WELCOME to our second quarterly newsletter of 2021, keeping you up-to-date on our migration activities, events, and publications at UNU-MERIT. |
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ANNOUNCEMENTS |
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Melissa Siegel: Creating impact, one YouTube video at a time About a year ago, Prof. Melissa Siegel launched her YouTube channel in an effort to prioritise research communication on migration. The channel, which recently passed 1,000 subscribers, provides videos on core migration topics such as remittances and migration corridors as well as country case studies, in a way that is accessible to non-experts. In a recent interview with Maastricht University, Prof. Siegel described her YouTube initiative as an ‘extremely rewarding experience’ and highlighted the importance for academics to share their expertise with a broader audience. Videos that were added to her channel most recently include country case studies on Egypt and Malaysia, a discussion of the link between migration and corruption, and an introduction of the Atlas of Migration developed by the European Commission’s Knowledge Center on Migration and Demography as an easily accessible source of migration data. |
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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. The next edition of MACIMIDE’s multidisciplinary Annual Conference will take place on 23 September 2021. This year’s conference will be organised in cooperation with the Dutch Association for Migration Research (DAMR) to promote exchange and interdisciplinarity. Both DAMR and MACIMIDE members are invited to submit papers, panel and workshop proposals. Moreover, this year, the MACIMIDE Conference will be followed by an event of the IMISCOE Standing Committee on Migrant Transnationalism (MITRA) on 24 September 2021. This event is open to to all participants of the MACIMIDE Conference. Find more information here. |
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Migration Management and the Migration-Development Nexus (MIGNEX) 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 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. The MIGNEX team is recruiting participants to conduct a series of online semi-structured interviews to inform two MIGNEX Background Papers examining EU policy coherence. The team is looking to conduct interviews with individuals from communities of policy and practice, civil society, the private sector and academia (PhD candidates and faculty) who have strong expertise in the field of migration and development policies. If you would like to take part in this research, you can find more information here. Stay updated with MIGNEX news by signing up for the MIGNEX newsletter. |
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NEW PROJECTS |
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ICMPD project: Short-term Expert(s) on Migration Legislation Research, Diaspora Engagement, ENIGMMA ICMPD has commissioned Eleni Diker and Dr. Nora Jasmin Ragab to conduct an analysis on the legal framework and practice of the Law of Georgia on Compatriots Residing Abroad and Diaspora Organisations. The objective is to identify, review and research national legislative framework and practices with regard to diaspora engagement (if and when possible, including the country-specific national diaspora strategies) in four different countries as case study examples. Specifically, the analysis aims to provide four country examples of diaspora engagement, legislative framework in the way these countries approach their diaspora and migrant communities abroad, if/when possible respective laws and by-laws, policy documents and national diaspora strategies. Furthermore, the analysis will provide recommendations and possible amendments to the Law suggestions to the current legislation. |
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ITUC project: Content for Migrant Recruitment Monitor Website Building on past work, UNU-MERIT is again supporting ITUC to develop content for ITUC's migrant recruitment monitor website. As the website now extends its focus to the EU, the team is conducting research on recruitment processes in eight EU countries (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania). The team led by Dr. Elaine Lebon-McGregor will assess the extent to which national legislation is aligned with relevant international legal obligations and identify common challenges encountered in the recruitment process. The results will be used to enrich the recruitment monitor website and to prepare a comparative research report. |
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WODC project: quick scan of medium-skilled labour migration to the Netherlands The Dutch Research and Documentation Centre (WODC, Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek en Documentatie Centrum) has invited Prof. Dr. Frank Cörvers, Julia Reinold and Saena Chakkar to conduct desk research about the possibilities for medium-skilled migration to mitigate skills shortages in the Netherlands. The research, a collaboration between UNU-MERIT and Maastricht University’s Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), has been requested by the Directorate for Migration Policy of the DG Migration (DGM/DMB). The study’s objective is to use the opportunities and limitations described in the scientific literature to address existing shortages in the middle segment of the Dutch labour market. . The study will explore solutions to fill shortages in the labour market, including the (selective) admission of labour migration.. Finally, the research will reflect on the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for the findings. |
