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This paper examines how country-specific factors in receiving countries influence a highly skilled migrant's choice between several possible locations. While continental European countries recognize that attracting migrants is a key component of their economic strategies, it is unclear to what extent these immigration policies result in European countries performing better in the global competition for the skilled. Surveys of prospective migrants in India show that while European countries appear to be relatively attractive for educational purposes, European countries are not perceived as favourably for long-term stays. Relative to migrants selecting traditional immigration countries, migrants selecting Europe as a destination typically have more skills and increased access to resources, such as existing networks abroad, higher educational level or better language skills. With fewer long-term migration initiatives to Europe, immigration policies and destination country-specific factors, opportunities to obtain citizenship and amenities of local environment become less relevant. European governments put considerable effort in integrating student migration as a part of a wider immigration strategy; however, this strategy is likely to prove ineffective if "probationary migrants" do not view European countries as realistic work destinations after graduation.

In this paper, we analyse the existence of clusters in self-employment rates, segregating by place of birth, i.e. native vs foreign-born, in a group of 17 European countries. The analysis suggests that natives behave differently in peripheral and core countries, whereas their foreign-born self-employed counterparts show a similar behaviour irrespective of the characteristics of the recipient economy. These findings augment the scant available evidence about this topic in Europe (as most previous studies have focused on the United States) and confirm the existence of important differences in the entrepreneurial skills and mindset of native and migrant populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to challenge the idea of the immobile immigrant worker, trapped in the bottom segments of the labour market, by exploring how immigrants and their descendants (sometimes designated second generation immigrants) develop re-emigration strategies in their first country of settlement in Europe when faced with structural or conjunctural barriers to the advancement of their socio-economic situation. Design/methodology/approach – Empirical evidence was collected through structured interviews aimed at capturing labour market and residential trajectories of workers of African origin and their descendants in Portugal, with a particular emphasis on the period between 1998 and 2006. Findings – Findings suggest that in some cases, immigrants draw on social networks available to them to engage in processes of continued intra-European mobility. International re-emigration emerges as a work-space mobility strategy for migrant workers and their descendants when there was no significant social mobility in the first destination. Similarly, international geographical mobility may constitute a self-perpetuating strategy across generations to escape structural immobility faced by certain immigrant groups in destination contexts. Research limitations/implications – Experiences reported are situated, so cannot be taken to represent those of all workers of African origin in Portugal. Social implications – Findings presented in the paper highlight potential consequences of perpetuating geographical mobility throughout time, namely in terms of labour market conditions and family dynamics. They also highlight the need to look at socio-economic mobility trajectories within Europe as integrated space and not just within national borders. Originality/value – The paper proposes an encompassing view of migrants' (im)mobilities over time, to include the conditions of their labour market incorporation and its links to further spatial, international, mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent terrorist attacks in many cities of Europe such as London, Madrid, Paris, Nice and Brussells lead to strenghtening of the anti-immigrant attitudes in European public opinion and political life. Under these circumstances, migration and migrants with their security implications are highly politicized and even securitized issues for the European Union and the countries of Europe through political discourses, bureuacratic practices and media visuals. So, migrationrelated issues are increasingly integrated into discourses and policies arranging domains of insecurity. Migration was largely considered as a contribution to the economic reconstruction of Europe until the 1990s. However, in the last couple of decades, it has been perceived as a security threat. This perception is constructed by combinig migration with socio-economic problems, crime, cultural problems and finally terrorism. Therefore, migration, immigrants and asylum-seekers are now the objects of securitization process in Europe. They are portrayed as a threat to the cultural identity, welfare state and internal security of the West and the EU. On the other hand, in order to avoid the contradiction in terms of main values of the EU, the struggle against the migration issue is required to re-emphasise the liberal practices by preserving identical differences in a cosmopolitan policy. Because, emphasizing restrictions and control implies a negative portrayal of groups of immigrants. Such a policy risks sustaining public expressions of racism and xenophobia in the present political context. This paper argues that measures taken by the individual countries of Europe and the EU for the migration