Research and publications

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10315/38507

Scholarship and research submitted to the Forced Migration Research Archive.

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Access status: Open Access ,
Refugee-Led Organizations in Uganda: Agency, Gender, and Politics of Self-Organizing in Exile
(McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2026-04) Krause, Ulrike; Joshua, Gato Ndabaramiye; Schmidt, Hannah
Self-organization plays an essential yet often overlooked role in the everyday lives of refugees in exile. By self-organizing, they challenge restrictions, claim political representation, foster social relations and belonging, and create ongoing economic opportunities. While government authorities and aid organizations are supposed to provide protection and assistance, refugees often continue to face adversities, restrictions, and risks, prompting them to establish and maintain their own support systems. Refugee-Led Organizations in Uganda offers nuanced insight into the problems arising from the aid system and especially the significance of the spectrum of informal and formalized self-organizations. Ulrike Krause, Gato Ndabaramiye Joshua, and Hannah Schmidt draw on a gender-sensitive understanding of relational agency and situated knowledge and use empirical research in Uganda’s camp Kyaka II and the capital, Kampala, to reveal how individuals collectively contribute to their own support in times of emergency and in everyday life. Interwoven with reflections written by refugees in Uganda – Bengekya Mugay Gédéon, Noella Kabale, Paul, Janvier Hafasha, and Isreal Katembo, as well as the director of an LGBTQ+ refugee-led organization – the book centres on individuals’ lived experiences of self-organization in exile.
Access status: Open Access ,
East African Queer and Trans Displacements
(Bloomsbury Academic, 2026-02-26) Marnell, John; Camminga, B; Bompani, Barbara; Wairuri, Kamau
Bringing together diverse case studies and interdisciplinary perspectives, this open access collection serves as the first in-depth examination of queer and trans displacement in East Africa. The collection features original creative works by queer and trans diasporic writers and artists with first-hand experiences of displacement. The last decade has seen a sharp rise in state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia in East Africa. This includes discriminatory legislation, such as the widely condemned Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda, and government-initiated crackdowns, such as the 'anti-gay taskforce' launched in Tanzania in 2018. The politicisation of sexual and gender rights in the region is often presented as a moral crusade (i.e. a return to traditional/family values) and is enacted with the support of many religious and cultural leaders. It is within this context that an ever-increasing number of LGBTQI+ people are leaving their homes and seeking protection elsewhere. But East Africa cannot be reduced to a site from which LGBTQI+ displacement emanates. Several countries in the region act as either host countries or transit points, even as they produce LGBTQI+ refugees of their own. These complex social, political and legal dynamics make East Africa a productive site for theorising queer and trans displacement. The region offers insights into how, when and why LGBTQI+ Africans move, the social obstacles they face, and the different survival strategies they deploy. Despite this, research on East African queer and trans displacements remains sparse.
Access status: Open Access ,
Gendered Implications of Restricted Residence Obligation Policies on Refugees’ Employment in Germany
(DIW Berlin, 2023) Cardozo Silva, Adriana R.; Kosyakova, Yuliya; Yurdakul, Aslıhan
This paper investigates the gender-specific impact of settlement policies on the labor market integration of refugees in Germany, utilizing a gender-specific approach. Analyzing data from the IAB- BAMF-SOEP Refugees Survey (2016-2020) through a pooled logit model with an intention-to-treat design, we explore how restrictive residency obligation policies, in conjunction with local conditions in the assigned county—such as local labor market conditions and ethnic enclaves – influence outcomes. Results reveal that female refugees experience reduced employment prospects, independent of mobility restrictions, while the residency obligation policy bears a significant negative impact on employed male refugees. In turn, the impact of analyzed local labor market characteristics and linguistic enclaves on employment probability remains consistent across gender and residency obligation. Our results highlight the multidimensional nature of refugees’ labor market integration and underscore the significance of gender-sensitive approaches.
Access status: Open Access ,
Job Quality as a Crucial Measure of Migrants’ Economic Integration
(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2026-03-19) Fendel, Tanja; Kosyakova, Yuliya
Research highlights the challenges migrants face when integrating into labour markets, often being concentrated in low-skilled, low-paid, physically demanding jobs. Intersectionality creates multiple layers of disadvantage. Traditional studies focus on labour market entrance and earnings as indicators of integration, but fewer explore factors such as job security or subjective evaluations. This chapter examines the job quality of migrants, differentiating between work migrants, family migrants and refugees compared to the native-born population. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, including the IAB-BAMF SOEP Survey of Refugees and the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample 2016–2022, differences in various dimensions of job quality are explored by gender and migration duration. The findings reveal that, while earnings improve with duration, for some migrant groups, other dimensions such as job security do not comparably improve. Identifying the barriers to integration is crucial to policies on improving social and labour market integration, particularly for disadvantaged migrant groups.
