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Scholarship and research submitted to the Forced Migration Research Archive.

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Access status: Open Access ,
Refugee Review: Special Focus Labour
(Emerging Scholars and Practitioners on Migration Issues (ESPMI) Network, 2017-11) Douhaibi, Dacia; Aced, Miriam; Lee, Christina
In this edition we have a special focus, comprising eight articles, on the topic of labour and refugees. Given the controversial status of refugees in the labour markets of many countries, we felt this topic is extremely timely. As can be seen in e.g., Gündüz’s piece on Turkey, refugees are often viewed or portrayed as a “burden” on the economy and as job competition for the locals, while at the same time have their access to the labour market restricted by regulations and discrimination. In the meantime, many states seem to have lost sight of the original obligations of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which asserts that refugees have a right to work or a “dignified standard of living” in the state offering protection, a disconnect explored by Arapiles & Madziva in their article focussing on the UK. And as Sager & Öberg point out in their article on Sweden, the spectre of “deportability” not only puts refugees in a vulnerable position vis-àvis employers, it also regulates the worker’s rights of regular migrants and can become an opportunity to erode workers’ rights more generally. Clearly, the labour rights of refugees (and lack thereof) has the potential to become a topic of increasing importance for economies worldwide as they struggle with integration of newcomers and with challenges to the financial status quo in the wake of the global financial crisis. The intersection between refugee issues and more general concerns of identity and social justice occupy numerous other of our authors in this edition. For instance, several pieces illuminate the ways in which feminist philosophy can inform our view of refugees. Taha seeks to highlight how postcolonial feminist discourse can take refugee studies to new heights by allowing for a more complex view of victimhood and agency that discards with some of the stereotypical, orientalist assumptions of the past. Burnett & Villegas call for greater consideration of gender development in conflict situations, fruitfully comparing the examples of Colombia and Palestine to consider the failures in security caused by disregarding gender. And in their multimedia piece, Ratkovic & Sethi use poetry and visual arts to explore migration and transnational feminism through the eyes of the displaced. The authors presented in this volume are also interested in looking beyond the surface to the unseen challenges refugees face. In a piece on the double marginalisation encountered by disabled refugees in the EU, Oyaro considers how governments can better comply with UN guidelines on persons with disability when applying refugee law. Boeynik explores the topic of vulnerability as it pertains to people under suspicion of terror, by looking at the example of Somali refugees in Kenya in the wake of the Garissa attacks, and Forin argues for a closer examination of the divide between “forced” and “voluntary” migration, to see how this paradigm is being used as a containment strategy that often denies individual rights. Although the subject matter presented in this volume is broad, what the authors above and others presented have in common is a desire to shed light on the aspects of the refugee experience that negate a simplistic approach to the topic. In the face of a political climate where refugees are increasingly cast as a homogenous group that threatens security, economy, and culture, it is more important than ever to emphasise discourse that highlights that refugees, like all people, navigate complex intersections of identity and social life at work and at home, and have different challenges and motivations that define their experiences. We offer these accounts of refugees to problematise the dominant discourse of refugees as scapegoats for society’s many problems and offer a glimpse at a kaleidoscopic reality that is necessarily more complex, and closer to the truth.
Access status: Open Access ,
Refugee Review: Emerging Issues in Forced Migration - Perspectives from Research and Practice
(Emerging Scholars and Practitioners on Migration Issues (ESPMI) Network, 2020-05) Douhaibi, Dacia; Szelei, Nikolett
Scholars and practitioners worldwide are grappling with key questions related to research and practice, particularly concerning ethics, representation, and impact. This issue of the Refugee Review set out to explore and expand these issues by focusing on four areas in forced migration research and praxis: methodological challenges and innovations, bridging research to policy and practice, new dissemination practices and public engagement, and supporting emerging scholars and practitioners. The articles presented in this volume address two of these areas most explicitly: methodological challenges and innovations in forced migration research, and bridging research to policy and practice. This volume shares four articles that address methodological challenges and innovations in forced migration research. Each article critically examines the research needs, data sources, and changing landscape of methodological approaches, considering the relationship between research and policy as well as the implications of different methods. Sartori and Ngulube open our exploration of the methodological challenges and considerations in the study of forced displacement. Through a case study of the meaning of small, portable objects, or, in some instances, the memory of these objects, carried by Palestinians into the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon, their article reflects on the ethnographic limitations and unresolved ethical and empathy dilemmas involved in forced migration research. Kinsella adds to this discussion, examining the ethical, psychosocial and cultural-linguistic challenges connected with conducting interviews with refugees and asylum seekers. Contributing to deliberations on methodological innovations emerging in forced migration, Frydenlund and De Kock summarize and review agent-based modeling as a computational approach to refugee-related