WELCOME to our second quarterly newsletter of 2019, keeping you up-to-date on our migration activities, events, and publications at UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance. |
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NEWS FROM OUR NETWORKS |
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Maastricht Centre for Citizenship, Migration and Development (MACIMIDE) The Maastricht Centre for Citizenship, Migration and Development (MACIMIDE) is the interdisciplinary research platform of Maastricht University that brings together scholars working in the fields of migration, mobility, citizenship, development and family life. MACIMIDE invites applications for Junior Visiting Fellowships. The duration of fellowships is between 3 and 6 months. In order to qualify for a MACIMIDE Junior Fellowship the applicants should be enrolled in a PhD programme and should have not been awarded a PhD degree by 30 April. Candidates should send a complete application form to macimide@maastrichtuniversity.nl no later than 30 April. More information about the Call for Junior Visiting Fellows can be found on the MACIMIDE website. |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS |
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Launch of MIGNEX website At the beginning of April 2019, the website of the H2020 project Aligning Migration Management and the Migration–Development Nexus (MIGNEX) was launched. MIGNEX is a five-year research project (2018–2023) with the core ambition of creating new knowledge on migration, development and policy. MIGNEX is the largest-ever European-funded research project on migration, involving researchers from nine institutions in Europe, Africa and Asia. UNU-MERIT and the Faculty of Law at Maastricht University are part of the consortium led by Prof. Jørgen Carling at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) in Norway. UNU-MERIT’s responsibilities within MIGNEX include leadership of Work Package 7: Consequences (understanding how migration affects development processes), leadership of Work Package 9: Coherence (ensuring unity across disparate objectives and policy areas) and the development of a methodology to assess the development impacts of migration. Visit the MIGNEX website for more information via this link. |
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NEW PROJECTS |
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Out of School Children Initiative (OOSCI) The Middle East and North Africa Out of School Children Initiative (OOSCI) is part of the global OOSCI initiative launched by UNICEF and UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) in 2010. The initiative is based on the right of children to good quality education, and aims at analysing the facts and reasons behind leaving school and at reducing the numbers of out-of-school children. In Jordan, the significant numbers of Syrian refugees grant the initiatives additional importance as the target group is wider and includes more vulnerable children. UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance have been commissioned to conduct research to better understand the situation of OOSCI in Jordan, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The project is carried out by Prof. Franziska Gassmann (team leader), Prof. Wim Groot (senior researcher), Dr. Zina Nimeh (programme specialist), Prof. Jo Ritzen (specialist advisor), Tamara Kool (PhD fellow), Eszter Timar (researcher) and Mohammad Khalaf (research assistant). The research will support the efforts of the Jordanian government by measuring the extent, disparities, costs, and options to resolve the educational exclusion of children in Jordan. |
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UNICEF Kazakhstan study Members of the Migration and Development and the Social Protection, Inclusive Innovation, and Development research groups at UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance have started working together on a project commissioned by UNICEF Kazakhstan and the National Commissioner for Human Rights in Kazakhstan. The project addresses the capacity of Kazakhstan's child protection system to respond to the unique protection needs of unaccompanied and separated children affected by migration. Kazakhstan has become a regional migration hub, with migrant workers from neighbouring countries increasingly arriving in the country. Internal migration is also a significant trend, and in some cases internal and international migrants can become separated from their children. Once children are separated from their parents or legal guardians, they may find themselves under the care of the state. The project explores how the fundamental rights of such unaccompanied and separated children are fulfilled while under state care. |
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‘Working on Europe’ Fundamental Research Grant for two MACIMIDE Researchers Dr. Michaella Vanore (research fellow) and Dr. Bilisuma Dito (Assistant professor, FASoS) have been awarded a grant within the Maastricht, Working on Europe research scheme at Maastricht University. This scheme is an initiative of the city of Maastricht, the Province of Limburg, and Maastricht University to address the role of Europe within a globalising world and includes two themes related to migration: ‘Identity, heritage, and the citizens' perspective’, and ‘Prosperity, welfare, and inequality’. Dr. Vanore and Dr. Dito have received the grant under action 3 of the scheme (fundamental research - early career scholars) to research and prepare a journal article on potential gendered inequalities in family reunification policies in select EU member states. The funding aims to relieve the research team of teaching and/or administrative duties for (a maximum of) four months (per team), and instead provide the researchers with dedicated research time. The research is expected to be completed at the end of 2019. |
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Evaluation of EU-IOM Joint-Initiative on Migration Protection and Reintegration in the Horn of Africa UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance have been commissioned by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Regional Office for the East and Horn of Africa to conduct a mid-term evaluation of the EU-IOM Joint Initiative on Migrant Protection and Reintegration programme in the Horn of Africa. This comprehensive programme aims to contribute to facilitating orderly, safe, regular and rights-based migration through dignified voluntary return and the implementation of development-focused and sustainable reintegration policies and processes. The programme assists migrants who decide to return to their countries of origin to do so in a safe and dignified way, and help them restart their lives in their countries of origin. The evaluation is carried out by Dr. Lisa Andersson, and builds on qualitative data collection (focus group and key stakeholder interviews) in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan. |
