Blog Posts
In the early 2000s, numerous migrants arrived in Spain, attracted by the prospects of finding a job in the country’s booming economy. They quickly grew to represent 11% of the total population in 2008, from 2% in 2000. But when the financial crisis hit and Spain topped Europe’s unemployment rates, immigrants became disproportionately affected – 35% were jobless, compared to 22% among people with Spanish or double nationality. Years earlier their labour had been needed and welcome, but as discontent set in some Spaniards started calling for unemployed (especially if also paperless) migrants to “go back” to their countries of ...
Posted by Idean Salehyan on Monday, 6 March 2017
“Why did you become an academic?” is a question that I’m frequently asked. For me, my path into this profession is pretty clear. I was about fourteen and a freshman in high school in the early 1990s. A few of my friends joined the school chapter of Amnesty International, and I figured I’d go along. My world was changed. I learned of people being slaughtered because their ethnicity; political activists imprisoned for their beliefs; widespread torture and sexual assault; and refugees flooding across borders in search of safety. This was the era of massacres in Bosnia and Rwanda. CNN broadcast ...
Posted by Marte Heian-Engdal on Friday, 20 January 2017
In the north-eastern corner of Jordan, thousands of Syrians are left stranded. In the north-eastern corner of Jordan, where the country borders both Iraq and Syria, a barrier resembling a mound of earth extends across the desert. Running parallel to this barrier is a second mound of earth, this time within Syrian territory. The area of desert between these two mounds is the demilitarized zone between southern Syria and northern Jordan is known as “the berm”. The area is pretty much as uninviting as it gets. There are scorpions, snakes, swarms of insects, but no shade from the blistering summer ...
Images of refugees using smartphones have now become common in the Western media landscape, and everybody seems to have learned that refugees and migrants, too, use smartphones. Indicative of this awareness, European governments are now looking into how to make use of these assets in their identity checks and in the processing of asylum seekers’ demands. As such, smartphones are not just a key tool for surviving long and dangerous journeys, but also an asset that makes anyone using it more vulnerable to digital surveillance. In this blog post, we discuss how smartphones are becoming the new best and worst ...
Posted by Jørgen Carling on Monday, 19 September 2016
The UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants holds the promise of progress. But ahead of the summit, communications staff were 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. When migration issues rose to the top of international agendas last year the word ‘migrants’ became a matter of contention. Many interventions were cast as a matter of clarification and correctness, but actually concealed a fundamental disagreement: do ‘migrants’ include ‘refugees’? There are two opposing views, which can be called inclusivist and residualist. ...
Posted by Adèle Garnier, Kristin B. Sandvik & Liliana Lyra Jubilut on Wednesday, 14 September 2016
This blog post suggests understanding refugee resettlement as an instrument of humanitarian governance from the selection of refugees to their long-term integration. It presents a five-point research agenda aiming to investigate resettlement’s power dynamics in multiscalar perspective, with a focus on: political economy; the UNHCR’s competing goals; and the role of discretion, persuasion and coercion in resettlement’s discourse and practice. Refugee resettlement can be described as the orderly and long-term relocation to safety of individuals in dire need of protection. It is one of three durable solutions in the international refugee regime (in addition to local integration and voluntary repatriation). ...
In contrast to the impression one may derive from “the debate about the debate” in Norway, “we” – the overwhelming majority – can agree on many points, including the fact that we stand united in the struggle against extremism. We succeeded in doing so in the “rose marches” five years ago, and we can continue to do so now that the roses commemorating 22 July, 2011 have long since withered. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of 22 July, I wrote about “fragmentation in times of terrorism” [in Norwegian]. My message was that stigmatization and enemy images create and ...
The 22 July attacks, now five years ago, bore horrific testimony to what an ideology of exclusion and hatred, at the hands of one man, can do. Whilst the terror was of such a scope that the moment called for a unified response, ideological cleavages along the Eurabia, anti-Islam, and anti-immigration lines soon re-emerged in public debate and on social media. Meanwhile, the conundrum of how collective identities and shared understandings of who ‘we’ are as a democratic society, post-22 July, remains. The reality of our multicultural, diverse society is lived on an everyday basis, though unequally distributed, across the ...