and immigrants should not be in contradiction with main values such as multiculturalism, human rights, democracy and inclusive social structure on which the EU is based on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of increasing numbers of vulnerable migrants in Europe, many churches and other faith-based organizations have provided sanctuary to those at risk of deportation. This paper sheds light on the rationalities and practices of actors such as these, and in what ways their beliefs may be different from liberal norms. Investigating both liberal and faith-based understandings of space, time, and freedom I look at the ways that multiple webs of belief intersect to form new constellations of power in humanitarian governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that immigrant civic activism, which may at first glance seem to focus on diasporic ties and ethnic community building, becomes often a lever for transcultural capital and transcultural community building. The study is explorative of new repertoires and forms of transnationalism among sub-Saharan African immigrant activists in Europe. The findings suggest that immigrant civic activism, even if limited in size, proposes new types of transcultural societal networks and new forms of transcultural expression. In the first part of the study I discuss the theoretical background of transnationalism in migration studies and propose the notions of transcultural capital and transcultural community as working concepts. The second part of the study concentrates on the qualitative analysis of life story interviews with sixteen sub-Saharan African immigrants in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on participant observation and interviews conducted between 2003 and 2006, this paper examines the experiences of three young adult Chinese sojourners in Ireland and the United Kingdom who return to the People’s Republic of China for permanent residence because of personal or familial health crises. Their experiences illustrate the plight of failed sojourners who are part of the little-studied other side of the “healthy immigrant paradox.” The experiences of the sojourners in this case study illustrate factors that tend to prevent less healthy or resourceful sojourner families from even entering the immigrant category, which has been shown to be paradoxically healthier than nonimmigrant native categories in epidemiological studies. This paper’s approach demonstrates how ethnography can contribute to the study of public health by shedding light on the experiences of marginal individuals who fall between the cracks of epidemiological studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes global shifts in migration and population demography and the simultaneous increase in nationalism and xenophobia. The literature lays out a need for more research examining how young people from immigrant or refugee backgrounds are being affected by contemporary trends in nationalism and xenophobia across diverse national contexts. This article concludes with an overview of five papers addressing the topic in the special section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In political and social scientific discourses, the link between right-wing political orientation and anti-immigrant sentiment is often presented as a universal social fact. Based on a systematic examination of the association between left–right political orientation and attitudes towards migrants, the article demonstrates a clear inconsistency in the strength and direction of this presumed association in postsocialist European countries. We provide two analytical explanations for this inconsistency. The first challenges the western-centric idea that people leaning towards the political right tend to hold conservative views that shape their tendency to express anti-immigrant sentiment. The second explanation pertains to the limited relevance of the left–right political orientation scale for postsocialist subjects, making it difficult to attribute anti-immigrant sentiment to specific political orientations. In conclusion, we discuss specific social identities of the holders of hostile attitudes towards outsiders in postsocialist Central and Eastern Europe, which western-centric analytical models do not capture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germany has experienced different forms of immigration for many decades. At the end of and after the Second World War, refugees, displaced persons and German resettlers constituted the largest immigrant group. In the 1950s, labor migration started, followed by family reunification. There has been a constant migration of refugees and asylum seekers reaching peaks in the early 1990s as well as today. Epidemiological research has increasingly considered the health, and the access to health care, of immigrants and people with migration background. In this narrative review we discuss the current knowledge on health of immigrants in Germany. The paper is based on a selective literature research with a focus on studies using representative data from the health reporting system. Our review shows that immigrants in Germany do not suffer from different diseases than non-immigrants, but they differ in their risk for certain diseases, in the resources to cope with theses risk and regarding access to treatment. We also identified the need for differentiation within the immigrant population, considering among others social and legal status, country of origin and duration of stay. Though most of the studies acknowledge the need for differentiation, the lack of data currently rules out analyses accounting for the existing diversity and thus a full understanding of health inequalities related to migration to Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand how the labour market integration of migrants in Europe is affected, in an interrelated fashion, by their reason for migration and their region of origin. Using recent data from the European Labour Force Survey, we distinguish immigrants to Europe between four migration motives: economic, education, family reasons, or international protection. We compare labour market outcomes of these categories of immigrants through earnings, controlling for a variety of individual factors (including language skills and age at migration), and we also investigate the role of selection into employment. Our results suggest that an economic reason for migration together with already having a job upon arrival is positively associated with higher, while, other things equal, refugees and family migrants are more likely to end up with lower earnings. However, when estimating full interaction models, we find that these results are highly dependent on where migrants come from. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances a novel theoretical perspective on the determinants of immigrant occupational attainment in western Europe. Previous research has not accounted for the process of legal status transition or the implications of this for migrants. A new measure of the conditionality attached to legal status transitions is advanced and its hypothesised role in the determination of migrant outcomes in interaction with other features of legal status policy is tested utilising large-scale European microdata for 14 countries in the context of multilevel modelling. Results support the hypothesis and the paper concludes by discussing implications for policymakers and for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper's main purpose is to evaluate immigrants' demand for social assistance and services and identify the key barriers to social and labor market inclusion of immigrants in the European Union. Design/methodology/approach – An online primary survey of experts from NGOs and public organizations working on immigrant integration in the member states of the European Union was carried out. The data is analyzed using simple comparative statistical methods; the robustness of the results is tested by means of logit and ordered logit statistical models. Findings – The authors find that the general public in Europe has rather negative attitudes towards immigrants. Although the business community views immigrants somewhat less negatively, barriers to immigrant labor market inclusion identified include language and human capital gaps, a lack of recognition of foreign qualifications, discrimination, non-transparent labor markets and institutional barriers such as legal restrictions for foreign citizens. Exclusion from higher education, housing and the services of the financial sector aggravate these barriers. Changes in the areas of salaried employment, education, social insurance, mobility and attitudes are seen as desired by members of ethnic minorities. The current economic downturn is believed to have increased the importance of active inclusion policies, especially in the areas of employment and education. These results appear to be robust with respect to a number of characteristics of respondents and their organizations. Research limitations/implications – The authors' findings are not limited to the sample studied, which is supported by their robustness analysis. However an extended opinion survey of the ethnic minority population is required to more accurately examine the problems faced by diverse groups of immigrants across EU member states. Practical implications – The findings of the study call for more effective diversity management and integration strategies to ensure non-discrimination and better integration of ethnic minorities into the labor markets of member states. Originality/value – There are few studies using primary survey data that have identified a wide range of barriers and challenges to economic integration faced by ethnic minorities in an enlarged European Union. The cross-national opinion survey uniquely reflects views and suggestions of practitioners and immigrant minorities themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I discuss compulsory genital examinations in Swedish African, mainly Somali, girls. The discussion is based on data from 122 police files, including criminal investigations regarding suspected "female genital mutilation" (FGM). A growing body of research in European countries indicates that processes of cultural change are occurring among immigrant communities from areas where traditionally girls are subjected to what is construed as "circumcision". Many studies show growing opposition to these practices among people who have migrated to Europe, and there is little evidence to support the assertion that large-scale illegal activities are prevalent. Yet there is a dominant discourse stating that FGM is secretively practised on a large scale among some immigrant groups in Europe, and policies encourage the detection of cases to charge in criminal court. I describe the current situation in Sweden and highlight some of the drawbacks of a very harsh, although well-intended, policy to check for FGM in Europe. While the ultimate aim is to protect girls at risk for FGM, current policies have ramifications that are invasive and sometimes even traumatising for the girls involved. This paper offers an empirical example of how politics in western multicultural societies may negatively influence the sexual health and rights of a target group, in this case, girls and young women whose families originate from countries where circumcision of girls is practiced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing mainly on qualitative evidence gathered from interviews with migrant handymen