Access status: Open Access ,
Resilient or Vulnerable? Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Mental Health of Refugees in Germany
(MDPI, 2022-06-16) Goßner, Laura; Kosyakova, Yuliya; Laible, Marie-Christine
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic had consequences for the whole society, like during most crises, some population groups tended to be disproportionally affected. We rely on the most recent data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees to explore the resilience or vulnerability of refugees in the face of the pandemic. As the 2020 wave of the survey was in the field when the second nationwide lockdown started in December, we are able to apply a regression discontinuity design to analyze how refugees in Germany are coping with these measures. Our results reveal a negative effect of the lockdown on refugees’ life satisfaction. Male refugees and those with a weaker support system face stronger negative outcomes than their counterparts. Since mental health is an important prerequisite for all forms of integration, understanding the related psychological needs in times of crisis can be highly important for policymakers and other stakeholders.
Access status: Open Access ,
The dynamics of recent refugees’ language acquisition: how do their pathways compare to those of other new immigrants?
(Taylor & Francis, 2021-10-12) Kosyakova, Yuliya; Kristen, Cornelia; Spörlein, Christoph
Do the processes underlying destination-language acquisition differ between recently arrived refugees and other new immigrants? Based on a well-established model of language learning according to which language fluency is a function of efficiency, incentives, and exposure, this study addresses general processes of language learning as well as conditions specific to refugees. Longitudinal data on refugees (IAB-BAMF-SOEP Sample of Refugees in Germany) and other immigrants (IAB-SOEP Migration Sample) in Germany indicate that exposure to the destination language is the main driver of proficiency, followed by efficiency, whereas incentives matter less. Moreover, refugees profit substantially from structured learning in language courses, while other immigrants benefit more from informal exposure in their everyday environments. Overall, the findings suggest that language acquisition is a general process that is similar across different types of immigrants.
Access status: Open Access ,
Labor market situation of refugees in Europe: The role of individual and contextual factors
(Frontiers, 2022-09-23) Kosyakova, Yuliya; Kogan, Irena
The paper sheds light on the patterns of labor market integration of refugees in Western countries, who arrived primarily during the 2015–2016 mass refugee migration. Its major focus lies on the role of individual and contextual factors responsible for refugees' success in the labor market. At the host country level, the extent of permeability along the ethnic lines and the welcome of reception—both on the part of the majority population and the part of the established minorities—constitute further essential moderators of refugees' labor market success. This comprehensive literature overview draws on the flourishing body of research in Europe and beyond and discusses commonalities and differences across refugee origins and destinations while paying particular attention to the time trends and meaningful heterogeneities along with refugees' socio-demographic characteristics. We conclude by identifying major avenues for future research.
Access status: Open Access ,
Linguistic Enclaves, Sorting, and Language Skills of Immigrants
(Taylor & Francis, 2022-10-14) Kanas, Agnieszka; Kosyakova, Yuliya; Vallizadeh, Ehsan
The literature argues that linguistic enclaves negatively affect immigrants’ language proficiency by reducing their exposure and incentives to learn destination language. This negative association may, however, be spurious, arising due to the self-selection of immigrants into regions with larger enclaves. Exploiting the natural experiment of the German residential policy, this paper analyses the influence of linguistic enclaves on refugees’ language proficiency. We find no evidence that enclaves hamper German language learning among refugees. Our results are robust to various measurements and model specifications. We conclude that the negative relationship reported in previous research is mainly driven by immigrant’s residential sorting.
Access status: Open Access ,
Importance of Personality Traits for Destination-Language Acquisition: Evidence for Refugees in Germany
(Sage Journals, 2022-11-22) Kosyakova, Yuliya; Laible, Marie-Christine
We analyze the role of personality traits in destination-language proficiency among recent refugees in Germany. While personality traits have been shown to predict educational outcomes, they have been largely overlooked for immigrants’ language acquisition. We extend a well-established model of destination-language proficiency and assume that personality traits’ effects manifest through the channels of exposure, efficiency, and incentives. Using longitudinal data and growth curve models, we find that personality traits significantly shaped destination-language learning. Openness to new experiences, conscientiousness, risk appetite, locus of control and resilience were positively related to destination-language proficiency, while agreeableness and neuroticism were insignificant. The positive impact of extraversion and the negative impact of self-esteem on destination-language proficiency were only marginally significant. For all personality traits, we observe that both the efficiency of learning and exposure to learning opportunities represented possible channels through which personality traits affected refugees’ destination-language proficiency. In sum, personality traits affect refugees’ destination-language proficiency and, thereby, contribute to sustainable economic and societal integration processes. We conclude by discussing implications for international migration research and policy.
