along with key principles that should underpin long-term planning around digital credentials.

COVID-19 and the State of Global Mobility in 2021, by Meghan Benton, Samuel Davidoff-Gore, Jeanne Batalova, Lawrence Huang & Jie Zong, Migration Policy Institute (MPI), May 10, 2022. This report examines trends during the second year of the pandemic across various areas, including changes in restrictions, human movements and policy innovation. It comes ahead of the first International Migration Review Forum (17-20 May), where the UN Member States will gather to assess progress in implementing the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

From Fear to Solidarity: The Difficulty in Shifting Public Narratives about Refugees by Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Migration Policy Institute (MPI), May 4, 2022. This report examines the narratives that emerge in communities welcoming forced migrants and two types of interventions that address negative narratives: information campaigns and ‘contact-building’ initiatives that aim to build connections between refugees and host communities. The report concludes that efforts to address negative narratives head-on may not work. Information campaigns that seek to change people’s minds about refugees may fall flat or even backfire, given that beliefs are inextricably tied to social cues and identity, and thus are resistant to change. Instead, facilitating positive contact between refugees and other members of society may be a more promising approach to reduce prejudice and foster cooperation and trust, though the quality and context of the contact are critical determinants of success.

International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) 2022: Implementation and the Road Ahead for the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration (GCM), Center for Migration Studies, May 24, 2022. When the GCM was adopted in 2018, it stipulated that a high-level meeting take place every four years to discuss progress made, new challenges, and the road ahead. This meeting took place for the first time since the adoption of the GCM from May 16-20, at United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York. The forum brought together member states, stakeholders, civil society, local governments, and migrants. It concluded with the adoption of the IMRF Progress Declaration, which documents progress made on the implementation of the GCM and pledges future international cooperation to ensure that the human rights, dignity, and safety of migrants are upheld.

Global Detention Project (GDP) Annual Report: Global Tool, Local Impact, May 2022. When the GDP began drafting this Annual Report, Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine had already spurred the largest refugee emergency in Europe since World War II. We looked back on 2021—a year during which the COVID-19 pandemic, cruel border control practices, and burgeoning conflicts from Yemen to Myanmar to Afghanistan all had devastating impacts on migrants and refugees. It was hard to imagine that yet another calamity awaited around the corner that would upend our collective sense of security and well-being, and create dramatic new challenges in our efforts to promote the human rights of detained non-citizens. In this Annual Report, the GDP has sought to engage these challenges proactively, effectively, and in partnership with allies and advocates at all levels, from local advocacy groups to networks spread across the international community. 

Immigration Detention Amidst War: The Case of Ukraine’s Volyn Detention Centre, A Global Detention Project (GDP) Special Report, April 29, 2022. The GDP has closely monitored and reported on the plight of migrants and asylum seekers trapped in detention centres inside war-torn Ukraine, working in collaboration with Human Rights Watch and other civil society partners, and with journalism contacts across Europe. Although members of the European Parliament called for EU assistance for the detainees, many remain detained in Ukraine, while some have been re-detained in Poland. Learn more from this special report about the ongoing saga of these detainees.  

NEWS AND BLOG POSTS

“And So Advocacy Became Healing”: A GDP Q&A with Abdul Aziz Muhamat, Global Detention Project, April 28, 2022. In 2013, Abdul Aziz Muhamat’s father put him on a flight departing Sudan when conflict threatened the family. His journey to freedom and safety was cut short when the Australian navy intercepted the boat he had boarded from Indonesia to Australia and sent him to Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Aziz languished for nearly six years on Manus, where he was an indefatigable advocate for those trapped in Australia’s offshore detention system. Today, Aziz lives in Switzerland, having been granted asylum after receiving Geneva’s prestigious Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2019. In 2021, Aziz joined the GDP as a research and advocacy fellow. Executive Director Michael Flynn spoke to Aziz about his experiences, the challenges he sees in making advocacy more effective, and his plans for the future. 

Preventing Statelessness and Nationality Loss in the context of Climate Change by Michelle Foster, Nicola Hard, Hélène Lambert and Jane McAdam, European Network on Statelessness, May 19, 2022. This week, a pioneering report was launched that presents the first in-depth analysis of the legal risks of statelessness and nationality loss in the context of climate change in the Pacific. In this blog, the authors present a summary of its findings and recommendations for Pacific Island Countries and Territories to protect their people from the risks of statelessness now and into the future, whatever it holds.