Who is the ‘we’ in the context of the Brexit vote? Whilst the protection of British borders was a key ingredient in Brexit debates, the answer to what kind of a community we are talking about within those borders, remains in desperate need of addressing. Lingering notions of cultural purity cannot stand unchallenged. Which community, which sense of ‘we’, was the subject of the battle in Brexit? Brexit was won on immigration, or more accurately on ‘the topic of immigration’. Arguably, it was won on the basis of a particular conception of ‘us’ set up against a variety of ‘thems’, ...
Posted by Åshild Kolås & Katrine Fangen on Wednesday, 22 June 2016
Foreign fighters returning from Syria have emerged as a looming security threat in many European countries, so also in Norway. As well as preventive measures against radicalization and mobilization by the Islamic State, there have been calls for the withdrawal of citizenship and deportation of returned foreign fighters. This raises a number of questions: Are Norwegians more secure if we send potential terrorists out of the country? Is this even feasible, if Norway wants to stay within the ‘border-free’ Europe? What are the trade-offs between security and civil rights to citizenship, and how can they best be balanced? Is citizenship essentially something that needs to be earned, or is ...
Posted by Anab Ibrahim Nur on Sunday, 12 June 2016
As the blessed month of Ramadan begins, many here in Mogadishu are concerned about the security situation, with talks of increased numbers of Al-Shabaab insurgents entering the city in preparation of carrying out attacks. Driving through the Makka Al Mukram road, considered to be in the safe zone, that is, in the government controlled area, you will see the destruction and havoc that was caused by Al-Shabaab less than a week ago. They attacked the Ambassador Hotel, which resulted not only in the deaths of two prominent members of the Federal Parliament, but countless civilians. The government claims that the ...
Posted by Arne Strand & Lovise Aalen on Tuesday, 3 May 2016
Many asylum seekers who choose assisted return are from a country destroyed by war and conflict. More than half of those who return to countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq plan to migrate again. Assisted return is a viable type of support to assist with the return, but is not sufficient to prevent large numbers of people once again leaving insecure countries of return. Only minor changes are required, however, to increase the potential for permanent return. One important political objective in Norway is to encourage asylum seekers who do not have a valid residence permit to return to their ...
The agreement reflects the EU’s self-interest just as much as Turkey’s, but takes little account of the interests and rights of the refugees. On Friday 18 March, Turkey and the EU concluded a deal designed to put an end to refugees’ use of the sea route to travel from Turkey to Greece, because the route is costing too many lives, and because the EU and Turkey want to get the flood of refugees under control. The majority of the refugees and migrants who have arrived in Europe in recent months have travelled via this route. The EU’s website claims that ...
Posted by Erica Chenoweth & Hakim Young on Wednesday, 3 February 2016
Today, one in every 122 humans living on the planet is a refugee, an internally displaced person, or an asylum-seeker. In 2014, conflict and persecution forced a staggering 42,500 persons per day to leave their homes and seek protection elsewhere, resulting in 59.5 million total refugees worldwide. According to the UN refugee agency’s 2014 Global Trends report (tellingly entitled World at War), developing countries hosted 86% of these refugees. Developed countries, such as the U.S. and those in Europe, host only 14% of the world’s total share of refugees. Yet public sentiment in the West has been tough on refugees ...
Posted by Cindy Horst on Monday, 30 November 2015
The Somali conflict has affected Somali citizens inside and outside the Somali region for over 25 years. While Somaliland and Puntland have enjoyed relative stability for more than two decades, conditions are much more fragile in south-central Somalia, and residents in many parts of the Somali region face considerable levels of insecurity still. In late 2012, however, the first permanent central government since the start of the civil war was installed in Mogadishu. This increased expectations that south-central Somalia is transitioning towards greater stability and created hope amongst the Somali diaspora. Since 2011-2012, the number of people returning to south-central ...
