Mar 14, 2019: RRN Research Digest

Blogs
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. 59

Recent Publications and New Research

Topak, Ö. E., & Vives, L. (2018). A comparative analysis of migration control strategies along the Western and Eastern Mediterranean routes: Sovereign interventions through militarization and deportation. Migration Studies.

In this article, the authors focus on two defensive aspects of the EU’s anti-immigration strategy in countries of origin and transit: the militarization of the external borders, and an increasing reliance on the deportation of those unwanted migrants who manage to cross the now-militarized border. In order to understand the development of the anti-immigration EU border, the authors compare how these two instruments have been deployed along the Western and Eastern Mediterranean routes since the pivotal year of 2005—the year Frontex (the European Border and Coast Guard Agency) became operational and the GAMM was adopted as the EU’s migration framework. The paper shows that a common goal (the closing of the border against unwanted migrants) has created a venue for the re-articulation of sovereignty among and between the EU (as a supranational actor) and its member states (as nation-state actors). It emphasizes that rather than one replacing the other, these entities cooperate to implement sovereign interventions (such as in the form of militarization or deportation practices). Available at: https://academic.oup.com/migration/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/migration/mny029/5064227

New book: Maestri, G. (2019). Temporary camps, enduring segregation: The Contentious Politics of Roma and Migrant Housing. Palgrave Macmillan.

The book interrogates the persistence of Roma and migrant segregation in camps, to understand how the creation of temporary enclosures can lead to enduring marginalisation. In order to do so, it develops a comparison between Italy and France and develop a new theorisation of the camp as a site of contentious politics, where the interaction between governmental and non-governmental actors produces different temporal arrangements and forms of segregation. More information available at:

https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030037352 More details about the chapters available at: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-03736-9

New Open-access special issue on Social Policies as a Tool of Migration Control, edited by Ilker Ataç and Sieglinde Rosenberger, the Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies,

This special issue contributes to academic debates on the intersection of migration control and social policies by analyzing policies and policy making towards irregular migrants and rejected asylum seekers in European countries. It shows a range of social policies, covering both legal regulation and practical implementation across countries and cities according to the perspective of internal migration control. It also deals with tensions, conflicts, and cooperation with regard to the provision of welfare services for irregular migrants. Finally, it addresses the policy designs and strategies of actors that provide, limit, or expand access to welfare services for irregular migrants. Below are the links to the individual articles:

Report, briefs and policy papers

Report: The Crisis Below the Headlines: Conflict Displacement in Ethiopia, by Mark Yarnell, refugees International, (November 14, 2018).

Significant displacement occurred between April and June along the internal border of Oromia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR). In September, a team from Refugees International (RI) traveled to southern Oromia and SNNPR to assess the situation of the displaced and the response. The team found that while the government made a proactive effort to partner with international humanitarian organizations early on, this positive trend was soon upended. In late August, the government began to restrict the delivery of assistance, telling IDPs that they would only receive help if they returned home. However, because many return areas were destroyed in the violence and remained insecure, a number of IDPs who tried to return home now find themselves living in secondary displacement sites.  The report concludes by some recommendations to the government to address the crisis.  Available at:

https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports/2018/11/14/the-crisis-below-the-headlines-conflict-displacement-in-ethiopia

Report: Barriers and exclusions: The support needs of newly arrived refugees with a disability, Refugee Council of Australia, (28 February 2019)

This report highlights the service issues facing refugees with disabilities in Australia. It presents recommendations to government on how to improve services and policies to support refugees and humanitarian migrants with disabilities. It identifies a range of issues for refugees with disabilities accessing appropriate support, including access to timely assessment, accessible and appropriate housing, adequate support within the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and culturally appropriate disability services. It finally makes some recommendations to address the existing barriers and challenges for people from a refugee background with a disability. available at:

https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/disability-report/2/

IWYS researchers developed four new research summaries and infographics, Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement (CERIS) (February 2019)

The immigrant women, youth and seniors research teams have developed 4 summaries and 4 infographics to launch of our first series of Knowledge Mobilization products for the IWYS project. More information can be found at: http://ceris.ca/IWYS/en/ , below are the direct links to the summaries and infographics.