research. While they conclude that agent-based modeling is a powerful tool for forced migration research where multiple factors, as well as environmental and political contexts, interact to make complex, dynamic systems, they also critically analyse some of the limitations of this methodology. Jones continues with considerations for methodological approaches, in this case particularly connected to the ethical concerns of undertaking qualitative research on forced migration in small island developing states. When it comes to small island states, size does matter; the challenges related to elite participation in research on sensitive topics are exacerbated. Connecting theory with the practicalities of research methodology, Jones provides useful insights to the particularities of conducting interviews in small island states. Four articles address the challenges connecting research and policy, exploring how research can be activist in orientation and rigorous in knowledge production, the unintended consequences of policy relevant research, what constitutes relevance to policy, how policy-irrelevant research can produce new knowledge on peoples and processes, and how we can better bridge the tension between scholarly and practical impact. Together, these articles underpin the idea that a stronger understanding of the process of policy-making and implementation can help migration researchers effectively engage with policy, policymakers, and practitioners. Benson, Temprosa and Shlebah’s work on policy relevance provides a unique addition to the dialogue on bridging research and practice. Their article not only weaves together reflections on the relevance and import of ‘active’ research approaches in forced migration research but presents a case for the importance of policy irrelevant research. While our focus tends to be on increasing connections to policy, contributing to evidence-based approaches, Benson, Temprosa and Shlebah’s work details how policy-oriented research may constrain the objects of study, as policy may act as a filter, or blinder, to the methodological and analytical possibilities of inquiries not tethered to policy interests. Also attending to the aim of improving responses to the circumstances of migrants, including refugees, Shillinglaw argues that greater academic and political attention should be paid to the detail of humanitarian practice and its outcomes. Using empirical evidence from the island of Lesvos, Shillinglaw considers how non-governmental organisations operate within the “everyday politics of aid.” It shows that rather than being shaped by top-down policy impositions, a humanitarian space emerges from the ongoing and daily negotiations of those working directly with affected populations, as well as migrants themselves. Lawale and Poon conclude our article section, each examining practical policy issues – refugee integration and non-refoulement, respectively. Lawale details the institutional challenges with respect to refugee integration in South Africa, where the failure of the Ministry of Home Affairs to manage the interaction between international protection laws and the municipal laws of the country all too often results in municipal authorities and citizens of South Africa acting against refugees in contravention of the provisions of the Refugee Act. Demonstrating another challenge related to state and international refugee law, Poon examines the extraterritorial application of the principle of non-refoulement on the high seas. Poon argues that, regardless of the proximity of an individual to the border or territory of a State or the individual’s legal status as determined by law, States are nonetheless responsible for complying with non-refoulement obligations, even if that means a duty not to refoule asylum claimants and refugees on the high seas. The practitioner reports from Rebelo and Grundler and Gutierrez share accountings of the challenges asylum seekers, as well as volunteers and activists supporting asylum seekers, confront. Based on five years of work with asylum seekers in Europe, Rebelo details the role of solidarity networks in supporting asylum seekers navigate the asylum process and shares how policy action against the allies of asylum seekers sought to dismantle those networks. Grundler and Gutierrez identify problems minors face in their asylum process, such as lack of assistance and access to documents, issues with document verification, and lack of financial resources. This highlights the need for child-sensitive procedures in the visa application process; in the absence of such procedures, the right to family reunification may be rendered de facto inaccessible to minors, resulting in a serious protection gap. Nungsari, Flanders and Chuah present findings from an interdisciplinary research workshop held in Kuala Lumpur in 2018, adding to limited knowledge base on practitioners’ experiences and perspectives on social interventions with refugees in Southeast Asia. Based on the workshop outcomes, Nungsari, Flanders and Chuah suggest a research process flowchart to aid researchers and practitioners in maximizing their impact through policy and advocacy, while at the same time partnering with refugee communities to better serve their needs.
Access status: Open Access ,
“I Am a Princess Who Moves Around a Lot”: Syrian Refugee Women and the Shifting Roles and Responsibilities During Early Settlement in Southwestern Ontario
(York University, Centre for Refugee Studies, 2025-09-01) Telfah, Rana
This article takes a feminist approach to understanding Syrian refugee women’s early settlement experiences in small southwestern Ontario communities. It draws on interviews with Syrian refugee women who arrived in Canada with their families, sometimes without husbands, in 2016–2019. It is argued that the refugee journey and resulting shifts in Syrian women’s reproductive activities, including when they settle in rural/small-town southwestern Ontario, help them find a voice, giving them greater independence and power within their families. This study emphasizes the gendered nature of household production and contributes to literature on social reproduction by exploring the often-overlooked context of refugee resettlement. Findings highlight the necessity for policies that provide better support for refugee women during early settlement.