Posted by Marta Bivand Erdal & Zain Ul Abdin on Thursday, 1 October 2015
Deadly heat exposes Pakistan’s power problems. This summer CNBC run a report titled Deadly heat exposes Pakistan’s power problems after more than a thousand people died during heatwaves during the first days of Ramadan. Insufficient preparedness for the heatwave is largely seen as the cause of deaths, yet the context of the protracted electricity crisis in Pakistan is also widely connected with the scale of deaths and hospitalization during this summer’s heatwave. Pakistan’s energy crisis has worsened over the past few years, with increasing gaps between electricity supply and demand in the country. The crisis has been reported on in ...
Posted by Jørgen Carling on Monday, 7 September 2015
The recent debate over word choice has taken turns that undermine humanitarian principles and cloud the view of how migration is unfolding. The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Guardian, the BBC, and others have examined the usage of ‘refugees’ versus ‘migrants’ over the past week. The general impression is that ‘migrants’ are being thrown to the wolves. The most insidious contribution, sadly, comes from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). But first, the origins of the current debate: in mid-August 2015, Al Jazeera announced that the network will no longer refer to ‘migrants’ in the Mediterranean. ...
Return migration to Pakistan is diverse. It ranges from return mobilities of naturalized citizens and those born abroad to so-called ‘voluntary assisted returns’ and deportations of migrants without regular status. Pakistan receives returnees from the Middle East, as well as from Europe and North America, which reflects broader Pakistani migration patterns. This policy brief explores the multiplicity of return migration to Pakistan. From a return destination perspective, it presents some of the dilemmas faced when governing return migration. Return migration to Pakistan is extremely diverse; legal status and citizenship are important distinctions among returnees. Pakistanis abroad account for about 4 ...
How do Polish Migrants in Norway Consider Return Migration? After Poland’s accession to the European Union in 2004 and the substantial emigration that followed, return migration was an expectation widely shared by observers in Poland and abroad. Return migration has been modest, however, even in the wake of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Due to the post-accession migration wave, Poles comprise the largest immigrant group in Norway. Although Polish migrants in Norway were also expected to stay for short periods of time, they are for the most part not returning to Poland. This Policy Brief explores why, presenting five common perspectives ...
Posted by Cathrine Talleraas & Marta Bivand Erdal on Wednesday, 5 August 2015
Citizenship and naturalization legislation in France, Norway, and the UK has changed substantially more during the 2000s than in previous decades. In which areas of citizenship policy have changes occurred? And how do these changes relate to the trend of reinvigorating the citizenship institution to increase social cohesion? This blog post is an exerpt from a Policy Brief from the research project ‘Negotiating the nation: Implications of ethnic and religious diversity for national identity’ (NATION). Citizenship legislation in France, Norway, and the UK has changed more in the 2000s than previously. Countering terrrorism and striving for social cohesion are two ...
Posted by Marta Bivand Erdal & Cathrine Talleraas on Tuesday, 28 July 2015
How and when is national identity and nationhood debated, and what does this reveal about the boundaries of national identity? Drawing on analyses of opinion pieces from French and British newspapers, we examine how national identity is debated, contested and challenged in light of national and international news events during the autumn of 2014. This blog post is based on a Policy Brief from the research project ‘Negotiating the nation: Implications of ethnic and religious diversity for national identity’ (NATION). National identity is an embedded theme in public debates, spurred by events and societal change, but also often abstract and ...
Now that Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, is ending, most Muslims – in Oslo, as elsewhere in the world – celebrate the festival of Eid. It is a time for celebration. For many Muslims, it is also a time to help those less well-off than themselves, either through the annual “religious tax” zakat or through other forms of charity. Muslims in Oslo are engaged in a range of charitable, humanitarian and development efforts. We have learned about these through our research over the past four years, exploring development involvement in Pakistan and beyond, among the Pakistani diaspora. However, charitable ...
Posted by Marta Bivand Erdal, Anum Amjad, Qamar Zaman Bodla & Asma Rubab on Thursday, 2 July 2015
Research collaboration across Global South-North divides is an articulated aim in many academic institutions. In this blog we point to the value added, as well as some of the challenges of such collaboration, based on our experiences from collaborative research on migration and transnationalism in Pakistan and Norway. We are writing this blog post as our co-authored article appears on ‘early view’ ahead of publication in the journal Population, Space and Place. Our article is the result of longstanding collaboration between us, as young researchers. In this blog post we reflect on our experience of research collaboration, and the challenges ...