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Expert Advice for Ecorys Project on Irregular Migration from South Asia to Europe The Migration and Development Research Group at UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance is providing input to an evaluation carried out by Ecorys UK of a project making use of communications campaigns to address irregular migration from South Asia. The use of social media and communications campaigns to deter irregular migration has gained increasing interest in recent times in European countries with significant immigration. This project involves a social and mass media communications campaign targeting potential irregular migrants in their country of origin. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the performance of the project in achieving its objectives by using both survey and focus group data. Based on the findings and conclusions, the review will provide feedback and recommendations aimed at improving the design of future similar projects. Dr. Lisa Andersson will contribute to the project as a migration expert. |
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UPCOMING EVENTS |
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International Nuremberg Principles Academy Dr. Katie Kuschminder will present at the International Nuremberg Principles Academy conference on 'Paving the Path of Human Rights: Synergies between International Criminal Law and UN Agenda 2030' from 3-4 May 2019. She will speak in the panel on “Remedy and Protection of Vulnerable Groups” and provide an intervention on the topic “Refugees, migration and sustainable development”. The International Nuremberg Principles Academy (Nuremberg Academy) is dedicated to the promotion of international criminal justice and human rights. It is located in Nuremberg, the birthplace of modern international criminal law. The conference is dedicated to the advancement of the synergies between international criminal law (ICL) and the United Nations Agenda 2030 on Sustainable Development (UN Agenda 2030). It will be held in the historic courthouse 600 of the Nuremberg Palace of Justice. |
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Migration Seminars Between January and March 2019, the Migration Group at UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance (in conjunction with MACIMIDE) hosted four migration seminars on a diverse range of topics including refugees’ post-procedural mobility, naturalisation, international mobility grants for researchers, and the Syrian war and its impact on migration. During the next months, two migration seminars are planned per month. The next migration seminars will be held by Dr. Glenn Rayp on 17 April, Victoria Finn on 1 May and Dr. Nora Stel on 15 May. All seminars will take place from 13:00 to 14:00 in Room 0.16/0.17 at UNU-MERIT (Boschstraat 24). Podcasts of previous seminars are available here. To join our mailing list and receive invitations to future seminars, or to express interest in delivering a seminar, please email Charlotte Mueller. |
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WUN Annual Conference in Dublin From 19-24 May 2019, the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) Conference and Annual General Meeting will take place in Dublin, Ireland. Maastricht University is one of the 23 universities that comprise WUN with its President, Prof. Martin Paul serving as the current chairman of WUN’s Partnership Board. Dr. Katie Kuschminder will present in an academic workshop on ‘Understanding Cultures’ entitled “Changing world and changing perspectives– is it possible to Decolonize the Agenda – and what would this mean?” The notion that science, social science and humanities, are products of and are seen and presented from a “western standpoint and with western ideas and values” has been advocated, particularly by colleagues and students in Africa and to some degree Asia. This workshop aims to discuss the ‘decolonisation’ of research, education and dissemination that has been ongoing for many years. A recent blog post by PhD fellow Charlotte Mueller “Changing the narrative & strengthening local research for the SDGs across Africa” highlights the issue. |
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PAST EVENTS |
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2019 AERA Annual Meeting: Leveraging Education Research in a ‘‘Post-Truth’’ Era Prof. Dr. Melissa Siegel participated in this year’s annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), which took place in Toronto, Canada, from 5-9 April 2019. The AERA meeting is considered the world’s largest gathering of education researchers. Prof. Siegel participated in the “Panel on International Perspectives on Migrant Integration Policies, Cultural Diversity, and Student Outcomes” together with Prof. Louis Volante, Prof. Don A. Klinger and Dr. Kenny Nienhusser. Prof. Siegel’s presentation focused particularly on differences in educational outcomes between Dutch and migrant students in the Netherlands. The panelists are collaborating on a research project on the relationship between immigrant student achievement and education policies, led by Prof. Volante and funded through a five-year ‘Insight Grant’ by Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). |
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MIMAK: Training for civil servants from the State of Kosovo On 13-15 March 2019, Prof. Arjen Leerkes gave a training course on immigrant integration policies in Pristina to a group of high-level civil servants from the State of Kosovo. The training course covered the following themes: conceptualising integration, determinants of immigrant integration, levels of integration (local, national, transnational), national integration policies in comparative perspective, local integration policies, and integration and admission policies. It was the final part of a series of training courses organised by the Migration Group in collaboration with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) as part of the project “Strengthening Migration Management Authorities in Kosovo” (MIMAK II) commissioned by the Swiss Development Cooperation. While in Pristina, Prof. Leerkes met with the Director of the Department for the Reintegration of Repatriated Persons (Ms. Fahrije Ternava) and the Chair of the Government Authority on Migration (GAM) (Mr. Sefedin Kuci), and advised them on a regulation that the State of Kosovo is currently drafting on Kosovan integration policies, and on the practical steps that Kosovo could take in developing an integration policy. |