and with labour-using households in the UK, this paper analyses how this migration typifies economic and social divisions within Europe and embodies conflicting tensions between economic and social policies at an interpersonal level. By supplying household services, migrant handymen enable labour-using households to alleviate time pressures and conflicts in time priorities arising from tensions between economic expectations regarding working hours and work commitment, and social expectations regarding contemporary ideas of active parenting. Similarly to the outsourcing of feminized domestic labour and care, these tensions are in part resolved for labour-using households by extending class divisions across national boundaries while leaving gender divisions changed but not transformed and in some instances exacerbating work/ life tensions among the migrants. These broad findings are complicated by differential desires and capabilities around fathering practices among fathers in labour-using households and among the migrants, and economic differentiation among the migrant population. Although we cannot tell from our study whether such movement reinforces or redresses uneven development, what we can say is that existing cohesion policies are insufficient to redress uneven development, and individual responses including migration can reinforce existing social divisions. Further, existing social policies for promoting gender equality fail to recognize or redress the deeply embedded gendered norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Migration trends are highly dynamic and the recent period has seen a transformation of migration to Europe. Studies of existing migrant stocks provide only limited information on these new migration flows and their implications for receiving societies. In the Norface-funded SCIP project (‘Socio-cultural integration processes among New Immigrants in Europe’), about 8000 recent migrants to four European destinations were surveyed soon after their arrival with many re-interviewed about 1.5 years later. The goal of the project was to obtain a more complete picture of integration processes in Europe and of the role of individual traits, group characteristics and reception contexts.SCIP data shed light on a highly dynamic phase in migrants’ integration that has important implications for what happens later in the adaptation process. Furthermore, these data reveal the extent to which differences in integration patterns are apparent from the very beginning of migrants’ stay or evolve over time. The SCIP project is comparative on the group and country level and thus helps to clarify whether country-specific integration patterns reflect characteristics of host country institutions and their ethnic boundaries – or can be attributed to the particularities of the immigrants these countries attract.This special issue demonstrates the potential of the data for addressing such questions, fundamental to our understanding of current and future migrant integration by bringing together six articles that tackle migrants' early adaptation, for example their language acquisition, the role of religiosity in finding a job, group differences in identification and acculturation, and experiences of discrimination across contexts. It also gives an insight into some limitations of the data set, describes the methodological challenges and possibilities in using it, and aims to inspire further research based on this unique data source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevailing attitudes toward migration describe citizens' preferences towards non-native inhabitants and fulfill a key role in socio-economics as antecedents of citizens' behaviors. According to literature, the fear (or lack of fear) of labor-market competition between natives and migrants may shape attitudes, especially those of low-skilled workers. In this comprehensive framework, we contribute to the literature by looking into a new aspect that shapes attitudes toward migration: urbanization. Employing data from round 1 to round 9 of the European Social Survey covering the time span 2002–2018, this paper analyzes the trend of attitudes toward migration, focusing on the effects of urbanization as a direct determinant of attitudes toward migration as a moderator of education. Urbanization typically affects attitudes toward migrants both directly and indirectly, interacting with individuals' education, which is used to distinguish high-skilled and low-skilled workers. Results support the hypothesis that people living in the rural areas display more negative attitudes toward migration, and this effect is more substantial for low-skilled workers. • According to literature, the fear of labor-market competition between natives and migrants shapes workers' attitudes, especially low-skilled workers'. • We analyzed data from round 1 to round 9 of the European Social Survey from 2002 to 2018. • Urbanization affects attitudes toward migrants directly and indirectly, typically interacting with individuals' education. • People in rural areas have more unfavorable attitudes toward migration that are tougher for low-skilled workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction to this ERS Special Issue sets out the broad frame through which the six articles can be coherently viewed. It does so by suggesting that, more recently, different governments' attempts to manage the tensions surrounding asylum, labour needs and multicultural citizenship have increasingly involved a 'redrawing' or 'refixing' of immigration and multicultural political and policy approaches. This 'redrawing' process places a traditional stress on policing national borders and excavates older discourses of assimilationism through an emphasis on cultural integration, social