Access status: Open Access ,
The ‘UNFAIR’ refugee agency: UNHCR accountability after protests and violence
(Oxford Academic, 2025-09-15) Rees, Peter; Ibreck, Rachel; Weslety, Souhayel
Urban refugees increasingly resort to sit-ins outside United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) offices because they lack avenues for accountability. Our fieldwork reveals their experiences of neglect, mistreatment, and violence and the ways that these are compounded by UNHCR’s responses to protests, generating deep mistrust. Drawing on interviews with refugees in three protest sites and a workshop with legal practitioners, we document disturbing accusations, implicating UNHCR in human rights violations. We reflect on these findings and explore the possibility of transforming the agency’s accountability relations in the context of declining budgets and influence. We argue that the agency must abandon its securitized response to refugee-led protests and adopt a ‘networked accountability’ approach, engaging with the plural authorities that hold legitimacy in refugee protection. Although UNHCR is currently structurally dependent upon major donors and host states, it must embed accountability relations with refugee-led organizations (RLOs), NGOs, and legal practitioners to fulfil its mandate and protect refugees.
Access status: Open Access ,
From conditionality to weaponisation: the transformation of aid in Palestine post-October 2023
(Taylor & Francis, 2025-07-31) Iqtait, Dr Anas
This article examines the shift from aid conditionality to aid weaponisation in Palestine in the aftermath of Hamas’s 7 October attack. It argues that donor actions following this event represent a transformation in their approach to Palestinian aid, moving from aid conditionality to aid weaponisation, where aid is utilised not just as a securitised tool for development and governance but as a mechanism of punishment and control. The article constructs the evolution of aid conditionality, showcasing various forms encompassing both explicit and implicit conditionalities. It then explores how aid weaponisation has manifested through aid suspensions and withdrawals, donors’ uncritical adoption of Israeli discourse, heightened surveillance of Palestinian organisations, and administrative measures that constrain autonomy. Thus, aid weaponisation serves as an active tool reinforcing conditions that perpetuate, rather than alleviate, settler colonial violence and, as in Gaza, ongoing genocide.
Access status: Open Access ,
Taxation and Settler Colonialism: The Palestinian Case
(Taylor & Francis, 2025-05-23) Iqtait, Dr Anas
In the context of settler colonialism, taxation and public revenue systems are integral to the political narratives surrounding indigenous nations and peoples. The fiscal arrangements established within these settings often manifest as asymmetrical budgetary structures and tax collection mechanisms. This paper critically examines the typology of public revenues in Palestine to elucidate the complexities of taxation and fiscal management under a settler colonial framework. Employing the theoretical lenses of critical fiscal sociology this analysis provides a nuanced understanding of the dynamics governing taxation, public revenue generation, and service provision in the occupied Palestinian territories. The study contends that external dependencies, Israeli tax control measures, and a fragmented network of service providers collectively undermine efforts to forge a socio-fiscal contract. This situation is exacerbated by declining international aid, necessitating a heightened reliance on domestic tax mobilization. The paper argues that these challenges reflect broader issues inherent in public revenue mobilization within a settler colonial setting. Furthermore, Israel’s settler colonial project is facilitated by the enforced taxation policies in the oPt, which not only impede development and economic liberation but also serve as sophisticated instruments for domination that advance the hegemon’s political objectives. Ultimately, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of fiscal operations within Israeli settler colonial structures and offers critical insights into the politics of taxation and revenue mobilization.
