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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 explores the idea of publicness, the process of becoming public, as a means of redressing the ambivalent position occupied by those going through the asylum system in relationship to the normative Habermasian public sphere. Through asylum claims and bids for citizenship people going through the asylum system seek entry to normative polities, yet are legally and culturally excluded from them. The paper in particular considers alternative creative communication practices employed by cultural and community institutions that seek to subvert this exclusion. I argue that we need a more flexible conception of how communication occurs in and around such publics to critically accommodate these tensions. The study draws on participant observation in community centres offering creative mediation activities in North East England and South Wales in 2019-2020. [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]

Background: In 2022 the total world migrant population was 281 million (an increase of approximately 62% compared to year 2000), of whom 169 million were migrant workers. The number of refugees, asylum seekers and others in need of international protection increased by 22% compared to 2021. Research has shown that the forcibly displaced have high rates of mental disorders (including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety), with an estimated prevalence almost 6 to 7 times higher than the general population. Given the increase of the overall migration phenomenon and the challenge raised by the cultural features concerning mental health, we consider that this is an area that requires close attention to ensure that culturally sensitive health services be available to the migrant and displaced population. Aims: The aim of this narrative review is to provide a background to the issue and take stock of what is currently available in the literature regarding culture-bound illnesses and the relevant diagnostic tools. Methods: A comprehensive search was performed in PubMed, Psychinfo, Embase, Google Scholar, organized in stages to assure inclusion of all the relevant studies. Of the 703 papers initially identified, only 30 papers finally satisfied the inclusion criteria. Results: Eleven diagnostic scales were found, only two of which are being used for displaced people. Conclusions: Further work is required in this field, including a debate as to whether scales are indeed an appropriate tool for use with this population. [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]

Since 2015 and the peaking of the EU's refugee crisis, the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) has been seriously challenged. In this crisis, the role of the EU's highest judicial authority, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), has been crucial. In this descriptive-analytical paper, the cases referred to the CJEU on refugee crisis after 2015 have been analyzed, to answer the question: from the perspective of CJEU practice, to what extent the CEAS has succeeded in managing the EU's refugee crisis? The CJEU’s case law has shown a sort of dichotomy that sometimes leans towards fundamental rights and sometimes in favor of the CEAS. Along with the gradual evolution of the court’s judgments related to the interpretation of the CEAS, the dichotomy is being resolved in favor of fundamental rights, which indicates the need for substantial reform of the CEAS. Due to the need of reforming and updating the Foreign Nationals law of Iran, in light of the CEAS’s trial and error, this paper provides a suitable basis for formulating a set of efficient laws for this purpose. [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]

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]

This paper delves into the life stories of three unaccompanied asylum seeking youth residing at a state care shelter in Istanbul in 2015 and 2016. Through its intervention, the research follows an engaged anthropological approach to reveal the hidden aspects of the youth's emotional and intellectual worlds. The in-depth life stories shared here illuminate Homi Bhabha's Third Space Theory (1994) and are amplified by a methodological approach we call affective multimodalities. As we seek to understand the various ways the youths navigate survival and learning to be freed from institutional categories, we explore a few concepts of Third Space Theory: extraterrestrial territories, paradoxical worlds, afterliferebirth, and a displaced angle of vision. Through the practice of a collaborative radio show and photography elicitations, the youth were asked to share their dreams as they were encouraged to realize their potentials. During this co-creative approach, one of the youth even became a co-author of this paper. The ethnographic insights produced through this approach allows us to explore the third space theory with a poetical reflection through words and images. [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]

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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]

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]