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UPCOMING EVENTS |
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Maastricht Migration Lecture Series On 21 April 2021, Dr. Ortrun Merkle will discuss “Gender perspectives around migration” as part of the Maastricht Migration Lecture Series. The online lecture will show how sex, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation shape every stage of the migration experience. With this lecture series, UNU-MERIT, the European Law Student Association, Refugee Project Maastricht, the Maastricht Young Academy (MYA), and the Maastricht Centre for Citizenship, Migration and Development (MACIMIDE) aim to provide an objective picture on the topic of migration and offer new insights. The first lecture of 2021 was given by Dr. Ali Chaudhary (Rutgers University and International Migration Institute, Amsterdam) on the topic of race and migration in the United States and Europe. On 24 March, Katrina Frappier (World Food Programe) and Selma El Khawad (IOM) drew on the findings of their joint publication to highlight the close interconnection, further aggravated by COVID-19, between hunger, conflict, migration and displacement. Both lectures can be found on UNU-MERIT’s YouTube channel. |
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Virtual Migration Seminars In conjunction with the Maastricht Centre for Citizenship, Migration and Development (MACIMIDE), the Migration and Development research theme at UNU-MERIT organises a series of migration-related seminars to provide a platform to discuss the research output of researchers at the institute and to invite external speakers to share their work. For the time being, seminars are held online. In February and March, we were pleased to host seminars by Cordula Bieri (School of Social Work and Social Policy, Trinity College Dublin), Teresa Freitas and Lars Ludolph (London School of Economics and Political Science & Institute for Employment Research), and Dr Eva Van Belle (NCCR-on the move & University of Neuchâtel). Some of these seminars were recorded and can be found on our YouTube channel. On 7 April , Dr. Magdalena Ulceluse presented her research on the emergence of local responses to emigration. Two seminars are planned in April. On 22 April, Prof. Valeria Bello will speak on the topic of “Prejudice and the Spiralling of the Securitization of Migration”, summarising the main findings of a special issue recently published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. On 29 April, Dr. Jennifer Elrick will speak on the topic of “Making Middle-Class Multiculturalism: Immigration Bureaucrats and Policymaking in Postwar Canada”. All migration seminars and the respective Zoom links can be found on the UNU-MERIT website. |
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PAST EVENTS |
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SBE Internal Conference: "Mixing up again" On 1 April 2021, the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics (SBE) organised its second annual internal conference – this year under the title "Mixing up again". This event aimed to provide colleagues with insights into the research work conducted in different departments, as an opportunity to get inspired by SBE colleagues from various disciplines. Researchers Nasrat Sayed and Talitha Dubow and PhD fellow Charlotte Mueller presented their research on diaspora engagement for development in Afghanistan, EU policies on the return and reintegration of migrants (ADMIGOV project) and diaspora return visits for knowledge transfer and capacity development (CD4D project), respectively. |
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The Migration & Diaspora Podcast: Melissa Siegel on the Migration-Development-Nexus Earlier this year, Prof. Melissa Siegel was a guest on Loksan Harley’s podcast on migration and development. Their conversations centred around how development affects migration and vice versa. They also discussed common misconceptions around the migration-development nexus and analysed how those misconceptions then translate into misguided policies and the effects of those policies. Listen to the podcast here. |
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Connecting Diaspora for Development: A Dialogue on Diaspora Engagement On 18 March, PhD fellow Charlotte Mueller participated in an event on diaspora engagement organised by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Regional Office for the EEA, the EU and NATO in Brussels and IOM the Netherlands. During the panel discussion with other thematic experts, Charlotte shared insights on the role of diaspora in fostering sustainable development, based on the CD4D evaluation. The event was built on a recently published dossier on diaspora inclusion by The Broker, Partos and IOM, which included contributions from Dr. Katie Kuschminder and Charlotte Mueller. You can re-watch the event here. |