  • IWYS Composite Research: How do immigrant women, youth, and seniors experience settlement and services in Canada? | Summary| Infographic 
  • IWYS Women’s Research: What are the settlement needs of immigrant women in Canada and how can settlement services help? | Summary| Infographic 
  • IWYS Youth Research: What are the settlement needs of immigrant youth in Canada and what are the impacts of settlement services?|Summary | Infographic 
  • IWYS Seniors’ Research: What are the settlement needs of immigrant seniors in Canada and what are the impacts of settlement services? | Summary| Infographic 

Report: Youth Engagement in Ethnocultural Organizations in Winnipeg, by Jill Bucklaschuk, Janelle Gobin, and Ray Silvius, The Community Engaged Research on Immigration (CERI), (February 2019)

This report supplements a previous report, “Ethnocultural Community Organizations in Winnipeg: A Legacy Document”, that was written in 2018. Collectively, the two documents explore the role of ethnocultural community groups and organizations in providing services and supports for newcomers, and particularly refugees, in Winnipeg. The present report provides a more comprehensive account of the types of services, programs, and supports provided by Winnipeg’s ethnocultural community groups to meet the needs of immigrants and refugees. In particular, this report focuses on the scope of immigrant and refugee youth engagement in ethnocultural community groups. Both documents are meant to inform staff at IPW as they develop initiatives to support the work of ethnocultural community groups and organizations and seek to better engage newcomer youth in their activities. Available at: https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/ceri-network/docs/youth-engagement-eccs-final-report.pdf

News reports and blog posts

Québec’s Trump-like immigration policies contradict Canada’s welcoming image, by Carlo Handy Charles, The conversation, February 27, 2019

In early February, the Canadian government temporarily halted deportations to both Venezuela and to Haiti as violent protests continued in major cities in both countries. This article explores the implications of these temporary suspensions for Haitians who live in the current anti-immigration climate of the province of Québec. Available at:

https://theconversation.com/quebecs-trump-like-immigration-policies-contradict-canadas-welcoming-image-112482. 

The Rohingya: A humanitarian emergency decades in the making, IRIN news.

This is a selection of IRIN’s reporting on the deep roots of anti-Rohingya violence; the 2017 refugee crisis; and the next steps for Myanmar’s rejected minority. It offers an overview of who the Rohingya are, how the current crisis has unfolder, the situation in the refugee camps, as well as the reaction of the international community. Available at:

https://www.irinnews.org/in-depth/myanmar-rohingya-refugee-crisis-humanitarian-aid-bangladesh

GCM Indicators: Objective 6: Facilitate fair and ethical recruitment and safeguard conditions that ensure decent work, by Jean-Baptiste Farcy, Refugee Law initiative, Feb 25, 2019

The aim of Objective 6 in the global compact for migration, is to ensure decent work for all migrants. This requires actions to protect them against all forms of exploitation and improve recruitment mechanisms and admission systems to guarantee that they are fair and ethical. The overall objective is to better protect migrants at work as well as maximise the socioeconomic impact of migrants in both their country of origin and destination, according to the triple-win formula. Building on the actions foreseen in the text of the Global Compact, this article identifies indicators that help measure whether Objective 6 is being achieved in practice. It focuses on issues of equal pay for equal work, prohibiting the confiscation of travel or identity documents, facilitating change of employer, among others. Available at:
https://rli.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2019/02/25/gcm-indicators-objective-6-facilitate-fair-and-ethical-recruitment-and-safeguard-conditions-that-ensure-decent-work/

Multimedia and social media

Video: Unwelcome stranger: An African asylum seeker in Israel, Roopa Gogineni

This short documentary tells the story of Anwar, a Sudanese anti-government activist who fled his home in Darfur in 2003. https://www.irinnews.org/video/2017/07/31/unwelcome-stranger-african-asylum-seeker-israel

The Cities of Migration e-newsletter 

This is a bi-monthly review of good ideas, news and events from Cities of Migration, its GDX family and international networks. You can browse past issues, or visit the online edition at Conversations in Integration for up-to-date information and new ideas about successful integration practices from cities around the world. http://citiesofmigration.ca/conversations-in-integration/newsletter/

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