Access status: Open Access ,
Refugee Review: Re-conceptualizing Refugees and Forced Migration in the 21st Century
(Emerging Scholars and Practitioners on Migration Issues (ESPMI) Network, 2015-06) Molnar, Petra; Wheeler, Brittany Lauren
Human beings have been migrating for millennia; “migration is in..[our] DNA,” as Francois Crepeau eloquently stated. However, with persistent migration flows come new and troubling responses that lack flexibility and awareness of contemporary reality. The sealing of borders, tightening of security measures, and perhaps most troublingly, the perpetuation of rigid categories of refugee protection, exacerbate the many abuses perpetrated against migrants today, and lend little to solutions that might bring forward resolution for all parties. Rigid categories of asylum obfuscate the nuanced experiences and motivations of migrants and static categories—refugee, economic migrant, asylum seeker, smuggler, and irregular migrant—cloud the diversification of push and pull factors of migration. The needs for protection continue to be complex, and they often fall outside of established categories in international instruments and jurisprudence used to determine who can and cannot access rights inherent to being designated a refugee. In an era of increasing environmental migration, extraterritorialization, and the ever pressing need for durable solutions all across the globe, categories and policies that concretize migrants into problematic hierarchies of protection and exclusion must be re-conceptualized. For these reasons and many others, we have chosen to focus this edition of Refugee Review on the worthy topic of the re-conceptualization of forced migration and refugees in the 21st century. The journal encompasses many themes that can contribute to the places we can look in order to re-conceptualize forced migration and refugeehood: environmental displacement, citizenship and integration, international law conventions accessions and exceptions, protracted situations of displacement or lack of access to services once settled, statelessness, seaborne migration and state response, domestic and international policy, the recognition of agency, the importance of education, and ignorance of state, regional and ethnic histories. The policies of the nation state emerge in a number of papers, whether in Miriam Aced and Anwesha Ghosh’s piece concerning de jure and de facto statelessness as they exist for communities in Jordan and India, or Sreya Sen’s related depiction of the reasons India is unlikely to accede to the 1951 Refugee Convention in the future. The theme of non-traditional receiving countries or countries with counter-narratives to their own long-term host status can be found in both Kelsey P. Norman’s close look at Egypt’s engagement with migrants and refugees as well as in Sabine Lehr’s exploration of long-term anti-immigration discourse in Germany. Challenges within the Canadian state in particular are reflected on in Lucia Frecha’s analysis of the potential for citizenship transformation as it may or may not occur in relation to health-based claims, in Michelle Ball’s case study of safe country of origin policies, and in Sule Tomkinson’s discussion of the challenges involved in accessing the refugee hearing room of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). The lack of clarity regarding environmental displacement emerges in a number of texts, most notably in Mainé Astonitas, Jacqueline Fa’amatuainu and Ahmed Inaz’s discussion of the alternative and broadened protection that should be offered to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Nicole Marshall’s call for definitional clarity regarding environmentally displaced persons, for which she offers a four-category approach. The important role of education is expressed not only in Theogene Baravura’s encapsulation of a higher education project within the Dzaleka refugee camp in Malwai, but in the work of William Jacob’s educational and aspirational dance work in Ghana and Liberia, and in the underpinning of Garretson Sherman’s work with youth in Staten Island, as interviewed by Laura Berlinger, who was mentored by both. Taking action to support the mental and psychological well-being of migrants is explored in both Christa Charbonneau Kuntzelman’s rumination on her work reuniting separated families through the Red Cross/Red Crescent and Elsa Oliveira’s assistance in aiding sex workers in Johannesburg to use visual and narrative methodologies to capture their lives. The calamitous situations surrounding seaborne migrants are taken up in earnest by seven scholars and practitioners in our Discussion Series, as introduced by Hillary Mellinger. Melissa Phillips considers the Horn of Africa and Yemen and the need to re-conceptualize the rigid distinctions between refugee, migrant and asylum seeker. Chiara Denaro calls for a re-conceptualization of the right to asylum during a time of restriction and lessening of political, civil and social rights that she refers to as the “emptying process.” Sophie Hinger discusses the Mediterranean and the way in which migrants are treated as security concerns that require military response, deterring “irregular migration” at any cost. Keegan Williams also confronts the Mediterranean, laying out the profound externalization of European Union borders with statistics that cannot be ignored. Bayan Edis discusses the serious gaps between Australia’s domestic policy and international obligations, and Olivia Tran asks whether we are likely to see another instance of complicated collaboration on resettlement such as that which took place during the Indochinese refugee crisis. Lastly, several publications ask us to question the very bedrock of understanding that supports how human rights and humanitarian purposes unfold around us, whether in Amar Wala’s interview that showcases the horrific and damaging nature of the security certificate's regime in Canada's refugee policy, or within Ben Mills’s rumination on the realignment of humanitarian purpose and Western reality.
