Comment archive

Friday, 21 Aug 2026
Yes, we must create jobs, but not to prevent migration

An objective of curbing migration pressure is a poor guide for development policy.

Friday, 14 Aug 2026
Echoes of Partition: Migration, borders and shared humanity

Mid-August marks the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, but also the mass migration and violence that followed in the wake of Partition.

Monday, 3 Aug 2026
When the deadline looms: political crises, displacement and the clock

In January 2017, the streets of Banjul, the tiny capital of The Gambia, fell silent. Shops shuttered. Families packed bags. Tens of thousands of people streamed across the border into Senegal – not because war had broken out, but because a deadline was approaching.

Wednesday, 13 May 2026
The Gaza effect

Following the war in Gaza, killings of journalists and UN staff have become part of Israel's modus operandi. If we allow these actions to continue, we risk them becoming a model for others.

Friday, 27 Feb 2026
What problems are third‑country asylum centres intended to solve?

The EU is considering moving parts of asylum processing out of Europe, and several countries are pushing for third-country solutions.

Friday, 20 Jun 2025
The asylum paradox – yes. But what now?

Stating that the asylum system in Europe is dysfunctional, is hardly a novelty. It’s even been described as contributing to what has been referred to as an “asylum paradox.”

Thursday, 22 May 2025
Crisis and deglobalization: Contributions of research and the role of researchers

Humanitarian aid, development cooperation, migration governance and multilateralism have long been declared to be ‘in crisis’, but are currently experiencing unprecedented systemic shocks.

Friday, 31 Jan 2025
Migrant deaths in the name of law

Image byJim BlackfromPixabay In international political sociology, a variety of scholars following Agamben and the so-called state of exception emphasize the routes of violence against migrants in the light of their privation of rights or “suspended law”. While acknowledging that law creates at times violent conditions, this scholarship tends to ...

Wednesday, 14 Aug 2024
Community Initiatives to Mitigate Group Tensions: Reflections from Uganda

Forced displacement places increased pressure on host communities. Refugees are often hosted in resource-scarce areas with high unemployment and poverty. Local, national and international collaboration is therefore crucial to mitigate social conflict and prevent instability from traveling with those fleeing war. Uganda, with its progressive refugee policies, is often presented as a ...

Thursday, 7 Mar 2024
Facing Imbalances in Global Knowledge Co-creation

Global South-North asymmetries, or imbalances, in resources and access to mobility are often pervasive in international research, including research on peace, conflict, migration and development. Research projects can be experienced as extractive in many contexts around the world. This means that the research process feels like it is taking something ...

Friday, 2 Feb 2024
Refugee Protection Is Being Eroded

The pledges of USD 2.2 billion for refugees that were secured by Global Refugee Forum in December are a mere drop in the ocean. It can seem that we have reduced refugees to pawns in a political game; a game in which they are unwelcome both in their neighbouring countries ...

Tuesday, 19 Dec 2023
Russia’s Row With Finland Exacerbates Baltic Solitude

Russia’s geopolitical influence is increasingly shrinking in the Baltic Sea region. The most recent episode in the region’s worsening relations with Moscow was the sudden arrival of hundreds of migrants from the Middle East and Africa in November to the busy border crossing between Russia and southeastern Finland (Kommersant, November ...

Thursday, 30 Nov 2023
Unlocking Opportunities: Income Generation for Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

The Rohingya are an ethnic group, the majority of whom are Muslim. They have lived for centuries in Myanmar, which is a predominately Buddhist. Rohingya struggle The Rohingya have endured decades of violence, discrimination, and persecution in Myanmar. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), nearly a ...

Monday, 27 Nov 2023
Ethical Dilemmas in Humanitarian Negotiations

This blog provides reflections from both humanitarian practitioners and researchers on the ethical dilemmas associated with humanitarian negotiations and how humanitarian organisations respond to them. The blog post includes the following contributions: Ethical dilemmas in humanitarian negotiations, by Kristoffer Lidén and Kristina Roepstorff Challenges to neutrality and impartiality, and their ...

Tuesday, 14 Nov 2023
Chronic Refugees: A Burden on Poor Countries

We are continually reminded of how wars result in mass human migrations: think only of Palestine, Syria, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Sudan. In general, poor neighbouring countries shoulder most of the burden of housing these refugees, while rich countries do little to take in their share. The result has been ...

Thursday, 31 Aug 2023
Six Years as Refugees and Still No Refuge

“What is happening with the Rohingya refugees? We heard so much about all the horrible things, but how are they now?” These are questions I often get when I talk to people about my research. What is the situation for the Rohingya? The situation is terrible. I have visited the ...