Access status: Open Access ,
The effect of co-ethnic social capital on immigrants' labor market integration: a natural experiment
(Springer, 2022-04-12) Gërxhani, Klarita; Kosyakova, Yuliya
Empirically identifying the causal effect of social capital on immigrants’ economic prospects is a challenging task due to the non-random residential sorting of immigrants into locations with greater opportunities for prior or co-ethnic connections. Our study addresses this selection-bias issue by using a natural-experimental dataset of refugees and other immigrants who were exogenously allocated to their first place of residence by German authorities. This unique opportunity allows us to make an important methodological contribution to the predominantly observational knowledge about immigration and co-ethnic social capital. Although a growing body of migration studies in economics and sociology stresses the importance of social networks for migrants’ labor market integration, our results show little evidence of a causal effect of social networks themselves. Being part of a larger co-ethnic community per se does not accelerate immigrants’ labor market success except for the migrants who use the resources embedded in their social contacts when looking for a job. We conclude that further methodological advancements can be achieved by embracing recent technological developments and by combining different methods to increase both internal and external validity of findings in migration studies.
Access status: Open Access ,
Couples’ housework division among immigrants and natives – the role of women’s economic resources
(Taylor & Francis, 2023-01-11) Fendel, Tanja; Kosyakova, Yuliya
Previous literature has intensively examined gender differences in housework hours among couples. However, analyses on immigrant couples are rare, despite the highly uneven division of their household labor. By testing competing theoretical explanations, this study focused on the impact of immigrant wives’ labor market integration on couples’ division of housework time. Using longitudinal representative data for Germany from 1995–2019, we applied fixed effects estimations to examine the effect of immigrant and native-born wives’ income and labor market entry on the housework time of both wives and husbands. Immigrant wives barely adjusted their housework times due to relative or absolute income changes, which can be explained by immigrant couples’ traditional orientation together with their lower social and labor market integration. Among native-born wives, increasing housework time with increasing relative income – a behavior also possibly determined by traditional gender values – was observed only when they earned more than 60 percent of the couples’ total income. Furthermore, the high gender differences in housework time gave immigrant husbands flexibility to respond to their wives’ labor market integration, as proposed by the relative resources perspective.
Access status: Open Access ,
Religious responses to existential insecurity: Conflict intensity in the region of birth increases praying among refugees
(Elsevier, 2023-04-18) van Tubergen, Frank; Kosyakova, Yuliya; Kanas, Agnieszka
Do violent conflicts increase religiosity? This study draws on evidence from a large-scale survey among refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria in Germany linked with data on time-varying conflict intensity in refugees' birth regions before the survey interview. The results show that the greater the number of conflict-induced fatalities in the period before the interview, the more often refugees pray. The relationship between conflict and praying holds equally across demographic subgroups. Evidence suggests that both short- and long-term cumulative fatalities in refugees' birth regions affect how often they pray. Additionally, the link between conflict and praying is stronger for refugees with family and relatives still living in their country of origin. Finally, we show that the conflicts that matter are those occurring within the refugees’ specific region of birth rather than in other regions in the country. Implications for existential insecurity theory and cultural evolutionary theory are discussed.
Access status: Open Access ,
Greater local supply of language courses improves refugees’ labor market integration
(Taylor & Francis, 2022-07-14) Kanas, Agnieszka; Kosyakova, Yuliya
Utilizing the German residential allocation and residency obligation policies, which can be regarded as a natural experiment, we investigate the causal effect of the local supply of language courses on refugees' labor market integration. By restricting refugees’ initial and post-arrival regional mobility, these policies allow us to circumvent the potential problems of initial and post-arrival residential selection. Moreover, we examine the intermediary outcomes – language proficiency, language course completion and certification, and contacts with natives – through which the local opportunity structure of language courses shape refugees’ economic integration. Our results reveal that the local supply of language courses positively affects refugees’ employment probability, and this effect persists over the duration of stay. We further find that greater supply of language courses in the assigned county increases probability of learning the German language, completing the course and receiving language certificates. From a policy perspective, our findings imply that the local provision of language courses should be considered in refugees’ residential allocation to facilitate immigrants' integration. This is because limited access to such courses can delay host country language learning, language certificate obtainment, and labor market entry, thus slowing the integration of recently arrived immigrants.