Access status: Open Access ,
Refugee Review: Social Movement
(Emerging Scholars and Practitioners on Migration Issues (ESPMI) Network, 2013-09) Wheeler, Brittany Lauren; Molnar, Petra; Petrica, Oana
We welcome readers to the e-publication of the New Scholars Network's inaugural issue of the Refugee Review journal. This open-source, peer-reviewed journal—based at no particular institution and tied to no particular location—is the product of collaboration between a growing and global group of new scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and activists in the field of forced migration and refugee studies. We are proud not only to introduce practice and theory being undertaken and considered in this field, but to do so in a way that is fully supportive of shared knowledge production. The creation of this journal was a labor of love—not because there is pleasure to be taken in a field of work and study that exists in part due to the many injustices found within the human experience, but because the work surrounding forced migration is in large part being performed by persons like the contributors found here, who seek to understand how to proceed with ethical, equitable, and appropriate actions. And they seek to know others who are doing the same. This journal is a publication that is important to us, but its power and purpose is not to be found in the mere fact that it has been published online. It was published because migrants need improved methods for caring for and interring their dead (see Sarenac), because better theory and practice is needed as nation states make decisions that weigh national security and the provision of a safe haven of asylum (see Every and Augoustinos, Mellinger), and because durable solutions need to address the populations they actually seek to—and acknowledge the way these populations engage in activism (see Banki). It was published because legal aid is expanding to be more than legal aid (see Pangilinan), because activists are sometimes neighbors who witness asylum seekers being removed from their homes in the early morning (see Bates and Kirkwood) and because there are wide-ranging and systematic global structures that affect migration and migration politics (see Williams). It was published because language (see Sivalingam, Bates and Kirkwood), economics (see Ghráinne), the interpretation of statistics (see Ando), and access to higher education (see Magpayo) are important to refugees and all those that work with them. Social activism, and the thinking behind it, is present in each of the following contributions to this journal. Our inaugural journal is about ‘social movements’ because people move, and their agency moves with them. Our journal is committed to representing various types of writing, and we believe this varied work helps us in carrying out our mission to foster the professional development of new scholars and advance research in the field of forced migration. It can be difficult for new scholars to find a place for their ideas, or to feel the confidence to share them. Likewise, it can be difficult to engage with more established scholars, some of whom have also contributed to the publication of this journal. For these reasons, we hope this multidisciplinary compilation will resonate widely with new scholars and we look forward to you telling us what is next as we continue these discussions.
Access status: Open Access ,
Communicating Social Cohesion in Forced Displacement: A Framework for Protracted Situations of Encampment
(MDPI, 2024-10-12) Baú, Valentina
This paper addresses the role that communication and media interventions can play in fostering social cohesion among displaced populations in camp settings through a review of both practical and theoretical notions in this area. The multiple definitions available in the literature on social cohesion do not come to a consensus on what this concept means. Yet, despite this lack of substance, reflecting on social cohesion in contexts of displacement has been a prevalent topic. Horizontal social cohesion, which is critical in protracted situations of encampment, is defined by UNHCR as the bond that ‘hold(s) people together within a community’. While a number of studies have focused on the social connection between host and displaced people, scarce attention has been paid to the dynamics and social fractures among displaced communities themselves. Yet, tensions both within and between groups of displaced people may be equally, if not more important to social cohesion than relationships with other groups. In order to begin to address this gap, a communication-based framework for humanitarian and development work on social cohesion in refugee camps is presented. Ultimately, the aim of this article is to offer a starting point for humanitarian agencies working in refugee camps to articulate the adoption of a communication-driven approach in their social cohesion programming.
Access status: Open Access ,
Communicative Ecologies of Displaced Youth: Ways of Connecting in Protracted Situations of Encampment
(Taylor & Francis, 2024-09-05) Baú, Valentina
This article offers an exploration of the communicative ecologies of young people in protracted situations of encampment. Findings from research conducted in Kakuma refugee camp (Kenya) and Za’atari refugee camp (Jordan) are introduced with the aim of building a picture of the information and communication structures that exist within young people’s lives in the camps. Understanding existing communication platforms and networks adopted by the youth in camp settings is crucial for humanitarian agencies operating in contexts of protracted displacement. Such understanding can facilitate the design of more effective and targeted communication interventions that not only address humanitarian needs but also promote community development and enhance a sense of belonging among the youth. The study conducted is based on an in-depth qualitative exploration that adopted the methods of semi-structured interviews, participatory workshops, and ethnographic interviews, which were rolled out in the two camps. Data collected has been analyzed in the light of the communicative ecology framework, which distinguishes the technological, social, and discoursive dimensions in the lives of young refugees in camps. Ultimately, this article argues for the importance of understanding young people’s communication practices from an ecology perspective, in order for humanitarian agencies to engage more purposefully in strengthening community bonds among the youth through the use of communication. This paper also adds to the literature on communicative ecology, by introducing this framework to a new, relatively unexplored context such as that of refugee camps.