cohesion and a notion of a core national identity. This process is apparent in wider European and Australian contexts and can be particularly seen in the current British government's legislative interventions on asylum and migrant labour. The introduction sets out the specificity of the British context and outlines how each of the subsequent articles speaks to the labile political and policy landscapes of migration and belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Responding to growing immigration concerns in recent years, European countries have claimed to tackle the root causes of migration using development assistance. Some recent analyses find more aid to be associated with lower immigration, providing support to this policy. But these findings rely on measures of regular migration, while donors' concern is centred on irregular migrants. Purpose: This study tests whether development aid has a deterrent effect on irregular migration to Europe. Methods: Adopting innovative data on irregular migration flows to Europe between 2009 and 2016, a simultaneous equations model accounts for the potential endogeneity of both total and bilateral aid. Findings: The study finds that total aid does not significantly reduce numbers of migrants apprehended at Europe's border. Moreover, bilateral aid tends to raise these numbers. The estimated costs for each deterred irregular migrant are high: in the best‐case scenario the range is between USD 150,000 and USD 320,000. The estimated costs to deter regular migrants are even higher, between USD 0.9 million and USD 2.5 million. Both estimates concur with those from previous work. Findings are robust to different aid measures and specifications. Policy implications: Empirical results provide no evidence to support the use of development aid to deter migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past years, we have seen a rise in political mobilisations in EUrope and elsewhere, by and in solidarity with migrant newcomers. This article focuses on specific examples of what we conceptualise as transversal solidarities by and with migrants, and rooted in the city, the focus of this special issue. The examples we explore in this article include: Trampoline House, a civil society organisation which provides a home to migrant newcomers in Copenhagen; Queer Base, an activist organisation in Vienna providing support for LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer) migrants; and finally, the Palermo Charter Process, a coalition of diverse groups seeking to create open harbours and 'corridors of solidarity', from the Mediterranean to cities throughout EUrope. While these examples are situated in and across different urban spaces, they share a common grounding in building solidarity through spaces of encounters related to ideas of home, community, and harbour. By exploring these distinct solidarity initiatives in tandem, we examine, on the one hand, how the production of spaces of encounters is linked to building transversal solidarities and, on the other, how transversal solidarities also connect different spaces of solidarity across different political scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent terrorist attacks in many cities of Europe such as London, Madrid, Paris, Nice and Brussells lead to the strengthening of the anti-immigrant attitudes in European public opinion and political life. Under these circumstances, migration and migrants with their security implications are highly politicized and even securitized issues for the European Union and the countries of Europe through political discourses, bureaucratic practices, and media visuals. So, migration-related issues are increasingly integrated into discourses and policies arranging domains of insecurity. Migration was largely considered as a contribution to the economic reconstruction of Europe until the 1990s. However, in the last couple of decades, it has been perceived as a security threat. This perception is constructed by combining migration with socio-economic problems, crime, cultural problems, and finally terrorism. Therefore, migration, immigrants, and asylum-seekers are now the objects of securitization process in Europe. They are portrayed as a threat to the cultural identity, welfare state, and internal security of the West and the EU. On the other hand, in order to avoid the contradiction in terms of main values of the EU, the struggle against the migration issue is required to re-emphasise the liberal practices by preserving identical differences in a cosmopolitan policy. Because emphasizing restrictions and control implies a negative portrayal of groups of immigrants. Such a policy risks sustaining public expressions of racism and xenophobia in the present political context. This paper argues that measures taken by the individual countries of Europe and the EU for migration and immigrants should not be in contradiction with main values such as multiculturalism, human rights, democracy and inclusive social structure on which the EU is based.

Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) programs occupy a central role in Europe's "management" of migration today. These state-funded programs allow migrants to meet with humanitarian counselors about the decision to return voluntarily, offering reintegration assistance and one-way travel booking to migrants' country of origin. This paper draws on interviews with practitioners at humanitarian organizations, those who counsel undocumented migrants and appeals rights exhausted asylum seekers about their decision to leave Europe via AVR, to consider the limits and potentials of humanitarian assistance for migrants in the EU's security-focused context. We query the degree to which care, as much as it is incorporated into regimes of bordering, can potentially disrupt hegemonic politics of assistance-as-governance. AVR provides a lens onto the politics of care and humanitarian assistance in migration management today, as migrants and practitioners negotiate together the decision to stay (with a limited range of legal options) or return via this increasingly relied upon policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to universal healthcare is a normative expectation of citizens in European welfare states. As part of a comparative study of healthcare in diverse European neighbourhoods, we met women who described failures of the public healthcare system, together with gratitude for that system. Challenges to European welfare states of ageing populations, the retraction of resources available for healthcare, and globalised migration streams have been linked to xenophobic 'welfarist' attempts to restrict access to services for new arrivals and those seen as failing to contribute sufficiently. Stories of healthcare systems' failure to treat symptoms, pain, and suffering in a timely and caring fashion came from eight women of non-European migrant backgrounds as part of a wider interview study in four European cities (Birmingham, Uppsala, Lisbon, Bremen). These accounts suggest that a normative aspect of welfare provision has been reproduced – that is, the expression of gratitude – despite inadequate services. Where welfarist attitudes to migration meet normative aspects of healthcare, suffering may be compounded by an expectation of gratitude. The regrettable unmet healthcare need of the eight women whose cases are presented suggests that other marginalised healthcare users may also be under-served in apparently universal healthcare systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the concept of "alterity processing" to account for the simultaneous enactment of individual "Others" and emergent European orders in the context of migration management. Alterity processing refers to the data infrastructures, knowledge practices, and bureaucratic procedures through which populations unknown to European actors are translated into "European-legible" identities. By drawing on fieldwork conducted in Italy and the Hellenic Republic from 2017 to 2018, this article argues that different registration and identification procedures compete to legitimize different chains of actors, data, and metadata as more authoritative than others. Competing procedures have governance implications, as well, with some actors being included and others being excluded. Furthermore, there is evidence that—despite procedural rigidities—applicants themselves propose alternative chains of actors, data, and metadata that are more meaningful to them. In this tension, it is not only the individual Other that is enacted but also specific bureaucratic orders cutting across old and new European actors and distinctive understandings of "Europe." From a technology studies perspective, this article engages in a dialogue with the emergent debate on Hotspots, the scholarship about the infrastructural construction of Europe and political sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the European anti-smuggling agenda as an anti-policy that derives legitimacy from fighting 'bad things', in terms that mask political disagreement. By juxtaposing the agenda to the experiences and understandings of those whom such measures affect most directly – people migrating without authorisation to the EU – it uncovers the productivity of anti-smuggling and the political contestations surrounding it. Based on a qualitative analysis of 257 interviews carried out with 271 people who travelled – or sought to travel – across the Mediterranean Sea by boat using smuggling networks, the article highlights the complicity of governing authorities and officials with smuggling networks and practices, as well as the diversity and ambivalences of relationships between smugglers and the smuggled. Going further, the article points to the specific ways in which anti-smuggling is contested by those on the move, which expose a central political disagreement over the legitimacy of mobility across borders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe has become a major destination for international migrants. By 2015, 34.3 million people living in an EU member state were born outside of the EU-28, and an additional 18.5 million persons had been born in another EU country than the one currently residing in. In this context of a growing foreign-born population, which is now at about 10% of the total European population, xenophobic attitudes against immigrants are generally perceived as having increased over the past decade across Europe. This study explores the extent to which anti-immigrant hostility is spatially dependent and has spread geographically across European regions of that period. Based on data from seven rounds (2002-2014) of the European Social Survey, analysed at sub-national (NUTS 2 regions) levels, we identify a significant spatial connectivity of anti-immigrant attitudes by showing that spatially more proximate European regions share similar in trends in anti-immigrant sentiments than we observe between more distant regions. The identification of a spatially dependent diffusion and clustering process of anti-immigrant attitudes has a significant bearing for the understanding of the rise and fall of populist movements across Europe and changing electoral support for xenophobic parties across European regions over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does Europe need to prepare for a coming "surge" of sub-Saharan migrants? This prediction is based on a model of communicating vessels that fails to take into account three fundamental observations: 1) compared to people in other