Where is integration in the refugee ‘crisis’?

By Jenny Phillimore While migrants seeking to escape conflict, persecution, poverty, and environmental disaster have been crossing the Mediterranean by boat to seek sanctuary in Europe for a number of years, in 2015 the scale of arrivals increased beyond all expectations. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported in excess of one million arrivals, with migrants... Continue Reading →

Jenny Phillimore on superdiversity

A great deal of attention has been placed upon the numbers of migrants arriving in Europe with far less concern paid to how those migrants might be supported to integrate into European societies. Researchers at Birmingham have undertaken studies looking at what works in migrant integration and identifying good practice in migrant integration. They have also... Continue Reading →

Birmingham heroes: Migration & displacement

The University of Birmingham is at the forefront of research into migration and displacement. The Birmingham Heroes campaign is celebrating the work being carried out at the Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS), the first institute in the UK and one of the first globally, to focus on migration, displacement and superdiversity. The ongoing ‘refugee... Continue Reading →

The challenge of superdiversity for urban planning

by Simon Pemberton (UPWEB, Keele University) Given my eclectic background as a practising urban planner, research institute director (on social inclusion) and (more lately) human geographer, I have become increasingly interested in the implications of increasing super-diversity for urban planning, as well as the equality of outcomes of planning practices. To this end, I have... Continue Reading →

Can the fabric of a diverse society be undone?

By Nando Sigona @nandosigona If you woke up this morning in a British city, you can see this happening right in front to your eyes. From the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham – one of the most diverse cities in the UK -  the Tories are feeding the press with anti-immigration soundbites relentlessly, competing among... Continue Reading →

Barack Obama says the refugee crisis is a ‘test of our humanity’ – is Britain failing it? Asks Nando Sigona

Nando Sigona, University of Birmingham In a compassionate and compelling speech, Barack Obama called the response to the global refugee crisis “a test of our humanity” and invited world leaders attending the Leaders' Summit on Refugees on September 20 to do more to assist those fleeing war and persecution. The British prime minister, Theresa May,... Continue Reading →

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