Access status: Open Access ,
Social Cohesion in Protracted Displacement: Limits to Peace Between Young People in Camps
(Wiley, 2025-09-02) Baú, Valentina
This article brings to light the limits to peace that currently exist between young people in Kakuma refugee camp through a framework of social cohesion. The main drivers of conflict among the vastly diverse youth of Kakuma are examined to provide evidence of the gaps in social cohesion that endure in the camp. A framework of analysis built around notions related to social cohesion is applied to the qualitative data collected through semi-structured interviews with humanitarian professionals working in the camp. The discussion arising from the findings offers key considerations on humanitarian work with young people in contexts of protracted encampment such as Kakuma, and on how such work can more effectively address cohesion among diverse youth. Ultimately, the insights offered want to inform the trajectory of humanitarian work with encamped young people, with the view of enhancing peace, wellbeing and cohesion in camps.
Access status: Open Access ,
Agency of silence: Female Syrian refugee workers and the reconstitution of the post-war self
(Sage Journals, 2025-07-18) Duman-Cogen, Elif Nur
This study explores the working lives of female refugees who, living in the backstreets of major cities in the Global South, are often inaccessible to research. Most were housewives before their exile but must now find paid work to support their children. This ethnographic study shows that the only employment available to these women is domestic work and cleaning – occupations that are doubly stigmatised in their tradition and threaten their desire to rebuild honourable selves destroyed by war and displacement. Drawing on the work of the poststructuralist anthropologist Saba Mahmood, I argue that these refugee women reconstitute honourable selves through the agency of silence. I illustrate how, through agentive practices of silence – such as invisibility, concealment, renaming and refusal to speak – these female refugees protect their deeply desired valorised status while performing stigmatised work. In exploring the reconstitution of the honourable post-war self through the agency of silence, this study (i) makes a feminist contribution to the emerging field of refugee studies within management thought by extending understanding of female refugee agency in the Global South and (ii) develops the theory of the agency of silence that enables the reconstitution of the self, thereby advancing scholarship on organisational silence.
Access status: Open Access ,
The impact of the EU–Turkey agreement on the number of lives lost at sea
(Springer Nature, 2025-06-24) Tafani, Irene; Riccaboni, Massimo
The European Union is facing a major challenge: irregular migration. Our aim in this paper is to shed light on a past EU migration policy through the lens of a rigorous analysis of its impact. To this end, we look at the EU–Turkey statement, an agreement reached in March 2016 to contrast irregular migration from Turkey to the EU. Despite the intention to curb migration flows, combat smuggling and improve border security, the implementation of the EU–Turkey deal has raised questions about its effectiveness and humanitarian impact. Drawing on existing literature and empirical data, this study examines the impact of the EU–Turkey statement on migration patterns and fatalities in the Mediterranean. Using a Matrix Completion estimator for panel data, we assess the effect of the agreement by quantifying the number of migrants diverted to alternative routes and estimating the lives lost at sea as a result. Our results show a significant diversion effect from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Central Mediterranean route, which undermines the core objective of the agreement to reduce border crossings. We estimate an increase of around 2000 migrants on the Central Mediterranean route due to the agreement from April to December 2016. We also find a correlation between the diversion effect and the risk of death on the main migration routes, resulting in a net increase of 45 ± 3 lives lost at sea. Our work highlights the unintended consequences of bilateral migration agreements and emphasizes the need for a broader perspective when designing future policies.
Access status: Open Access ,
Immigration Lawyers as Para-State Actors: Deportation of Non-Residents in Aotearoa New Zealand
(MDPI, 2025-04-19) Fadgen, Timothy; Oldfield, Luke
This article considers the role of lawyers and immigration advisers in the deportation process for non-resident visa holders in New Zealand. In the process, this article adds to a small but growing literature on the role of immigration officials in the immigration policy space. We use Lipsky’s concept of the street-level bureaucrat and Lakhani’s notion of ‘para-state’ actors—those outside the formal apparatus of the state who nonetheless serve a central role in policy implementation—to advance our understanding of the deportation process. This qualitative study engaged in in-depth interviews with twenty-two (22) immigration lawyers and advisers to explore their experiences. We identify several themes about the importance of formal and informal networks for developing advocacy skills and tactics; how the features of the immigration system, lower levels of judicial scrutiny of decisions, and lower evidentiary requirements create spaces for lawyer advocacy and creativity; and how participants shared a commitment to social justice and camaraderie in their work that was essential to interactions with state officials and others. We contend that these efforts have the potential to reshape the state’s bordering practices yet are an often-overlooked area of study.