Thursday, 17 Nov 2022
Faith, Hope and a Home of One’s Own

Buying a home is the biggest financial investment most people will ever make and usually involves taking out a loan. A mortgage is the usual solution, but it’s not for everyone. Lack of financial resources is the most common reason for not taking out a loan. But for some people, ...

Monday, 30 May 2022
Staying Rather Than Leaving? Displacement and Conflict-Exposure in Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February has led to rapid and large-scale displacement. What do we know about the dynamics of conflict and mobility in Ukraine, and how does conflict exposure impact people’s decisions to stay or to go? Drawing on new survey data from Ukraine, we shed ...

Tuesday, 12 Apr 2022
Different Responses to Mobility at Europe’s Borders

In the weeks since Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine significant proportions of Ukraine’s population has gone on the move, the majority of whom are internally displaced. By 29th March 2022, 4 million people had fled Ukraine across borders to neighbouring countries: Poland (2 million in 3 weeks), Slovakia, Hungary, Romania ...

Tuesday, 1 Mar 2022
People on the Move in the Face of War in Ukraine

More than half a million people have fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine through the country’s borders to neighbours in Central and Eastern Europe as of 1 March. In a context of war in Europe, and the human suffering it brings, this blog post offers some rough reflections on mobility ...

Tuesday, 1 Feb 2022
Hope and Despair in the Indus River Delta: Navigating the Treacherous Waters of Capitalism, Climate Change and Politics

Concern over the impacts of climate change is rising globally, and often seen in relation to migration. Drawing on MIGNEX fieldwork in Keti Bandar, a Pakistani fishing port in the Indus river delta, we sketch observed climate change impacts and scope for local action. Lost Glory What is today a ...

Wednesday, 24 Nov 2021
European Union-Belarus Border Crisis: Why the narrative of “hybrid warfare” is dangerous

The 2021 EU-Belarus border crisis was preceded by a rapid deterioration of the already strained European Union (EU)-Belarus relations, in most part due to the Ryanair 4978 incident and the concomitant wide-ranging sanctions imposed by the EU on the authoritarian government of the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has often been referred by the media ...

Tuesday, 12 Oct 2021
Migrants Are Dying in the Forests on the EU’s Eastern Borders

The humanitarian crisis on the Poland-Belarus border has claimed several lives. On 30 September, the Polish parliament extended the state of emergency in a three-kilometre-deep strip of land along the border. It is hard to assess the situation in detail, as neither the media nor humanitarian organizations have access to ...

Saturday, 2 Oct 2021
Denmark Leading the Race to the Bottom: Hostility as a form of migration control

Since the refugee crisis of 2015, Denmark, the first signatory of the 1951 Refugee Convention, has been at the forefront of the debate around deterrent migration policies. Until recently, Denmark has been recognized as an egalitarian country with an exemplary welfare system. Now, this reputation might have been irrevocably tarnished ...

Friday, 6 Aug 2021
The Plight of Syrian Refugees

The plight of Syrian refugees is worsening day by day. They face increasing pressure in all of the primary host countries. The route to a safe haven in Europe is closed. Returning to a Syria in ruins, where the conflict remains unresolved, is seen by most refugees as far too ...

Friday, 9 Jul 2021
Why Did Muslims Become the New Enemy in Norway and Europe?

Anti-Muslim views have become more widespread in Europe over the past 30 years, but it is important to distinguish between criticisms of certain forms of Islamic practice and the belief that Muslims are taking over Europe. People with anti-Islamic views wish to restrict Muslim immigration and Islamic religious practices. In ...

Friday, 9 Jul 2021
What a Year with No Travel Taught Us about the Future of Fieldwork

For many researchers working on projects that spanned international borders, the imposition of travel restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid change in ways of working. Drawing on their own experience and those of colleagues of carrying out fieldwork during the pandemic, Talitha Dubow and Marta ...

Thursday, 17 Jun 2021
Agents of Change? How to fulfill the promise of education to refugees

Education in situations of conflict and crisis is central in efforts to protect children and youth in the near-term and fostering peaceful coexistence over the longer-term. But how can education enable individuals and communities to build durable futures when there is great uncertainty about where these futures will be? Education ...

Monday, 7 Jun 2021
The State and Its Nation-Builders

Our research project ‘Negotiating the nation’ focused on how different people discussed the nation’s borders and questions related to national identity. Specific parts of this project examined, among other, how «ordinary» men and women thematized national identity, how mayors on 17 May handled the balance between being inclusive but at the same time emphasizing ...

Thursday, 29 Apr 2021
How Relevant is #StopAsianHate in Norway?

Attacks in the USA and reports of pandemic-related harassment of Asians has brought the #StopAsianHate conversation to Norway. In the summer of 2020, the conversation about discrimination and racism spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement also brought forth topics like the experience of adoptees from South Korea. And the ...