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ELEVATE Consortium Meeting in Chisinau, Moldova From 12-13 March 2019, Dr. Lisa Andersson was in Chisinau, Moldova, to participate in a workshop on research participation in the European research area and to attend the third Consortium Meeting of the project “ELEVATE – Elevating the Internationalisation of higher Education in Moldova". The events were organised at the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova. Dr. Andersson held a presentation on the experiences of working with Horizon 2020 research projects. Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, ELEVATE aims at developing and advancing the internationalisation process of Moldovan higher education and research. Maastricht University is one of the EU Partners in the consortium and responsible for the work package on “Development and Advancement of National Legislation for Internationalisation of Higher Education in Moldova”. |
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Prof. Melissa Siegel’s Contribution to the Sustainable Development Outlook 2019 On 20-21 February 2019, an Expert Group Meeting was convened in New York to inform the analyses of Part III of the upcoming Sustainable Development Outlook (SDO) 2019, which addresses climate change, natural disasters, conflicts and population displacement. The SDO 2019 aims to promote greater understanding of the shifting landscape and key challenges confronting sustainable development and to facilitate inter-governmental deliberations on the SDGs at high level political forums. It will discuss the direct implications of these processes for sustainable development outcomes, and explain how they indirectly affect the implementation of sustainable development processes by undermining commitment to multilateralism. The meeting provided a platform for an exchange of views among experts, members of the SDO drafting Team, and colleagues from other UN organisations. Prof. Dr. Melissa Siegel contributed to the meeting by giving a presentation entitled “Multilateralism, SDG implementation and policy responses: implications of increasing migration pressures and rising nationalism, and likely scenarios.” |
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EASO 'Scenario analysis: The future of international protection in the EU+ by 2030’ In February, Dr. Katie Kuschminder was invited as an invited external expert to attend the workshop 'Scenario analysis: The future of international protection in the EU+ by 2030’ organised by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) in Malta. The purpose of this workshop was to develop scenarios for EASO for the future of international protection in the European Union. Specifically, the objectives of the workshop were to discuss the methodology used to create scenarios, and to explore key factors with the highest impact and uncertainty for the future of international protection in the EU+. In addition, it aimed at formulating possible alternative future projections, and at identifying the main actors, their perspectives, and their deep-routed assumptions relevant to the future of international protection in the EU+. The workshop included several external experts from the IOM, UNHCR, European Commission, and government representatives. |
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TRAINING PROGRAMMES |
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Online Courses For those who are interested but do not have the time to take a full-time course in migration studies, UNU-MERIT and its School of Governance offer a number of specially designed online courses to suit the needs of busy professionals. We currently offer three courses that can be started at any time: 1) Introduction to Migration Studies; 2) Migration and Remittance Effects and 3) Comparative Migration Policy. Watch introduction videos for the course on our YouTube channel (internal migration/ forced migration). For further information, please contact Dr. Katrin Marchand. |
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NEW PUBLICATIONS |
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Andersson, Lisa, 2019, International Remittances and Private Interhousehold Transfers: Exploring the Links, The European Journal of Development Research, (), 1-27, More information Strain, Zachary, Clara Alberola & Rufus Horne, 2019, Migration Routes in West and Central Africa & East and Horn of Africa - 2018 Update, Commissioned by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, More information Marchand, Katrin, Veronika Fajth, Zachary Strain, Clotilde Mahé & Melissa Siegel, Mar 2019, Patterns of Migration in the European Union, H2020 REMINDER Working Paper, More information Wong, Pui-hang & Mehmet Guney Celbis, 2019, Human Rights, Income and International Migration, International Migration, More information Loschmann, Craig, Özge Bilgili & Melissa Siegel, 2019, Considering the benefits of hosting refugees: evidence of refugee camps influencing local labour market activity and economic welfare in Rwanda, IZA Journal of Development and Migration, 9, More information Kuschminder, Katherine, 2019, The Multi-level Governance of Asylum in Italy: Understanding Eritreans’ Secondary Movements in Search of Relocation within Italy, Journal of Refugee Studies, More information Kuschminder, Katherine, 2019, Using Mixed Methods to Examine Refugees and Other Migrants’ Decision-Making in Transit, Sage Research Methods Case, More information Papangelopoulos, Kostas & Ortrun Merkle, Jan 2019, Investigating the impact of experiences abroad on perceptions of corruption: A case-study on Greek migrants in Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, SEESOX Diaspora briefs, More information McGregor, Elaine, Jan 2019, Money Matters: The Role of Funding in Migration Governance, More information |
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Photo Credits: H. Pijpers, S. Brodin, L. Andersson, [17] Flickr: Albertogp123 |
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