Access status: Open Access ,
Encampment policy and public perception: a cross-country analysis of host community responses to Rohingya refugees
(Springer Nature, 2025-07-06) Keeni, Minakshi; Takashino, Nina
This study examines the influence of encampment policies on host community perceptions towards Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Nepal, with an emphasis on how these perceptions shape the future of the refugees. Bangladesh, which has implemented an encampment policy, contrasts with Nepal, where no such policy exists. The research employs ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis to evaluate host community attitudes towards government policies, citizenship for newborns, and access to essential services like healthcare, jobs, education, and social security. The findings reveal that in Bangladesh, wealthier community members perceive less economic competition from refugees, particularly in job markets, due to the restrictions imposed by the encampment policy. However, social media in Bangladesh exacerbates negative perceptions, particularly concerning citizenship for Rohingya newborns, potentially hindering social cohesion. In Nepal, the absence of an encampment policy correlates with more negative perceptions among younger and economically vulnerable groups, who view refugees as competitors for limited resources. The study concludes that while encampment policies may mitigate immediate economic tensions, they risk deepening social divisions. Conversely, the lack of such policies in Nepal may lead to heightened resource competition and social tension. The research highlights the need for adaptive policy strategies that balance economic integration with social cohesion, ensuring sustainable refugee-host relations in both countries.
Access status: Open Access ,
Refugee Review: Migration, Asylum and Refuge during a Pandemic: Perspectives of Migrants, Researchers and Practitioners
(Emerging Scholars and Practitioners on Migration Issues (ESPMI) Network, 2022-01) Douhaibi, Dacia; Kuzemska, Lidia; Szelei, Nikolett
Volume V of the Refugee Review journal entitled ‘Migration, Asylum and Refuge during a Global Pandemic: Perspectives of Migrants, Researchers and Practitioners’ explores four thematic areas related to the impact of global pandemic. Our first area of interest is "the effects of border closures and establishment of strict health protocols on mobility and immobility." Górczyńska looks at severely curtailed access to asylum at the borders of Poland that took place well before the recent migration ‘crisis’ at the Polish-Belarusian border in 2021. She argues that pandemic restrictions were used by the Polish authorities to justify border closures and denying access to asylum well before the pandemic. Haden analyses the sub-Saharan migrant communities in Morocco to explore the consequences of the externalization and securitization of the European Union’s migration and border policies to its neighbour countries on migrants’ access to healthcare. Nabi looks specifically at the situation of refugees in Lesbos during the Covid-19 and argues that refugees’ lives became a biopolitical terrain of struggle between efforts for invisibility by the states and the EU and visibility by the refugees. Bendel, Fackler and Wiese summarise the series of three online events where experts debated challenges to human rights of refugees that arose due to Covid-19 taking the cases of Western Africa, Libya, Greek island of Lesbos and Bavaria (Germany). The second area of interest for us to explore is "the intersectionality and COVID-19." For instance, Bhat explores the impact of Covid-19 on transnational care practices of Nigerian migrant women in Southern Europe. The paper argues that cross-border lens allows us to see broader impact of pandemic restrictions on marginalised communities at origin and destination countries. Owigo analyses the challenges Somalian women-returnees from Saudi Arabia face and gendered vulnerabilities they experience during migration cycle. Hucke explores the case of lesbian migrant women in South Africa who feel themselves in a situation of ‘double quarantine’ due to dual restrictions caused by the pandemic and restricted access to support. The third theme of this volume is "the impact of pandemic on the welfare of migrant communities." Kinawi focuses on the protection gap experienced by the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, whose socio-economic rights are not protected. Tobin, Momani, and Al Yakoub compare the impact of coronavirus prevention measures on Syrian refugees in Jordan who reside in camps and those who live in urban areas. Taking example of Bengaluru (India), Mangur and Sengupta look at the help provided by the civil society organisations to migrant labourers stranded by the lockdown. Golesorkhi, Fortson and Riedmann explore the impact of pandemic-related immobility exacerbated by the restrictions paused by the racial justice protests on mental health and livelihoods of refugees in Portland (US). This section concludes with reflections of impacts of the pandemic on migrant communities through the lens of two artists. Moran’s poem ‘Old Age Home’ painfully traces the experiences of a family Elder, lamenting the way he or she was pushed out of the family in old age. Through his work ‘Selfish Healthy’, De Santo illustrates the silent environmental externality of the pandemic – the significant waste produced. Finally, we are interested in "what noticeable and tangible changes the pandemic brought to lives and work of practitioners and migrants in all aspects of their lives." Cabitza, Da Mosto, Lesi and Levi discuss not only the intersectional impact of Covid-19 on women refugees and asylum seekers residing in reception centre in Bologna. They also explore the impact of pandemic on social workers who face increased workload and stricter rules they needed to abound. Totah explores how migrant artists from Arab region experienced lockdowns and expressed resilience in the face of the pandemic through their artwork.
