I was born in Aachen, a child of a German mother and a Palestinian father. As a German, I am the owner of the most ‘powerful passport’ in the world -- a passport that grants me the freedom to travel and visit the most beautiful places around the globe. Yet, my Palestinian roots were seeded in Gaza, which is sometimes called the world's largest outdoor prison. It may be this dichotomy between mobility and immobility that shaped my values and worldviews and also the way I am living my life: someho...
The upcoming UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants holds the promise of progress. But ahead of the summit, communications staff are pushing a warped view of migrant diversity. Even the International Organization of Migration (IOM) is straying from its mission to uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants....
This is the sixth post in our series ahead of the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants, 19 September 2016. The full series covers several key aspects of migration: from governance and health, to environment and culture, to development and forced migration. A round-up post will follow shortly after the summit. Read the first six posts here on the UNU Migration Network. ••• It’s time that we get serious about development — and really ‘put our money where our mouth is’. For far too long ...
In the weeks approaching the one-year anniversary of the death of Alan Kurdi, another picture — again of a child in crisis — drew the world’s attention back to the heavy toll of insecurity for some of the most vulnerable populations. In contrast to the picture of Alan Kurdi, which inspired a call for more inclusive humanitarian responses in the face of escalating flight, the images of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, dazed and dust-covered in an ambulance after a Russian airstrike in Aleppo, have p...
Today is the first anniversary of the death of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy who drowned with half his family while trying to reach Europe in search of asylum. First and foremost, his death, like that of more than 5,000 other migrants who died crossing the Mediterranean last year, is a human tragedy....
Dr. Melissa Siegel has been appointed Professor of Migration Studies at Maastricht University from August 2016. She has also been appointed Co-Director of the Maastricht Center for Citizenship, Migration and Development (MACIMIDE) from 1 September 2016. She joins Professors Gerard-Rene de Groot and Maarten Vink as MACIMIDE Co-Director. Dr. Siegel is Head of Migration Studies at the Maastricht Graduate School of Governance and a Senior Researcher and Migration and Development research theme leade...
My ‘mygration’ story is rooted in the politics of a fractured subcontinent; politics that are emblematic of the region. My maternal grandfather moved from Delhi to East Pakistan during partition in 1947, with a desire to build a new life in a new nation. But in 1971 Pakistan was split in two. My grandparents became prisoners of war and were incarcerated in India, until being freed in 1974. Home then became Karachi in Sindh, the southernmost region of Pakistan. Reflecting their migratory heritage...
“I was born in Uganda, I am Rwandan, but I grew up in South Africa.” This is my standard response to the question “Where are you from?” – because I genuinely feel like I am from all three countries....
Dr. Özge Bilgili, Theme Leader for Integration, Social Cohesion and Transnationalism Research, has been selected for the OECD’s Thomas J. Alexander Fellowship for 2017. During the project period at the Directorate for Education and Skills in Paris, she will focus on migrant children’s educational achievement and socio-cultural integration. Specifically, she will examine the questions of migration by comparing first and second generation immigrant students with their non-immigrant peers in the PI...
When Isaac Attie arrived in Bolivia in 1917, he brought all his worldly belongings in a single suitcase. He had travelled to Latin America in search of a safer and better life: far from the conflict and turmoil of Europe and the Middle East....