regions, sub- Saharan Africans are less prone to migrate, due to poverty; 2) when they do emigrate, 70% move to another sub-Saharan country; 3) according to UN demographic growth projections, while sub-Saharan African migrants will have a growing place in societies of the North, they will remain a small minority: around 4% of the population in 2050 - far below the 25% that some have claimed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue showcases work that theorises and critiques the political, economic, legal, and socio-historical (‘ethnic’ or ‘cultural’) subordination of the European Roma (so-called ‘Gypsies’), from the specific critical vantage point of Roma migrants living and working within and across the space of the European Union (EU). Enabled primarily through ethnographic research with diverse Roma communities across the heterogeneous geography of ‘Europe’, the contributions to this collection are likewise concerned with the larger politics of mobility as a constitutive feature of the sociopolitical formation of the EU. Foregrounding the experiences and perspectives of Roma living and working outside of their nation-states of ‘origin’ or ostensible citizenship, we seek to elucidate wider inequalities and hierarchies at stake in the ongoing (re-)racialisation of Roma migrants, in particular, and imposed upon migrants, generally. Thus, this special issue situates Roma mobility as a critical vantage point for migration studies in Europe. Furthermore, this volume shifts the focus conventionally directed at the academic objectification of ‘the Roma’ as such, and instead seeks to foreground and underscore questions about ‘Europe’, ‘European’-ness, and EU-ropean citizenship that come into sharper focus through the critical lens of Roma racialisation, marginalisation, securitisation, and criminalisation, and the dynamics of Roma mobility within and across the space of ‘Europe’. In this way, this collection contributes new research and expands critical interdisciplinary dialogue at the intersections of Romani studies, ethnic and racial studies, migration studies, political and urban geography, social anthropology, development studies, postcolonial studies, and European studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 2014 to the end of 2016, over 450,000 people crossed from North Africa towards Italy via the Central Mediterranean route. The number of people recorded as dead or missing in the same stretch of water steadily increased too. Crisis-talk in the region led to renewed efforts by the European Union and its Member States to govern and control migration to and across the Central Mediterranean. Against this backdrop, this article draws upon over 200 interviews with newly arrived boat migrants and 55 stakeholders in Italy to reveal a fundamental disjuncture between the drivers and dynamics of migration and the assumptions underpinning policy development, the saliency of which becomes apparent at three crucial junctions: along migration land routes; at sea; and upon arrival in Europe. In doing so, the article questions current ways of understanding journeys in research and policy, and highlights their consequences for the governance of migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of increasing globalisation scholars put considerable efforts into understanding the consequences of immigration to the welfare state. One important factor in this respect is public support for the welfare state and redistribution. This article presents results from a unique survey experiment and a panel study in three European countries (Norway, Germany and the Netherlands) in order to examine whether and how individuals change their preference for redistribution when faced with immigration. Theoretically, citizens with high incomes should be especially likely to withdraw their support for redistribution because they fear the increased fiscal burden, whereas other types of citizens might ask for more compensation for the increased labour market risks caused by immigration. The empirical evidence reveals that only respondents with high incomes and those who face low labour market competition withdraw support for redistribution when faced with immigration. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Nutritional disorders are now spreading worldwide both in developed and developing countries. Body image ideals and dissatisfaction have been linked to a number of poor health outcomes, including nutritional disorders. While previous studies have offered insight into weight status and body image perception of immigrants in North America, very few studies have analysed these aspects in migrants from Africa to Europe. Our review examines the effects of the migration process on beauty ideals and body dissatisfaction in African immigrants in Europe compared to residents in their own countries. The PubMed, PsycINFO and Google Scholar databases were searched for studies published from January 2000 till November 2015. Of the 730 titles identified, 26 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the present review. Among African residents, the body preferences depend on the country of residence and their socio-cultural status. Ethnic groups living in great isolation or with low incomes still have an ancestral idea of beauty, preferring a shapely body. However ethnic groups living in urban areas are moving toward Westernization of beauty ideals, preferring underweight or normal weight bodies. This review highlights that both residents and migrants are at high risk of nutritional disorders due to the adoption of Western beauty ideals. The results suggest that body dissatisfaction and BMI are increasing from Southern Africa to Europe according to a geographical gradient (described for females by Spearman's coefficient and