Access status: Open Access ,
Insights from Refugee Men as They Navigate Intersecting Settlement Challenges and Renegotiate Gender Identities
(Taylor & Francis, 2025-06-02) Hughes, Mandy
Many refugee men have experienced significant trauma and face complex, interconnected challenges when settling into a new country. While the men require immediate assistance to meet their daily needs, such as securing housing and employment, in the longer term, they need support to build their confidence to navigate their new lives. Refugee men must negotiate unfamiliar social norms and learn “how to be a man” in their new home. Framed by intersectionality, the author examined the experiences of participants from an Australian refugee men’s social group to consider the challenges they faced and how these experiences overlapped with acculturation processes, such as renegotiating gender roles. Although the men’s group was not openly identified as a Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) prevention program, it embraced behaviour change strategies to develop trusting relationships within the group that encouraged conversations around gender norms to promote gender equality and family safety.
Access status: Open Access ,
Vulnerabilities of people with different types of disabilities in disasters: a rapid evidence review and qualitative research
(Wiley, 2025-05-12) Nguyen-Trung, Kien; Thuy, Trinh Thi Thu; Anh, Nguyen Phuong; Cong-Lem, Ngo; Huyen, Do Thi; Diu, Le Thi; Giang, Nguyen Hong; Simon, Michael
Despite the growth of disaster scholarship, the topic of how and why climate-related disasters and extreme weather events vary among people with different types of disabilities remains unexplored. To help fill the gap, this study draws on a larger research project that was co-designed by Water Sensitive Cities Australia at Monash University and the Hanoi Association of People with Disabilities, Vietnam. It utilised the dataset of a rapid evidence review of 33 studies, key informant interviews with 26 local stakeholders, and 52 interviews with people with various disabilities in Hanoi and Nghe An province, Vietnam. Using thematic analysis, we identified eight themes pertaining to socially-constructed difficulties facing people with disabilities: barriers to accessing disaster risk information and warnings; difficulties in understanding emergencies; challenges in communicating needs; evacuation and mobility hurdles; decreased sense of belonging and isolation; increased risk of getting sick; increased risk of developing mental health and behavioural disorders; and disrupted livelihood and loss of income.
Access status: Open Access ,
‘Homing’ and the Desire for ‘Homing’: Reading/Teaching Kamila Shamshie’s Kartography Through a Migrant’s Experience
(Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group, 2024-12) Bhattacharya, Indira Chakraborty
The first attempt that one should make while talking about Refugee Studies or Migration Studies especially while teaching to any group of migrant youngsters about any particular text is to define under which category does that particular text fall, i.e., whether the text has been written by any migrant author who pens his/her experience as a migrant, or the content of the text is about migrants and their experiences in a particular place. The texts are roughly classified by scholars as into sub-categories of Migration Literature or "Ecriture Migrante/Ecriture Immigrantes" within the discipline of Literature. In a classroom before teaching these migrant texts it is necessary to build trust between the migrant student, the institutional system and the teacher to develop a sense of inclusivity that might make the migrant student a little more comfortable about reading migrant literatures and corelate with its relevance.
Access status: Open Access ,
Protection of Refugees in the Non-Signatory States to the 1951 Refugee Convention: Bangladesh Case Study
(Brill/Nijhoff, 2024-12) Haque, Muhammad Ekramul; Siddique, Md. Abu Bakar
The elements of refugee protection, whether in signatory or non-signatory states, indicate a holistic framework to ensure efficient and effective functioning of refugee governance across multiple levels of institutions, sectors, and actors. Protecting the most persecuted refugee communities in the world involves adopting fair, clear, and implementable laws that adhere to the principle of equality and non-discrimination, accountability to the law, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness, and procedural and legal transparency. The best practices in refugee protection integrate critical refugee needs with essential human rights elements, providing a basis for enhanced constitutionalism within diverse geographical settings. This article sheds light on both the institutional and legal structures of Bangladesh, concluding that, among other factors, refugees in non-signatory states to the 1951 Refugee Convention can find hope in the steady and progressive constitutionalism achievable through judicial interpretations to close the protection gap and fulfill respective Customary International Law (CIL) obligations, despite Bangladesh’s non-recognition of Rohingya as “refugees,” since this poses a significant road block to any sort of “steady and progressive constitutionalism” or “judicial interpretations.”

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