Access status: Open Access ,
Ukrainian Refugees in Germany: Evidence From a Large Representative Survey
(German Federal Institute for Population Research, 2023-08-08) Brücker, Herbert; Ette, Andreas; Grabka, Markus M.; Kosyakova, Yuliya; Niehues, Wenke; Rother, Nina; Spieß, C. Katharina; Zinn, Sabine; Bujard, Martin; Cardozo Silva, Adriana R.; Décieux, Jean Philippe; Maddox, Amrei; Milewski, Nadja; Sauer, Lenore; Schmitz, Sophia; Schwanhäuser, Silvia; Siegert, Manuel; Steinhauer, Hans; Tanis, Kerstin
This study describes the first wave of the IAB-BiB/FReDA-BAMF-SOEP Survey on Ukrainian Refugees in Germany, a unique panel dataset based on over 11,000 interviews conducted between August and October 2022. The aim of the IAB-BiB/FReDA-BAMF-SOEP Survey is to provide a data-infrastructure for theory-driven and evidence-based research on various aspects of integration among Ukrainian refugees in Germany, the second most important destination country in the EU after Poland, hosting over a million people who arrived in Germany shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Based on the survey, this study also provides first insights into demographic, educational, linguistic, occupational, and social characteristics of this population. The analyses revealed that the refugee population comprised mostly young and educated individuals, with a significant proportion of females without partners and female-headed separated families. While German language skills were limited, about half of Ukrainian refugees had attended or were attending language courses. However, the integration process faced significant challenges, as the participation of children in day-care was relatively low, and the self-reported life satisfaction was markedly below the average of the German population. The study highlights the need for targeted policy measures to address such issues. Additionally, policies may aim at harnessing the high potential of the Ukrainian refugees for the German labor market. Given that a substantial proportion would like to stay in Germany permanently, policymakers should take note of these findings and aim to facilitate their long-term integration process to ensure that these refugees may thrive in Germany.
Access status: Open Access ,
Gender employment gap at arrival and its dynamics: The case of refugees in Germany
(Elsevier, 2023-08-29) Kosyakova, Yuliya; Salikutluk, Zerrin; Hartmann, Jörg
In recent years, refugee women’s experiences have received considerable attention in the academic discourse on immigrant labor market integration. Taking a dynamic perspective, we investigate gender differences in the labor market integration of refugees who arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2019. We examine refugees' trajectories in the early post-arrival period and explore a number of conditions that have been proposed to influence gendered labor market outcomes. Using panel data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Refugee Sample, we find initially narrow gender differences among refugees that gradually widen over time. While initial differences in human capital and care responsibilities contribute significantly to the gender gap in employment in the first year after arrival, our study shows that the gap widens primarily due to refugee women experiencing lower returns to their human and social capital and health, as well as bearing a heavier burden of childcare responsibilities. These findings highlight the compounded disadvantages that refugee women face in the host country due to their limited ability to fully utilize their labor market resources, coupled with their primary responsibility for childcare. Moreover, our findings suggest that existing theoretical explanations in the literature are insufficient to fully explain the barriers refugee women face when entering the labor market.
Access status: Open Access ,
Self-selection of Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons in Europe
(Oxford Academic, 2023-12-06) van Tubergen, Frank; Kogan, Irena; Kosyakova, Yuliya; Pötzschke, Steffen
The literature on migrants’ self-selection is focused on labour migrants, while little is known about refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). We contribute to this scant literature, by (1) examining a broad set of factors that could determine self-selection, (2) contrasting self-selection profiles of refugees and IDPs, and (3) comparing self-selection profiles of refugees across countries. Specifically, we compare the self-selection profiles of Ukrainian refugees and IDPs with stayers in the months directly following the Russian full-scale invasion in February 2022. We draw on unique, cross-nationally comparative data from the OneUA project, which surveyed Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons in Europe as well as those who stayed in Ukraine in the summer of 2022. More than 24,000 Ukrainian women residing in nine countries participated in this survey. We find systematic empirical patterns of self-selection related to people’s region of origin, family status, and individual-level characteristics.