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Euregio Discussion: Cross-Border Public Transport On 8 February 2021, Prof. Melissa Siegel participated in an online event about cross-border public transport in the Euregio Meuse-Rhine organised by Volt Aachen. The Euregio Meuse-Rhine has one of the highest numbers of cross-border commuters in central Europe. During the lecture, three experts and representatives of four Volt city teams from Liège, Maastricht, Düren and Aachen discussed how adequate transportation can be organised to meet the regional cross-border demand. As part of the webinar, Prof. Melissa Siegel presented work with PhD fellow Julia Reinold on cross-border mobility challenges of international migrants living in the Euregio. A recording of the webinar can be found here. |
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TRAINING PROGRAMMES |
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Master of Science in Public Policy and Human Development The Master of Science in Public Policy and Human Development programme is a double-degree programme of University Nations University institute UNU-MERIT and Maastricht University. The programme provides students with a variety of skills, tools and knowledge, which enables them to work as policy designers and policy analysts in public and private institutions. The programme offers seven different specialisations including Migration Studies. This academic year, 28 students chose to specialise in Migration Studies and have already finalised their first course ‘Introduction to Migration Studies’. You can find a portrait of our former student Soha Youssef and her experiences specialising in Migration Studies here. |
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Migration Management Diploma Programme The Migration Management Diploma Programme (MMDP) is a capacity-building programme offered by UNU-MERIT since 2013. The MMDP Spring 2021 cohort is being delivered entirely online with the financial assistance of the European Union, contracted by ICMPD through the Mobility Partnership Facility, and co-financed by the German Development Cooperation (GIZ). On 6 April, Nava Hinrichs, together with Oleg Chirita (ICMPD), Narmina Jalalova (GIZ) and MMDP tutors and staff, welcomed this year’s cohort in a virtual opening ceremony. Over the next three months, the participants will take part in specially designed online live classes, interactive PBL sessions and virtual field trips. |
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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 offers 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 Caarls, Kim, Victor Cebotari, Despina Karamperidou, Maria Carolina Alban Conto, Juliana Zapata & Rachel Yang Zhou, 2021, Lifting Barriers to Education During and After COVID-19: Improving education outcomes for migrant and refugee children in Latin America and the Caribbean, Innocenti Research Report, More information Lietaert, Ine & Katherine Kuschminder, 2021, Contextualizing and conceptualizing reintegration processes in the context of return, International Migration, More information Celbis, Mehmet Guney, Mar 2021, Applications of Machine Learning Models in Regional and Demographic Economic Analysis, in: William Cochrane, Michael P. Cameron, Omoniyi Alimi, Labor Markets, Migration, and Mobility: Essays in Honor of Jacques Poot, Springer, Singapore, 1, More information Dubow, Talitha & Katherine Kuschminder, 2021, Family strategies in refugee journeys to Europe, Journal of Refugee Studies, More information Reinold, Julia, 2021, Highly educated migrants' perceptions of the Euregional welcome culture, Study commissioned by the Institute for Transnational and Euregional cross border cooperation and Mobility (ITEM) in the framework of the INTERREG-V-A project youRegion, More information Kuschminder, Katherine, Charlotte Mueller, Kiza Magendane & Yannicke Goris, 2021, Diaspora and knowledge transfer - the evidence, The Broker, More information Diker, Eleni, Mohammad Khalaf, Michaella Vanore & Soha Youssef, 2020, Iraqi minorities in diaspora mapping of community structures, perceptions on return, and connections to the homeland, Research report commissioned by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), More information Bonaglia, Federico, Jason Gagnon, Elaine Lebon-McGregor, David Khoudour, Riad Meddeb, Daniel Naujoks & Sonia Plaza, Dec 2020, World Bank Blogs, In observance of the International Migrants Day, Dec 18, More information Leerkes, Arjen, Tineke Fokkema & Jonathan Bening, 2020, Community multiculturalism and self-reported immigrant crime: Testing three theoretical mechanisms, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2020-055 Cebotari, Victor, 2020, Migration, remittances and child education in Ghana: Evidence from a longitudinal study, in: M. Konte & L. M. Mbaye (Eds.), Migration, Remittances, and Sustainable Development in Africa, Routledge, London, More information Merkle, Ortrun, Julia Reinold & Melissa Siegel, Nov 2020, Shaping the migration journey – the role of corruption, in: Maty Konte and Linguère Mously Mbaye (eds), Migration, Remittances, and Sustainable Development in Africa, Routledge, Abingdon/New York, More information Mueller, Charlotte & Katherine Kuschminder, 2020, Connecting Diaspora for Development 2 (CD4D2) Initial Report, Study commissioned by IOM, More information Mueller, Charlotte, Nov 2020, Diaspora Knowledge Transfer in Sierra Leone and Somaliland, in: Maty Konte and Linguère Mously Mbaye (eds), Migration, Remittances, and Sustainable Development in Africa, Routledge, Abingdon/New York, More information |
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Photo Credits: H. Pijpers, S. Brodin, M. Siegel, [16] Flickr: Albertogp123 |
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