Posted by Cindy Horst on Thursday, 18 June 2015
In most post-conflict contexts, returning diaspora members contribute to reconstruction efforts; including through investments in businesses. While many invest in traditional ventures, others introduce new ideas for entrepreneurship. In Somalia, diaspora businesses are visible and valued; especially for their development and peacebuilding potential. The conflict has affected Somali citizens inside and outside the Somali region for over 25 years. With the cautious optimism about developments in south-central Somalia in the last few years, however, we see the number of people returning to the region increasing considerably. Full daily flights into Mogadishu offered by Turkish Airlines attest to this. Returning for ...
Posted by Stein Tønnesson on Wednesday, 17 June 2015
A human tragedy has been unfolding in the Bay of Bengal. Thousands of poor Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees and job seekers have been the victims of xenophobia, cynical smugglers and incapable governance. What has ASEAN done? So far very little. Yet this crisis is exactly the kind of non-traditional trans-national security challenge that ASEAN must cope with if it means seriously its ambition to form a peaceful “ASEAN Community” by December 2015. The exodus of refugees and job seekers from Myanmar and Bangladesh presents an acute challenge for ASEAN Four member countries are directly involved: Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia ...
Posted by Marta Bivand Erdal on Wednesday, 17 June 2015
The recent demonstrations against Norway’s Child Welfare Service (Barnevernet), in Oslo and outside Norwegian embassies abroad, express the deep frustration and fear felt by some parents with immigrant background. In recent years this frustration has received increased attention both in Norway and internationally. The international diplomatic repercussions of this crisis of confidence between the Child Welfare Service and families with immigrant background reveal how this is not purely a domestic matter, although it concerns children in Norway. Frode Forfang, director general of the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, is concerned about the involvement of the Child Welfare Service with asylum seekers, ...
International migration and corruption have several things in common: they play key roles in development processes, feature prominently on policy agendas, and are the subject of large research literatures. However, the connections between migration and corruption, whether in the country of origin or along migration trajectories, remain relatively unexplored. The migration-corruption nexus has important implications for migrants, policymakers, practitioners, and local communities affected by emigration and immigration. Although focused attention to corruption remains rare in migration research, corruption frequently comes up as a topic because it affects people’s lives. For instance, one of the studies that inspired this article set ...
The EU’s response to the increased flow of refugees crossing the Mediterranean has been to boost border security by means of Operation Triton, which is the responsibility of Frontex, the EU border agency. There is little one can do, however, to impose effective border controls at sea. Operation Triton does not have a search-and-rescue mandate, even though it is for search-and-rescue that surveillance has the greatest potential to play a positive role. In the fear that search-and-rescue capacity would make it slightly easier for boat refugees to reach Europe, border surveillance operations are being promoted as a more “effective” response. ...
Posted by Jørgen Carling & Silje Vatne Pettersen on Friday, 29 May 2015
Immigrants typically have attachments in two directions: to the country in which they live, and to their country of origin. These attachments are often discussed in terms of integration and transnationalism, respectively. A new conceptual framework, which we call the matrix of attachment, enables us to examine immigrant integra-tion and transnationalism simultaneously. This perspective, we argue, can inspire more nuanced analyses and policy development. We use this framework to analyze variations in attachment among immigrants in Norway. Immigrant integration and transnationalism are neither related in a fixed way nor independent of each other. A substantial proportion of immigrants have weak ...
In May 2015, one of Norway’s leading daily newspapers, Aftenposten, launched a series of profiles titled #JegErNorsk (#IAmNorwegian). One is of Slavomir, who has made his everyday life easier by changing his name to Stian. Another is of Tara, who feels at her least Norwegian on Norway’s national day, when – with her immigrant background and lack of the traditional Norwegian costume – she senses that other people do not see her as Norwegian. Finally there is Aon, who is frustrated about depictions in the Norwegian media of immigrants and Muslims. Each of these young people, in his or her ...