Access status: Open Access ,
How regional attitudes towards immigration shape the chance to obtain asylum: Evidence from Germany
(Oxford Academic, 2024-03-06) Gundacker, Lidwina; Kosyakova, Yuliya; Schneider, Gerald
Asylum recognition rates in advanced democracies differ not only across states but also vary within them, translating into fluctuating individual chances to obtain protection. Existing studies on the determinants of these regional inequities typically rely on aggregate data. Utilizing a German refugee survey and leveraging a quasi-natural experiment arising from state-based allocation rules tied to national dispersal policies, we test two explanations for the perplexing regional differences. Drawing on principal–agent models of administrative decision-making, we test whether asylum decision-makers consciously or unconsciously comply with regional political preferences between 2015 and 2017 in Germany, one of the major European destination countries for refugee migration. We furthermore explore whether such biased decision-making amplifies in times of organizational stress as suggested by the statistical discrimination theory. Using mixed-effects logistic regressions, our analyses confirm a lower approval probability in regions with more immigration-averse residents or governments. We cannot confirm, however, that this association is mediated by high workloads or large knowledge gaps. Our results thus suggest that regional political biases affect the individual chance of asylum-seekers to obtain protection irrespective of temporal administrative conditions.
Access status: Open Access ,
Return intentions among Ukrainian refugees in Europe: A Cross-National Study
(Wiley, 2024-06-22) van Tubergen, Frank; Wachter, Gusta G.; Kosyakova, Yuliya; Kogan, Irena
This study examines the return intentions of Ukrainian refugee women who fled to various European countries following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. By analysing data from the cross-national OneUA survey, which included over 18,000 respondents in eight European countries, this research investigates the interplay of contextual, compositional, and cross-level interaction effects on their intentions to return to Ukraine. Our findings reveal notable country differences in return intentions, with Ukrainian women in the Netherlands and Germany displaying the lowest intentions to return, while those in Moldova and Romania showing the highest. Individual-level effects, encompassing factors such as level of education, language skills, partnership status, and region of origin play a significant role in shaping return intentions, yet do not explain the observed country variations. Furthermore, we find that individual-level effects are remarkably consistent across different European countries, suggesting that country- and individual-level conditions independently shape return intentions. Overall, this study enhances our understanding of the complexities underlying refugees' return intentions, shedding light on both the broad influences of country context and the significance of individual characteristics.
Access status: Open Access ,
War beyond borders: how military conflict in Ukraine shapes refugees’ settlement intentions abroad
(Oxford Academic, 2026-03-05) Kosyakova, Yuliya; Ette, Andreas; Schwanhäuser, Silvia
This study investigates whether military conflict intensities in refugees’ home regions continue to shape their lives after arrival in a safe haven. While war and local conflict are well-established drivers of initial displacement, it remains unclear whether ongoing conflict influences settlement decision once refugees have escaped the immediate threat. We address this question using longitudinal data from the IAB-BiB/FReDA-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Ukrainian refugees in Germany, linked to high-frequency conflict data from Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion. Our findings show that both short- and long-term conflict intensities significantly affect refugees’ intentions to settle permanently abroad, with short-term shocks exerting a markedly stronger influence. Emotional responses to acute violence appear to disrupt more deliberative planning, consistent with ecological models of refugee distress. In contrast, long-term conflict intensity effects are weaker and diminish with time spent in the host country, suggesting processes of adaptation or habituation. We also find important heterogeneity: male refugees and those migrating for economic or family reasons are particularly sensitive to conflict dynamics, whereas those with family left behind are generally less inclined to settle permanently. Contrary to expectations, prior war exposure does not moderate current settlement intentions, pointing to possible acclimatization or avoidance strategies among highly exposed individuals. Overall, our results highlight the importance of integrating both emotional and evaluative processes into sociological models of refugee decision-making. They also highlight how even after arrival in safety, evolving home-country violence continues to shape refugees’ settlement trajectories.
Access status: Open Access ,
Determinants of refugees’ generalised and institutional trust: evidence from Germany
(Taylor & Francis, 2025-06-10) Kanas, Agnieszka; van Tubergen, Frank; Kosyakova, Yuliya
This paper examines the factors shaping refugees’ institutionalised and generalised trust, focusing on three key influences: (1) pre-arrival migration effects, such as experiences of trauma; (2) asylum procedure effects, including the length and outcome of the process and perceptions of fairness; and (3) post-procedure effects, particularly the context of reception. Using data from the IAB-BAMF-SOEP survey of refugees in Germany, we find that the conditions of the asylum process and the reception context are critical determinants of refugees’ trust. Specifically, while the length of the asylum process and living in shared accommodations negatively affect institutional trust, these impacts are largely mediated by other refugee-specific experiences, such as perceptions of procedural and interactional justice. Receiving a positive asylum decision directly enhances refugees’ trust in German institutions and other people, whereas being trapped in existential limbo severely erodes trust levels. Additionally, refugees subject to residency restrictions exhibit lower institutional and generalised trust levels than those without such limitations. These findings highlight the critical role of short and fair asylum procedures and inclusive reception policies in fostering trust among refugees, with significant implications for improving integration outcomes and social cohesion.

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