Publication alert: The UK’s ‘Safe and Legal’ Humanitarian Routes: from Colonial Ties to Privatising Protection in The Political Quarterly

In this new article published in The Political Quarterly, the MIGZEN team examines the UK's ‘safe and legal (humanitarian) routes’ and their position in the post-Brexit migration regime. It considers also how these domestic provisions compare to those underwritten by international protections. The Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas)—HK BN(O)s—and Ukraine visa schemes are an area... Continue Reading →

05/06/2024 0

Who really benefits from international labour migration? New IRIS Working Paper on the everyday political economy of labour migration

By Seb Rumsby IOM World Migration Report 2024 found that international remittances had increased 650% from $128bn to $831bn between 2000 and 2022. This growth continued contrary to predictions that remittances would drop dramatically during COVID-19. Remittance figures now outnumbers foreign direct investment in developing nations for the first time, highlighting the critical importance of labour... Continue Reading →

17/05/2024 0

Nando Sigona on Labour plan on irregular crossings

https://nandosigona.info/2024/05/10/labours-response-to-irregular-crossings-some-thoughts/?page_id=5433 Drawing on research on post-Brexit migration governance and the irregularisation of migration, Nando Sigona offers some thoughts on Labour's new proposal to tackle irregular sea crossings in the English Channel.

10/05/2024 0

Exploitable by design: Migrant workers in the UK immigration system

Is the UK immigration system really 'fairer' as the government claims? Fairer to whom? Nando Sigona asks Luke Piper, Head of Immigration at the Work Rights Centre in the latest episode of Conversations with IRIS (S5 E2), in which we examine the production of exploitable and precarious migrant workers at the intersection of the immigration... Continue Reading →

25/03/2024 0

Bordering Society: Understanding and Reimagining migration, displacement and diversity in an age of rapid transformations – CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The Call for Proposals for individual papers, pre-organised panels and workshops for IRIS international conference to be held at The Exchange, University of Birmingham on 5-6 September 2024 is open. Deadline to submit proposal via the online portal is 27 March 2024. Rapidly shifting geopolitical alliances and power asymmetries in an increasingly multipolar landscape rekindle... Continue Reading →

13/03/2024 0

New report reveals real life experiences of Hong Kongers and Ukrainians in the UK under government’s ‘safe and legal humanitarian routes’

New report titled "Humanitarian Visas in a Hostile Environment" offers first-hand insights into the experiences of individuals arriving in the UK through the Hong Kong BN(O) and Ukraine visa schemes and shows that ‘significant concerns persist’ around the restrictions faced by visa beneficiaries. Researchers from the University of Birmingham and Lancaster University, draw on qualitative... Continue Reading →

08/02/2024 0

Conversations with Iris is back: Mariko Hayashi in conversation with Seb Rumsby

Mariko Hayashi, Executive Director at Southeast and East Asian Centre (SEEAC) talks to IRIS Seb Rumsby about the challenges facing Southeast and East migrants and diasporas based in the UK, before comparing post-Brexit UK with East Asian labour migration regimes to explore how policies lead to labour migrant exploitation and rights abuses and what can... Continue Reading →

06/02/2024 0

Citizenship tests as technologies of bordering: IRiS talk with Kamran Khan, Katie Tonkiss and Tendayi Bloom

Citizenship tests are much more than tests. They often represent forms of ‘linguistic borders’ to be negotiated. Drawing on a decade of work in this area, Dr Kamran Khan will theorise how these borders function beyond their educational role. Furthermore, he will use the concept of ‘becoming’ as a means to centre the individual and... Continue Reading →

06/12/2023 0

European migration governance of, for, and against crisis: Andrew Geddes in conversation with Michaela Benson and Nando Sigona

We are delighted to host Professor Andrew Geddes, director of Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute, at IRiS. He has contributed seminal work on migration governance and the politics of immigration in Europe and globally and is uniquely positioned to reflect on the nexus between migration policy and governance in the age of... Continue Reading →

09/11/2023 0

IRIS Conversations on Migration, Citizenship and Coloniality

The programme of IRiS seminar series is out. We are hosting three exciting conversations with internationally renown scholars in the field. The seminars are free and open. Please email a.bolstridge@bham.ac.uk to reserve a place. We look forward to seeing many of you at the seminars! 24 October, 3.30-5pm, Gisbert Kapp, room 224 Thinking decoloniality through an... Continue Reading →

02/10/2023 0

The Age of Superdiversity