Posted by Ceri Oeppen & Nassim Majidi on Friday, 22 May 2015
Governments present the assisted return of rejected asylum seekers and other ‘unwanted’ migrants as the cornerstone of an effective migration management policy. However, it is also a practice criticised by migrants’ rights advocates for being a form of coerced, rather than voluntary, return. One response to critiques is to highlight the potential such programmes have in the successful reintegration of returnees. But what is meant by ‘successful’ reintegration? Based on research in Afghanistan with returnees from Norway and the United Kingdom, we highlight the extreme difficulties faced in achieving reintegration. Most Afghan research participants did not want to return to ...
Posted by Jørgen Carling on Wednesday, 13 May 2015
The European Union has made it clear that bombs were not part of the plan for war against people smuggling after all. “No one is thinking of bombing,” said Federica Mogherini, EU foreign policy chief, yesterday. The alleged plans for bombing had already caused widespread alarm and protest. But what would have been new about bombing the boats that might have ferried migrants and refugees across the Mediterranean? On the one hand, such action would have been unprecedented and dramatic — the ultimate militarization of migration control. On the other hand, it would simply have been another mode of a well-established ...
Posted by Cindy Horst & Tove Heggli Sagmo on Monday, 4 May 2015
Humanitarianism and Return: Compromising Protection In many contexts around the world, states use funding for humanitarian programming as an active part of their attempts to manage populations displaced by conflict. Humanitarian aid to refugees and internally displaced is commonly understood as a temporary activity that ends when people will return home. Yet returnees can often not be provided with protection and ‘return’ for many entails a first encounter with a new place. In a recent policy brief we argue that humanitarian organizations have the responsibility to analyze the long-term security implications of their decisions on where to provide aid. Return ...
Posted by Cindy Horst & Maimuna Mohamud on Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Should the EU cooperate with regional states to manage and control migration from the Horn of Africa? Proponents of greater migration control within the EU increasingly favor the use of political and economic incentives as an approach to prevent migration from the Horn of Africa and elsewhere, effectively through increasingly externalizing border control. While the unfolding humanitarian disaster in the Mediterranean shows the urgency of finding creative solutions, we argue that the solution does not lie in cooperating with states that create refugees or cannot guarantee to uphold the non-refoulement principle that EU countries have signed up for in the ...
Posted by Cindy Horst & Maimuna Mohamud on Tuesday, 21 April 2015
The humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean, with staggering high numbers of deaths of asylum seekers and migrants attempting to cross by sea, shows the urgency of an alternative approach to Europe’s current border policies. Across the EU, mounting internal political pressures have intensified debates about migration and asylum, encouraging policies devised to restrict and control asylum and migration. These policies do not prevent people – many of whom originate from the Horn of Africa – from trying to cross the Mediterranean. In 2014, Eritreans composed the second largest migrant group to Europe, after the Syrians, reaching 34,320 according to the ...
Posted by Arne Strand on Thursday, 26 March 2015
Under the tripartite agreement entered into between Afghanistan, Norway and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Afghans who are refused asylum in Norway have two choices: either to take advantage of the assisted repatriation programme; or to reject this offer and risk being forcibly deported and returned to Kabul almost empty handed. The two groups return home under very different circumstances. Refugees on the assisted repatriation programme receive a cash sum on arrival in Kabul, and may apply for rent support for a limited period. They are also entitled to six months’ financial support in order to establish a ...
Posted by Jørgen Carling on Tuesday, 10 March 2015
(This post was originally published on Jørgen Carling’s personal web site.) Migration affects the lives of women in many ways. One subtle but critical mechanism lies in disputes over ‘who’ migrant women are. Migration researchers can play a role in making the battles apparent and showing how they matter. I have collected fifteen articles that have inspired me to write this post. I’ll mention them as I write, highlighting what I think they bring to our understanding of battles over women in the context of migration. You’ll find the abstract and full reference for each article at the end of ...
Immigrants have become integrated into Norwegian society with degrees of success that range between two possible extremes: strong attachment and total alienation. In debates about integration, ethnicity and country of origin are often claimed to be the key factors for determining whether or not integration will be successful. Other important factors are seen as secondary. This contributes to the one-track nature of debates about integration. The significance of time Politicians, the media and researchers tend to focus on where a person “is from”. But in our research on migration – including in particular the relative strength of an immigrant’s sense ...
