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In border areas, time and space are constantly suspended from the usual rules along a liminal pathway transforming status and identity. In order to understand how different regimes of mobility and reception influence the experience of time and the subjective actions of both asylum seekers arriving via the so-called Balkan route and Ukrainian refugees fleeing from the war, the paper puts forward an analysis of the multiple scales of migration and reception policies as historically situated practices. How and to what extent has the increasing role of the humanitarian regime contributed to improving or worsening the lives of asylum seekers in borderland places where the memory of wars, civil conflicts, and experiences of refoulement is very much alive? Building on a multilocal ethnography of the temporalities of migrants' reception, the paper aims at disentangling the historical layers of hospitality in the northeastern Italian border areas of Trieste and Bolzano and the intersecting forms of (im)mobility at play. By addressing "reception" as an entanglement of spatial and temporal practices carried out by migrants, institutional, and humanitarian actors, we discuss not only how time reduces the existence of asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees to an empty and meaningless human condition by exerting control over the subjective experiences, but also how the migrants' experience of waiting translates into an active state of being with the creative potential to trigger new forms of sociality, solidarity, and senses of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a case study of the dynamic of securitisation of asylum seekers and migrants in Poland since 2015. It uses a unique case of the external actor – the Belarussian government – not merely threatening to escalate the pre-existing situation but actively constructing it by creating new migration flows and forcibly pushing asylum-seekers and migrants into the EU. By reconstructing the discourse and practice of the securitising actor and the intervention of the external actor, the paper shows that the pre-existing securitisation of asylum seekers and migrants in Poland was instrumentalised by the external actor, which led to the further development and intensification of the securitising policies and practices and their justifications. The analysis contributes to our understanding of the securitisation process in the moment of the context change as triggered by an exogenous factor – an intervention by the external actor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In introducing the Sport in Society special issue, this paper aims to extend and deepen conversations among scholars, policy makers and practitioners about the role of sport in relation to contexts and issues of forced migration. The five themes that cut across the contributions to this special issue address and expand existing and emerging concerns in the literature, specifically focusing on: 1) participatory methodologies, power, voice and ethics; 2) emotions and embodiment; 3) gendered, socio-ecological and intersectional perspectives; 4) critical perspectives on integration and intercultural communication; and 5) fandom and media representations of forced migrants in elite sport. Often contributing to several of these themes at once, the papers in this special issue critically analyse and interrogate the implications of existing approaches, practices, and research around sport and forced migration. They do so by engaging with complex, yet necessary, dialogues and perspectives that cross disciplinary boundaries, and by not shying away from conceptual and ethical tensions that interrogate concepts, methodologies, policies and forms of representation regarding forced migrants' experiences and contributions to global sporting cultures. While not (cl)aiming to exhaustively address the wide variety of issues and contexts that are relevant to the relationship between sport and forced migration, the papers in this special issue provide key contributions to advance critical scholarly analyses and inform applied interventions on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between the defence spending of European NATO members and their exposure to asylum seekers. While research shows that threat perceptions and domestic politics partly determine the defence spending of a state, the effect of migration has so far not been studied. This is remarkable because migration is increasingly framed as a security threat, also by NATO and European Union member states. Using a panel analysis, this paper explores the relationship between the defence spending of 23 European NATO members and the number of asylum seekers they register each year between 2000 and 2020. Results show a positive and significant relationship between the number of asylum seekers registered in a country and its overall military expenditure relative to GDP, equipment spending, and infrastructure spending. These findings shed new light on the origins of defence spending in collective security alliances, at a time when transatlantic burden sharing is at the centre of societal and academic debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Root shock is a predictable consequence of several sets of social policies in Ireland. This paper will look at how root shock is used to discipline one-parent families and people seeking asylum in Ireland. Changes to benefits and housing systems since the global economic crisis of 2008 has seen one-parent families suffer the most intense root shock through deprivation and homelessness. People seeking asylum have already suffered the most awful root shock while experiencing racism and suspicion from the Irish state, limiting their integration and overall safety. While the Irish state continues to fail to support either group, divisions deepen. The consequences of root shock have created the space for a politics of hate, which pits people seeking refuge against homeless one-parent families and allowed the far right in Ireland to weaponize the housing crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The encounter between torture victims and the legal system is mostly dismissive. Thus, victims have repeatedly submitted complaints regarding alleged torture to the relevant authorities, but these cases are often rejected. A common reason for rejection is the inconsistency within and between testimonies, which can give the impression that the victim is fabricating the story and then undermines the legal case. This paper reviews the reasons that could explain the disparities in the testimonies of torture survivors. It relates to six facets that, taken together, increase the likelihood of inconsistency: (a) detention and interrogation, (b) flaws in normal memory, (c) psychological processes, (d) physical/medical aspects, (e) sociocultural factors, and (f) interview barriers. Examples are provided for each of these reasons for the discrepancy in testimonies. A discussion of the relevance in the field of psychological injury follows this. The study provides recommendations for legal and medical experts working with torture and other traumatized victims regarding the use of the Istanbul Protocol, collaboration, and education to enhance understanding, clarify inconsistencies in testimonies, and support cases in court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As radical right parties capitalise on the salience of immigration among the Italian public, this paper explores solidarity grassroots football as a unique lens to investigate how people seeking