Is a new international convention to protect refugees needed? Nando Sigona speaks to Aljazeera’s Inside Story

Belarus-EU refugee standoff is the latest example of the UN refugee convention under strain. Belarus and the European Union are raising their stakes in a standoff over refugees and migrants at the Belarusian-Polish border. The EU is imposing more sanctions on entities in Belarus, while Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is threatening to cut gas supplies to Europe.... Continue Reading →

New refugee integration indicators for the UK

Prof. Jenny Phillimore has a made significant contribution to the development of new Indicators on Integration Framework. They are the most comprehensive materials to date and have the potential to reframe thinking on a National and Global scale.

Rome mayor’s anti-migrant stance signals shift to right for Italy’s Five Star Movement

Postcards from ...

Nando Sigona, University of Birmingham

The mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi, believes the Italian capital is facing a new migrant emergency. “We can’t afford new arrivals,” she argued in a letter sent to Italy’s Ministry of Interior on June 15. “Rome’s reception capacity is on its knees,” she continued, adding that new arrivals would have “devastating social costs”. According to the Italian interior minister, Marco Minniti, new arrivals in Rome are in line with agreed quotas.

This was not Raggi’s view only six months ago, when she spoke in early December at an event hosted by the Roman Catholic Church to showcase positive responses to refugees in European cities. Raggi, who is from Beppe Grillo’s Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S) or Five Star Movement, praised the role that cities such as Rome and Barcelona have in welcoming refugees and celebrated the contributions newcomers bring to society. In a post…

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Sexual and Gender-based Violence in the Refugee Crisis: vulnerabilities, inequalities and responses

Professor Jenny Phillimore has secured funding from the Europe and Global Challenges Programme to lead a new research project to examine Sexual and Gender-based Violence in the Refugee Crisis: vulnerabilities, inequalities and responses. The project will use a constructionist approach to examine refugees’ experience of SGBV across the refugee journey.  Supported by Dr Lisa Goodson,... Continue Reading →

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 →

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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