Posted by Erlend Paasche on Friday, 30 January 2015
Rejected asylum seekers often resist the legal obligation to return. Consequently, European policy makers tasked with migration managament have turned to so-called ‘Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration programmes’ (AVRRs) to incentivize return to and support reintegration in the country of origin. Such programmes are described as less politically costly, more humane, simpler and cheaper than deportation. But with very limited monitoring and evaluation of AVRRs we know little about how well they work and whether the promised support is given. In a recent policy brief, I outline some of the compelling reasons to monitor and evaluate AVRRs. Assisted Voluntary Return ...
While a small number of young Norwegian Muslims have travelled to Syria to join militant groups as “foreign fighters”, far greater numbers of young Muslims are supporting humanitarian efforts. Most media attention is focused on young people travelling abroad to fight, rather than on young people’s humanitarian work. Throughout the autumn, aid organizations and groups of individuals have been collecting winter clothing, footwear, sleeping bags and blankets. With winter closing in, the situation is precarious and there is great enthusiasm for collecting clothes and blankets to send to civilians both in Syria itself and in refugee camps in the region. ...
Posted by Marta Bivand Erdal on Friday, 5 December 2014
Considerations about return are a persistent dimension of identity work in migrant populations. The question of where and what constitutes ‘home’ for migrants is central to understanding processes of integration in settlement contexts. Simultaneously, where and what constitutes ‘home’ sheds light on motivations for sustained transnational ties, but also on return considerations, ranging from planning and actually returning, to an ongoing myth of future return, or a decision of staying put. Reflections about ‘home’ are indicative of individuals’ senses of belonging. Migrants reflections about the possibility of return migration are revealing of where and how these individuals locate ‘home’ in ...
Posted by Marta Bivand Erdal & Tove Heggli Sagmo on Monday, 20 October 2014
The war in Syria, the threat of Islamic radicalisation, and fears that terrorists may recruit Norwegian citizens have sparked renewed debate about Norway’s citizenship legislation. Meanwhile, another debate continues to be forgotten: We call for a reopening of the debate on dual citizenship, as Norway’s antiquated legislation is out of step with that of its Nordic neighbours. Both debates are important, and both should be addressed now. But these are two separate debates. A U-turn in Denmark This summer Denmark decided to permit dual citizenship. This means that Norway is the only Nordic country to persist in banning it. A ...
Posted by Maimuna Mohamud on Tuesday, 14 October 2014
Somali women are often perceived as a homogenous social group perpetually living in destitution as victims of mutilation, sexual exploitation, famine, and war. Whilst we must not ignore atrocities committed against them, it is important to demonstrate that Somali women are not passive victims, and to not disregard a history replete with stories of extraordinary women. There is a lack of awareness of the remarkable Somali women who have refused to accept patriarchy, and who have fought for women’s rights to engage actively and equally as stakeholders in Somali society. The diversity of Somali women’s experiences within society — as ...
A record number of refugees have arrived by boat in southern Europe this summer. Norway should voice its support for a common European solution to the issue of boat migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Last year this would have been front-page news, but now each new arrival – or each refugee boat that is lost at sea – is just one more in a series. Estimates suggest that more than 100,000 refugees have arrived by boat so far this year. This is a dramatic figure. The previous record was 63,000 for the whole of 2011, which was the year the Arab ...
Posted by Jørgen Carling on Sunday, 3 August 2014
The population of the Philippines is surpassing 100 million in late July 2014. That’s a reminder of the country’s importance in global migration. Emigration generally has the strongest impacts in countries with relatively small populations, such as El Salvador, Armenia and Samoa. In fact, as the scatterplot shows, only five countries have remittance inflows representing at least 10 % of GDP and a population of at least 10 million people. Among them only Bangladesh and — as of July 2014 — the Philippines have populations of 100 million or more. The Philippines has a particular position also in research on ...