asylum resist the effects of policies and discourses of exclusion, and develop senses of belonging in the microscale of their day-to-day lives. Sport and migration studies researchers have primarily considered policy-based questions (e.g. how can sport facilitate integration?). In shifting the focus from integration to belonging, this ethnographic study engages with the embodied and affective experiences of individuals seeking asylum. Employing the analytical framework for the study of belonging advanced by Yuval-Davis and integrated by Antonsich, four themes are discussed: the agency of people seeking asylum in appropriating football to nurture a positive sense of self; the emergence of the material environment of sporting activities as a space of belonging; the negotiation of belonging within and beyond the team; and the local neighbourhood as possible trait d'union between sport-specific attachments and belonging to the wider community. The article contends that involvement in solidarity grassroots football can provide people seeking asylum with opportunities for belonging that go beyond the momentary, and play a vital role in resisting the liminality imposed by autochthonic politics of belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the summer of 2022. I was tasked with testing the language proficiency of many potential students who were unable to access the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), either due to displacement or other adverse circumstances. The largest cohort was that of Ukrainian students, following the Scottish government's announcement that free education and living support would be available for those qualifying students. The second cohort was less homogenous. It varied in nationality, age, background, circumstances and fell under the broad umbrella of refugees and asylum seekers. The Ukrainian students, on acceptance of academic and language qualifications would directly enter faculty as undergraduates. In contrast, the refugees and asylum seekers would join the last five weeks of a 34-week pre-sessional course and then proceed to a Widening Access Course. Completion of this, and successful settled status would then enable them to enter degree courses. To facilitate the entry process, I use a reading-to-write integrated test based on an academic paper, followed by an interview of 20 - 30 minutes duration for all students who are unable to access IELTS or other recognised commercial language tests. Due to the urgency and sheer number of undergraduates needing to be tested over July/August 2022, I made the decision to use English for General Academic Purposes materials and conducted invigilated reading-to-write tests on Zoom, with individual interviews being conducted over the following days. While this format had been used successfully in the past with displaced PGT/PGR students, it quickly became apparent that it was unsuitable for the second cohort of refugees and asylum seekers. Here I reflect on my role and consider future test design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complex mental health needs of refugee and asylum seeker (RAS) communities, often resulting from past trauma, are not met by overburdened and inadequate service provision. Pre-displacement, in-transit, and post-settlement traumas create a specific set of mental health needs which underfunded mental health services often cannot meet, despite the illusion of access to a range of services. This paper aims to explore how a range of stakeholders responded to inadequate provision at the local level. Interviews and focus groups with regional stakeholders, charities and RAS community groups, which were conducted as part of wider mixed-methods project on international migration in Northern England, revealed several gaps in provision. Findings indicate that charities and community groups are often left to fill the gap and provide signposting and liaison with local authorities. However, these groups are often ill-equipped to provide sufficient support but the absence of commissioned services leaves limited options. We conclude by suggesting that further research is necessary on trauma, RAS communities, and the pathways to mental health support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of the UK's racialized asylum system on mothers and their children. Asylum-seeking mothers in the UK are treated with hostility and suspicion and prohibited from basic socio-economic rights such as employment yet must also raise their children within this hostile environment. In this paper, based on a Thematic Narrative Analysis of interviews with refugee and asylum-seeking mothers in Wales, we argue that legalized hostility and exclusion are systemic coercive control. Using theories of social reproduction and coercive control, we explore the emotional and psychological impact of coercion on four women and show how this systemic coercive control leads to both the fracturing of families and the fracturing of motherhood. Through the analysis of asylum-seeking mothers' experiences, we show that the coercion exerted on the women has direct and indirect impacts on their children through deprivation, isolation and fractured relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marked increase in the flow of asylum seekers and refugees to nations with white majority cultures is perceived as a crisis that needs to be well managed. The arrival of these ethnic-minority newcomers from countries in Africa, the Middle East, South/Central America and Asia contribute to national security concerns, border protection measures, restrictive immigration policies, everyday anxieties and racism. Australia, however, 'manages' the 'surge' of these newcomers through institutional practices that recognise their precarity but are oppressive in regulating their freedom to move. This paper engages with the special issue theme of temporariness by centring urban life that shows precarity but also offers brief moments of freedom for refugees and asylum seekers. It focuses on Darwin, a small tropical north Australian city known for its polyethnic history, open-air multicultural markets but also carceral landscapes dotted with prisons, high security detention centres 'lodges' and 'apartments'. The paper draws attention to two weekly activities in public spaces of suburban Darwin that provide brief moments of freedom enabling asylum seekers and refugees to move in the city even though they feel shackled by government laws and policies – 'Football without Borders' popular among young men; and 'My Sisters' Kitchen', a collective that welcomes women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several recent studies have examined experiences of waiting and spatial and temporal immobility among refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants. This paper investigates recent migrants' experiences of waiting and (spatial and temporal) immobility in the context of COVID-19 lockdowns, and against the background of pandemic isolation and boredom. It asks how public health measures affected 'recently' arrived migrants' and how these migrants experienced waiting and immobility differently before and during the pandemic. We argue that differences in recent migrants' status and housing situations shape how they experience immobility during and beyond the pandemic. This paper contributes to research on immobility in migration by highlighting the importance of diverse emotional geographies of loneliness and frustration; it concludes that immobility is situated along an isolation-to-agitation continuum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]