The ‘Biloela family’ are going home – but what will Labor do with thousands of other asylum seekers in limbo in Australia? By Mary Anne Kenny, The Conversation, May 27, 2022. The long-running case of the “Biloela family” has taken a step forward, after the new Australian Labor government confirmed they would be allowed to return home to Queensland. But their final immigration status is still outstanding. It’s yet to be seen if the immigration minister will choose to exercise their discretion to grant them permanent visas.

EVENTS, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

[Podcast] Is it possible to predict future forced displacement? Fixing Aid Podcast, The New Humanitarian, May 5, 2022. In this episode of Fixing Aid, host Alae Ismail explores if aid responses could be improved if future forced displacement trends were more accurately predicted.

[Podcast] The Refuge: A CYRRC Podcast: The Child and Youth Refugee Research Coalition. The Refuge Podcast brings together youth with refugee experience, academics, and community partners to discuss key issues affecting refugee children, youth, and families in Canada and beyond.

The RRN Research Digest provides a synopsis of recent research on refugee and forced migration issues from entities associated with the RRN and others.

You can download the digest in PDF format here: RRN Research Digest No. 124

NEW RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

[open access] Special Issue: Maguire, M. (Ed.). (2021). Twentieth Century Histories of Civic Society Responses to Crises of Displacement. Displaced Voices: A Journal of Archives, Migration and Cultural Heritage, 2(1). This special issue of displaced voices marks the 70th anniversary of the UK Refugee Council. The articles in this issue take up the theme of voluntary organizations that support refugees, from the local to the national, interrogating how volunteer and community work at various scales can help refugees, build understanding and solidarity, and develop connections between historically disparate refugee arrivals. This issue raises new questions about what it means to organize for refugees and our roles and responsibilities.

[open access] Pacifico, A. P. (2022). A Network Society Communicative Model for Optimising the Refugee Status Determination System. E-book. The book aims to analyze the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) to locate the reader on the development of the theme, the forms and actors responsible for its application, and, in the last chapter, to present suggestions for improving the RSD system developed around the world. In addition, the text provides several elements that mark these 70 years of development of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees while touching on sensitive issues.

Krause, U. (2021). Difficult Life in a Refugee Camp: Gender, Violence, and Coping in Uganda. Cambridge University Press. Although refugee camps are established to accommodate, protect, and assist those fleeing from violent conflict and persecution, life often remains difficult there. Building on empirical research with refugees in a Ugandan camp, the author offers nuanced insights into violence, humanitarian protection, gender relations, and coping of refugees who mainly escaped the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This book explores how the risks of gender-based violence against women and men persist despite and partly due to their settlement in the camp and the system established there. It reflects on modes and shortcomings of humanitarian protection, changes in gender relations, and strategies that the women and men use to cope with insecurities, everyday struggles, and structural problems occurring across different levels and temporalities.

Walsh, M., Due, C., & Ziersch, A. (2022). “More Important than COVID-19”: Temporary Visas and Compounding Vulnerabilities for Health and Well-Being from the COVID-19 Pandemic for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Australia. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 38(1), 11–26. Refugees and asylum seekers on temporary visas typically experience interacting issues related to employment, financial precarity, and poor health and well-being. This research aimed to explore whether the social impacts of COVID-19 exacerbated these issues. Interviews were conducted before and during the COVID-19 pandemic with 15 refugees and asylum seekers living in South Australia on temporary visas. The authors found that COVID-19 led to adverse health and other outcomes such as employment challenges. The findings emphasize the importance of immigration and welfare policy.

[open access] Anderson, M. M., & Soennecken, D. (2022). Locating the Concept of Vulnerability in Canada’s Refugee Policies at Home and Abroad. Laws, 11(2). How is the concept of “vulnerability” employed in Canadian immigration law? This article presents findings from research conducted as part of the VULNER project (2019–23). The authors analyze how vulnerability is operationalized in Canada’s inland refugee (or asylum) determination procedures compared to its overseas resettlement program by first discussing some general principles, followed by examining the treatment of women and LGBTQI+ individuals seeking protection. The authors demonstrate that legal-bureaucratic logics have constructed two very heterogeneous worlds of vulnerability that may reproduce and exacerbate vulnerabilities rather than create a more inclusive, equitable protection regime in law, policy, and practice.