Fasting and celebration At this time Muslims all over the world are celebrating Eid – Islam’s most important religious festival. Eid marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. After the Eid prayer, families and friends gather to celebrate. This is a time for dressing in fine clothing, eating well, and giving gifts to children. In fact, it is not unlike Christmas. During Eid, it is customary for everyone who can afford it to donate a sum of money, zakat-al-fitr, so that the poor will also be able to eat their fill during the festival. These donations are often ...
Muslims pay 15 times more “religious tax” than the rest of the world gives in humanitarian aid. Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, has just started. A time of fasting for devout Muslims, this is also the time of year when most Muslims pay their annual zakat. Zakat is a form of compulsory almsgiving, a kind of “religious tax.” The amount due is 2.5 per cent of a Muslim’s wealth at the start of Ramadan, subject to a minimum threshold. The Koran contains clear rules about who is eligible to receive zakat: in general, these are people who ...
Posted by Cathrine Talleraas & Marta Bivand Erdal on Wednesday, 18 June 2014
The main purpose of migration policy is to affect migration flows. Sometimes, however, policies have other, unintended effects. Such consequences are easily overlooked in policy evaluations, which usually focus on the effectiveness of a given policy in terms of its intended aim. This Policy Brief analyses the outcome of Norway’s readmission agreement with Ethiopia. Two years after the signing of that agreement, it is clear that its various effects provide a new avenue for reflecting on migration policies in general, and on readmission agreements in particular. Read more in today’s Op Ed (in Norwegian), published at Ytring.no: Stillheten om retur ...
Posted by Marta Bolognani on Tuesday, 10 June 2014
The field of education has been at the forefront of social policy concerns for at least three decades in the UK. The debate around integration and education revolves mainly around two aspects: the ability of migrants to integrate, depending on their level of education; and the challenges brought by migrants to the British education system. Based on PREMIG data from among Pakistani migrants and descendants in the UK it is clear that education is indeed a major field in which issues of integration are explored, negotiated and can either get stuck or resolved. However, the PREMIG data suggests that individuals ...
On July 22nd 2011, I was home from work when I heard a loud blast. It sounded like thunder. Strange that I had not seen any lightning, with a sound this loud, I thought before carrying on with household chores. Half an hour later I took a break, logging onto Facebook. ‘Explosion in Oslo, it’s on TV2!’, a friend’s status said. The TV images seemed unreal. There were familiar images of places I frequently passed, shred into the unrecognizable. The police was asking journalists and others to evacuate the area – in my language, not a foreign language spoken by ...
Posted by Ceri Oeppen on Tuesday, 25 June 2013
If you look at the return programs organized by European governments (usually in partnership with the IOM) you will notice that return and reintegration are often mentioned together, as if they always coincide. However, reintegration (however it is defined) does not automatically follow return. Also, how ‘success’ in reintegration assistance is defined differs: is it where those assisted do not re-migrate? Or, as I would argue, reintegration is a multi-dimensional process that involves (re)negotiating membership in a variety of different spheres of society (economic, political, social, and cultural). In a high mobility society like Afghanistan, with a ‘culture of migration’, ...
The ‘super-diversity’ case-study in the PREMIG project was, unlike the other five case-studies, not defined around a country of origin. Instead we defined it based on temporal dimensions, by interviewing people who had either come to Norway during their childhood, before turning 14, or recently, in the past 1-5 years. This was, more than anything, an experiment. And the data that came out of the experiment confirm the importance of time-related factors in migrants’ understandings of settlement processes and return considerations. The data high-light that there are many similarities in migrants’ reflections on return and settlement, across their countries of origin. The ...
Posted by Marta Bivand Erdal on Saturday, 22 December 2012
For a society such as the Norwegian one, public trust in the state is a cornerstone. But what happens when that trust is lacking? In several cases over the past year (2012), the involvement of Norway’s Child Protection Service (“Barnevernet”) with families of immigrant background has been the subject of heated debate. The rights and wrongs of Barnevernet’s actions in individual cases are impossible for the general public to evaluate on the basis of media reports. For very good reasons, Barnevernet is subject to a duty of confidentiality in the child’s best interests. Despite an intense desire for more information, ...