linear regression, respectively). We emphasize the need for monitoring of the weight and psychological status of immigrants and the development of specific preventive strategies in European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The linkage between race and migration, especially in the UK since the 1990s, has shifted from a focus on postcolonial migrants to focus on newer groups, while migration within the European Union has also altered the discussion of racism and migration. This critical review provides a framework for understanding how race is conceptualized (or ignored) in contemporary scholarship on migration. We identify three, partly overlapping nexi between migration and racialization: (1) ‘Changing Migrations – Continuities of Racism’; (2) ‘Complex Migrations – Differentialist Racialization’; (3) ‘Post-racial Migrations – Beyond Racism’. The article analyses what each of these nexi bring into focus as well as what they neglect. The concept of race–migration nexus aids a fuller understanding of how migration and contemporary racialization are co-constructed. Scholars need to consider the relationship between migration and race to better address pressing issues of racism against migrants and settled communities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Migrant journeys are often conceived as linear movement from a sending country to a receiving country. However, a recent work suggests that the notion of linear migrant journeys is a misrepresentation. I argue that European regulations that standardise immigration policy around a common goal of ‘burden-sharing’ such as the Dublin II Regulation interact with the journeys of migrants to create paths that are not linear, circular or guided solely by intent. Rather migrant journeys can be conceived as a series of negotiations with state policies that shape experiences, choices and destinations through constructions of illegality. Mobility becomes an on-going condition rather than a temporary one. Borders then are reproduced as phenomenological rather than physical. I illustrate my argument through an ethnographic case study of a Sudanese man seeking to join his wife and child who had filed an asylum application in France. He interacts with the borders of Europe throughout his journey; however, as he becomes known as an undocumented migrant he moves further from the possibility of entering Europe with immigration status despite being within the territorial boundaries. Conversely, as his physical proximity to Europe increases and is established, his legal proximity decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Contributing to the debate on the integration of migrants in Europe, this study focuses on Subjective Well-Being (SWB) of people with migration backgrounds compared to people without a migration background - specifying SWB in terms of successful integration. The analyses employ a multilevel perspective (data base: European Social Survey). On the macro level, gross domestic product (GDP), welfare regime, xenophobia and the migrant integration policy index (MIPEX) are considered; on the micro level, social origin, education, unemployment, income deprivation, relationship status, health status and controls. Findings indicate a disadvantage in SWB of first-generation migrants that goes beyond deficits regarding well-studied SWB determinants. The SWB gap between migrants and nonmigrants is larger in countries with a high GDP and smaller in countries with a high MIPEX score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the representation of ‘non-places’ in European migrant cinema. Postcolonial subjects, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are often depicted in non-places such as city outskirts, hotels, detention centres, on the open sea or in airports. Through the analysis of Pawel Pawlikowski's Last Resort (UK, 2000), Stephen Frears's Dirty Pretty Things (UK, 2002), and Mohsen Melliti's Io, l'altro (I, the Other, Italy, 2007), migrants are seen in non-locations, characterised by their disposable bodies and are portrayed against a background of hostile media representations. The article argues that non-places allude to the visual and ideological instability of the notion of Europe, and also to the creation of an alternative space, a possible Third Space, a location of transformation and belonging to an alternative organic society, where new notions of hospitality and tolerance are conveyed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Migration research has generally neglected the individual, sacrificing him/her to macrosociological analyses. Some anthropologists, however, offer more analytically productive frameworks within which to comprehend the migrants’ experiences by considering them in terms of hybridity and liminality. I argue for the insight recognition of a liminal imaginary may bring to an understanding of transnational North African’s experiences by exploring the novelistic space-time constructed and shared by Francophone Maghrebi authors, including Tahar Ben Jelloun and Mehdi Charef. Recognizing in the Moroccan context the pertinence of a hegemonic patriarchal master-disciple matrix, in addition to a certain idea of liberty in regard to international relations and borders, I perceive these Francophone Maghrebi authors as pursuing a distinctive kind of freedom, one linked to their liminal positions. I take Victor Turner’s conception of the liminal a step further by pointing to the relevance of barzakh, an Arabic word theorized by the 13th century Andalusian philosopher Ibn al-Arabi as an isthmus and womb. I further build on this concept by focusing on the inarticulatable aspects and transgressive possibilities outside transnational structures and traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]