Purpose: Immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees living in Europe face a number of challenges in accessing or using health information and healthcare services available in their host countries. To resolve these issues and deliver the necessary services, providers must take a comprehensive approach to better understand the types of health information and healthcare services that these individuals need, seek and use. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop that comprehensive approach. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed publications was performed, with 3.013 articles collected from various databases. A total of 57 qualifying papers on studies conducted in Europe were included in the review after applying the predefined inclusion and exclusion requirements, screening processes and eliminating duplicates. The information seeking and communication model (ISCM) was used in the analysis. Findings: The findings revealed that while many health information and healthcare services are accessible in Europe for immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees, many of these individuals are unaware of their existence or how to access them. While our findings do not specify what health-related information these groups need, use or seek, they do suggest the importance and value of providing mental health, sexual health and HIV, as well as pregnancy and childbirth information and services. Furthermore, according to our results, health information services should be fact-based, easy to understand and raise awareness about healthcare structure and services available in Europe for this vulnerable population. Practical implications: This study has a range of practical implications, including (1) highlighting the need for mental health and behavioural health services and (2) stressing the value of addressing cultural context and religious values while investigating (health) information seeking of people with foreign background. Originality/value: This is one of the first studies to systematically review and examine the behaviour of immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees in relation to health information and healthcare services in the European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2015 crisis of refugee policies saw an upgrade in the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) as service providers for the migrant population in Greece. CSOs attempted to substitute for the government's failure to provide a migration policy designed for the social integration of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers (MRAs). As a result, they have been overseeing a majority of services related to the integration of MRAs in the labour market. This paper aims to enrich the underdeveloped so far discussion on the role of CSOs in the integration of refugees and asylum seekers (RAs) into the Greek labour market. This will be attempted by adopting a qualitative approach. The paper is based on 34 interviews done in 2019, involving refugees, asylum seekers and representatives of third-sector organizations, namely non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and grassroots solidarity initiatives (GSIs) provide various activities that seek to improve the employability of refugees and asylum seekers and help them navigate the employment policies. The article concludes that the lack of a follow-up to the various actions, the fragmented funding schemes and the absence of a clear integration policy from public actors and support from the public administration lie behind the relatively limited role played by CSOs for refugees and asylum seekers in labour market integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flows of refugees have ignited the European political debate, thereby boosting nationalistic forces in almost all countries. The aim of this paper is to counterbalance a widespread view about their overall impact and show that the number of asylum seekers did not represent a 'refugee crises'. It argues, however, that the current European Union institutions and procedures are highly insufficient to successfully manage refugee inflows and asylum requests. It is often forgotten that large number of refugees are created from conflicts initiated or not prevented by EU members themselves. Once the problem comes into existence, as the procedures based on the Dublin Convention are widely recognised as inadequate, the paper provides a few suggestions for implementing radical changes to manage refugees and asylum seekers in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use semi-structured interviews with 35 asylum-seeking women to elicit a narrative of their forced migration journey which included a stop in Turkey, a perilous sea crossing facilitated by smugglers and a stay in a European Union borderland, Greece. We explore their experiences with a focus on the adversities they faced, especially gender-based violence, woven in the broader violence of mobility under restrictive border and asylum regimes. Their interaction with the environment reveals a range of responses of conformity with, and resistance to, unequal social relations and discriminatory cultural practices. We conceptualize these responses as resilience, a process in the making, shaped by practices - thoughts, emotions and embodied acts - rather than an achieved state. We understand resilience as a process built through the use of personal but also communal resources, according to the social ecology model. In this paper, we focus on the individual resilient responses, the "resilient moves" of women in the refugee context of the Eastern Mediterranean. At the same time, the women's identifying and naming of the hardships they face point to the social structures that these hardships are rooted in, thus requiring interventions in social policies and institutional practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African asylum system has gone through a dynamic change over the last twenty years and NGOs have been a permanent feature of the system starting from the crafting of the Refugees Act. Over the last decade, the flow of asylum seekers has slowed, but the country still hosts a significant number of African and Asian asylum seekers and refugees. As a result of the many factors, asylum seekers and refugees face a multitude of challenges. Some of the challenges include inefficient public service, a corrupt system, xenophobia, and other challenges. NGOs have championed the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. This paper looks at the work that has been done by NGOs working in the protection of the rights of asylum seekers and refugees from 2005 to 2017, utilizing the case study of the 40 Ethiopian and 37 Democratic Republic of the Congo nationals residing in Johannesburg and Durban through interviews. The researcher collected additional primary data from selected NGOs and analyzed both data sets through descriptive statistics. The findings indicate that NGOs have their areas of speciality, and their roles has changed over the course of the 12 years from being cooperative with state actors to mostly a combative role to ensure and protect the rights of asylum seekers and refugees. Their effectiveness has also been impacted as a result, and litigation has not always been effective. Asylum seekers and refugees find NGOs effective to a certain extent, but a significant number of them are not aware of NGOs or the work they do. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article's purpose is to analyse the political work of binaries used in both domestic and global migration governance responses with a particular focus on Zimbabwean "survival migration" at the Zimbabwe–South Africa border. This article finds that there is peculiar complementarity between South Africa's domestic migration governance framework and global migration governance frameworks aimed at a migration management approach. This article argues that this nice fit normalises the ostensibly clear distinction between migrants and refugees to deny protection to deserving asylum-seekers, which is productive in serving the political interests of the South African government. Without access to the appropriate papers and encountering a border refugee reception office that has developed de facto gatekeeping measures to prevent them from seeking asylum, as well as a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees field office that perceives them as economic migrants, many Zimbabweans living in South Africa occupy a liminal area of categorisation and protection. Hence, the possibilities of the global migration governance providing legitimacy to exclusionary practices at the national level in South Africa are immense. This points to the need for serious engagement with "survival migration" as a category of mobility in analysis, policy, law as well as practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many migrant groups, particularly those that are politically and economically marginalised, such as asylum seekers and refugees (ASRs), face inequities in access to health care as well as poorer physical and mental health outcomes. The role of post-arrival experiences in contributing to these inequities is increasingly being explored, and it is suggested that being a migrant is itself a determinant of health outcomes. Drawing on the theoretical concept of structural vulnerability, this paper explores ASRs' experiences of health, wellbeing, and health practices in the context of their lived realities in Scotland. 24 semi-structured interviews were conducted with ASRs from Sub-Saharan Africa between January and December 2015. Data were explored using thematic analysis. Experience of the UK asylum system, both alone and in conjunction with other sources of vulnerability including racism, poverty, and language barriers had a negative and ongoing impact on the physical and mental health of ASRs. These impacts continued, even once refugee status was obtained. Efforts to engage ASRs in preventive health programmes and practices must take into account the ways in which the asylum system acts as a determinant of health, affecting both what it means to be healthy and what capacity individuals have to engage with their health. Political choices in how the asylum process is enacted have far-reaching implications for individual and population health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asylum-seeking women's liminal citizenship in home countries is a contributing factor to their irregular migration. In this paper, we examine how conditions of gendered citizenship, specifically family violence, exert additional pressures on women to undertake irregular journeys. In examining the narratives of refugee and asylum-seeking women from Iran and Afghanistan, women spoke of multiple instances of family violence in home countries, in addition to the more traditionally understood factors of insecurity associated with irregular migration, such as conflict, torture and war. Using the concept of lived citizenship to examine women's experiences, we contribute to the nexus of knowledge on global mobility, gender and family violence. These findings are important to ensure women who seek asylum have supports and services tailored to them that address these issues within the broader family violence schema in affluent host nations, including within the Australian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on asylum court hearing observations and oral history interviews with asylum seekers and governmental personnel to examine the impact of nonverbal communication and displays of emotion in asylum interviews and hearings in the United States. The narrators describe why nonverbal communication plays such a central role in the asylum process and, building on theoretical foundations from communication studies, the paper offers an in-depth illustration of the ways eye contact and movement in particular influence the interpretations of asylum seekers' claims for protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What effect does the influx of asylum seekers have on the electoral support of the far right? This paper answers this question by examining changes in support for far right parties in response to the British government's relocation of asylum seekers across the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2015. Relying primarily on a difference-in-differences (DD) empirical strategy, our main finding is that an increase in the number of asylum seekers dispersed to a local authority is associated with an increase in the vote share of parties of the far right. Further tests indicate that the effect is due both to the far right contesting more seats in those localities receiving asylum seekers and to higher levels of support it receives in those areas where it is present. We find the effect is non-linear, that it is mitigated by higher recipient area ethnic diversity, and that it is limited to the most extreme right-wing parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically interrogates the 'integrative potential' of football by drawing on ethnographic fieldwork that includes 84 semi-structured interviews with refugees, asylum seekers and local community organizations, and five interviews with representatives of national football associations across Southeast Europe, a region that has hitherto been under-examined in this field of research. The results show the uneasy and strained relationship between football and integration, characterized by incongruity between micro-level practices and experiences of solidarity and inclusion, and State-sponsored marginality and deterrence taking place in Southeast Europe. We provide empirical evidence for social connections, facilitators (i.e. language and communication, safety and stability), and rights as relevant, meaningful and challenging domains of integration in the context of football. We conclude that foundational rights, and hence dehumanizing policies and discourses, need to be addressed if the proclaimed 'integrative potential' of football is to be realized beyond social connections and sporadic examples of access to decent work through football. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complementing the well-established evidence base on health inequalities experienced by migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in the UK; we examined the extent to which their right to equal non-discriminatory access to health services (promotive, preventive, curative) was upheld during the COVID-19 pandemic. Arksey and O′Malley's scoping review framework. A comprehensive search was conducted on Medline, PubMed, and CINAHL using detailed MESH terms, for literature published between 01 January 2020 and 01 January 2024. The process was supported by a ten-page Google search and hand searching of reference lists. 42 records meeting the inclusion criteria were charted, coded inductively and analysed thematically in an integrated team-based approach. Dissonance between immigration regulation and health governance is illustrated in four themes: Health systems leveraged to (re)enforce the hostile environment; Dissonance between health rights on paper and in practice; Structural failures to overcome communication and digital exclusion; and COVID-19 vaccine (in)equity exacerbated fear, mistrust and exclusion. Migrants, refugees and asylum seekers encountered substantial individual, structural and policy-level barriers to accessing healthcare in the UK during COVID-19. Insecure immigration status, institutional mistrust, data-sharing and charging fears, communication challenges and digital exclusion impacted heavily on their ability to access healthcare in an equitable non-discriminatory manner. An inclusive and innovative health equity and rights-based responses reaching all migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are warranted if the National Health Service is to live up to its promise of ' leaving no one behind' in post-pandemic and future responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the multi-layered barriers asylum seekers face in accessing secure and adequate housing in a host society through the case of Catalonia (Spain). While the existing literature mainly focuses on the effects of micro-level factors, we argue that these need to be analysed in combination with meso-level actors and macro-structural phenomena. Drawing on an exploratory survey of 300 international protection applicants and 60 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and asylum seekers, we analyse their exposure to different dimensions of housing precariousness. Our research finds that, although certain individual characteristics such as age, sex and origin remain relevant in explaining housing pathways, these factors are strongly mediated by the role of NGOs and support networks, and by the structural features of the asylum system and housing market. We conclude that the complex interactions of these factors result in deeply unstable and fragmented housing trajectories that contribute to high levels of disorientation, precariousness, and exclusion among those seeking accommodation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the tactical changes made by the asylum seeker community in Hong Kong in negotiating local refugee assistance policies and practices. The analysis presented in this paper is grounded in my ethnographic fieldwork with an asylum seeker-led organization and supplemented by archival study and informal interviews. In recent years, the asylum seeker community has adopted a pragmatic approach to advocacy, increasingly asking the local community for support in providing humanitarian aid rather than calling for changes to the assistance system, a tactic that this group used in the past. I argue that these tactical changes cannot be separated from the social and political contexts of Hong Kong. The presence of stimulating events, particularly those involving local and global refugee and migrant communities, the space available for voicing dissent, and the level of institutional responsiveness, all affect how the asylum seeker community in Hong Kong participates in policy discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2015 the need for evidence-based guidance in primary health care management of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants has dramatically increased. The aims of this study were to identify the challenges met by primary care physicians in Switzerland, by performing semi-structured interviews and to identify possible approaches and interventions. Between January 2019 and January 2020, 20 GPs in 3 Swiss cantons were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed, coded with MAXQDA 18, and analyzed using the framework methodology. Following relevant findings were highlighted; (i) problems relating to health insurance companies among (health-insured) asylum seekers and refugees were negligible; (ii) there is a high acceptance for vaccination by refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants; (iii) limitations in time for consultations and adequate reimbursement for practitioners pose a serious challenge; (iv) the majority of consultations are complaint-oriented, preventive consultations are rare; and (v) the language barrier is a major challenge for psychosocial consultations, whereas this appears less relevant for somatic complaints. The following issues were identified as high priority needs by the study participants; (i) increased networking between GPs, that is, establishing bridging services with asylum centers, (ii) improved training opportunities for GPs in Migration Medicine with regular updates of current guidelines, and (iii) a standardisation of health documentation facilitating exchange of medical data, that is, digital/paper-based "health booklet" or "health pass." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to identify health-care entitlements that exist for asylum seekers with chronic non-communicable disease (CNCD) that promote their health and self-care, and to explore health policies, initiatives and programmes with the potential to foster self-care in this populace. Design/methodology/approach: Narrative review of literature conducted by searching EMBASE, CINAHL, WEB OF SCIENCE and PSYCINFO databases for articles published from 2010 to 2021. Included articles focussed on policies, programmes or initiatives with the potential to promote health in adult asylum seekers residing in high-income countries. Studies inclusive of other migrant groups such as undocumented migrants and those with mental health conditions were excluded. Eleven studies fitting the inclusion criteria were assessed against the study objectives. Findings: Free access to health-care services and pharmaceutical products, free access to food banks and supermarket model food banks, English and cooking lessons, community integration training sessions and culturally competent health-care workers were found to promote health and self-care. There is little research on self-care and health promotion in adult asylum seekers with CNCD. CNCDs represent high burden of disease in asylum seekers but have a low priority in reported research. Originality/value: This narrative review is the first to explicitly focus on asylum seekers in high-income countries with CNCD, excluding mental health conditions, and to explore initiatives, programmes and policies that enhance health promotion to facilitate self-care in this populace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]