[open access] Purkey, A. (2022). Vulnerability and the Quest for Protection: A Review of Canadian Migration Case Law. Laws, 11(2). Drawing on data from over 750 cases, primarily from the Immigration and Refugee Board and the Federal Court of Canada, this study sought to examine how the concept of vulnerability is used by both decision-makers and parties to cases involving migrants seeking legal status and various forms of protection under national or international law in Canad

[open access] Stirling Cameron, E., Ramos, H., Aston, M. et al. (2021). “COVID affected us all:” the birth and postnatal health experiences of resettled Syrian refugee women during COVID-19 in Canada. BMC Reproductive Health, 18(256). This article examined the lived experiences of postpartum Syrian refugee women who gave birth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nova Scotia, Canada. This qualitative paper sought to understand how the pandemic impacted women’s access to healthcare and social support during and after birth. Women experienced complicated healthcare interactions, including socially and physically isolated deliveries, challenges accessing in-person interpreters, and cancelled or unavailable in-home services. In addition, increased childcare responsibilities and limited informal support due to pandemic restrictions left women feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.

REPORTS AND POLICY BRIEFS

Report: Pushed into the Shadows: Mexico’s Reception of Haitian Migrants by Yael Schacher & Rachel Schmidtke, Refugees International. April 28, 2022. Mexico’s response to Haitians seeking safety has been chaotic, neglectful, and discriminatory. A Refugees International team spoke with Haitian men and women about their experiences finding safety in Mexico and throughout the hemisphere—and recommended a new approach.

Report: “I’m a Prisoner Here”: Biden Administration Policies Lock Up Asylum Seekers, Human Rights First. April 21, 2022. The Biden administration has detained tens of thousands of asylum seekers in violation of the UN Refugee Convention. The 1951 UN Refugee Convention states that signatory nations “shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees… provided they present themselves without delay.” However, a close examination of the cases of 270 asylum seekers and immigrants revealed a pattern of detention, even for asylum seekers from countries where human violations are well documented. Information from these cases comes from dozens of immigration attorneys and interviews with asylees in detention. The United States has the most extensive immigration detention system in the world.

Report: After the Coup: Burkina Faso’s Humanitarian and Displacement Crisis by Alexandra Lamarche and Arden Bentley, Refugees International. April 21, 2022. Burkina Faso’s humanitarian emergency is getting worse. A longer-than-usual dry season and a worsening global grain shortage amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict—where more than a third of the country’s grains are imported—make action more urgent than ever.

News and Blog Posts

Life as death: How Afghan refugees aren’t offered real solutions by Nergis Canefe, Eurozine. 9 February 2022. More than half a million Afghans were displaced in 2021, adding to many more forced to flee over decades of uninterrupted violence. Unfortunately, offers to accommodate Afghanistan’s ‘living dead’ are often conditional on vague definitions of neediness. The author argues that there is a tendency in transitional justice efforts to contain the discussion of the local within the religious and cultural parameters in the Global South, thus engaging only with a ‘static local’, as interpreted by certain local stakeholders. Instead, we must pay attention to a ‘dynamic local’ where societal norms evolve. Here, realities on the ground are shaped by shifting power dynamics, local hierarchies and inequalities between actors, and histories of statehood.

From Detention to E-Incarceration, Hope Border Institute, Frontera Dispatch. April 26, 2022. The Hope Border Institute calls for an end to the detention of immigrants and “e-carceration” through “Alternatives to Detention” (ATD) programs. These ATD methods allow immigrants to be tracked geographically via ankle bracelets, telephonic monitoring, and smartphone apps, which are nothing more than digital prisons and make immigrants feel like criminals. The Hope Border Institute also calls for protecting the privacy and security of migrants placed into ATD programs. Their data should not be mined by the government and for-profit companies working for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Nationality and Borders Act becomes law: five key changes explained by Alex Baltch, The Conversation. April 29, 2022. UK Parliament Passed the Nationality and Borders Act on April 26, 2022. The law presents the biggest overhaul to the asylum system in the United Kingdom in decades and seeks to deter illegal entry into the country. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi warned that this law undermines established refugee protection laws and practices, including the 1951 Refugee Convention. The law creates two classes of asylum seekers based on how they arrive in the UK, those who come with a visa and those who do not. Asylum seekers who entered the country through irregular channels or overstayed their visas could face criminal charges and four years imprisonment.

EVENTS, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA

Government Data in Migration Research: Advantages, Pitfalls, and Examples, CCIS & UCLA Center for the Study of International Migration. May 20, 2022, 3:00-5:00 PM ET. The panellists will discuss the use of US government data in migration research. It will begin with a discussion of the data available through the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, its processes, the epistemological issues with how government knowledge is produced, and various applications in both academic works and the real world. Furthermore, the panellists will discuss the trade-offs between survey and administrative data to study individual versus place-level immigration-related questions.