New Journal Articles on Refugee Issues (weekly)

• Demographic Data on International Migration Levels, Trends and Characteristics – 2011 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library

  tags: newjournalarticles

• Success on European Labor Markets: A Cross-national Comparison of Attainment between Immigrant and Majority Populations1 – Pichler – 2011 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library

  “Typical labor market outcomes vary considerably between majority and migrant populations. Drawing on scholarship from across the social sciences, we assess competing micro- and macro-level explanations of differential occupational attainment among immigrant groups across 28 countries. The analyses of occupational attainment are run separately for first- and second-generation migrants as well as children of mixed marriage and take into account their wider social and cultural background. Results from four rounds of the European Social Survey show that people with a migration background do not necessarily achieve a lower labor market success than the majority. However, human capital, social mobility, and cultural background explain these outcomes to different degrees, suggesting tailored pathways to labor market success for each group of migrants. We also find that occupational attainment varies considerably across countries, although this is hardly attributable to immigration policies. These and other findings are discussed in the light of previous studies on immigrant incorporation.”

  tags: newjournalarticles

• The Settlement Country and Ethnic Identification of Children of Turkish Immigrants in Germany, France, and the Netherlands: What Role Do National Integration Policies Play? – Ersanilli – 2011 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library

  “Germany, France, and the Netherlands have pursued different types of integration policies. Using data from a mixed method study, this paper investigates whether and how these differences have affected the settlement country and ethnic identification of the children of Turkish immigrants. The results indicate that integration policies do not affect ethnic identification, but an inclusive policy has a positive impact on settlement country identification. Multicultural policies do not seem to have any effect. Despite processes of exclusion and self-exclusion in all three countries, our respondents have developed a strong connection to their settlement country and in particular to their place of residence.”

  tags: n newjournalarticles

• Generation and Earnings Patterns Among Chinese, Filipino, and Korean Americans in New York – Oh – 2011 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library

  “By treating the 1.5 generation as a distinctive analytic category, this paper compares the effects of generational status on earnings among men of Chinese, Filipinos, and Korean descents in the New York metropolitan area. Our analyses of the 5 percent Public Use Microdata Sample data of the 2000 U.S. census show that all other background characteristics held equal, 1.5-generation Chinese and Filipino American workers make significantly higher earnings than second-generation workers. However, Korean American workers do not exhibit this 1.5-generation advantage. These findings support a segmented assimilation theory, the view that immigrant assimilation paths are not uniform across ethnic groups or generation status. Other findings suggest that bilingual ability would increase earnings only for the Chinese group.”

  tags: newjournalarticles

• The Impact of Migrant Remittances on School Attendance and Education Attainment: Evidence from Jordan – Mansour – 2011 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library

  This paper evaluates the impact of migrant remittances on human capital accumulation among youth. An augmented human capital model with two outcomes, education attendance and education attainment, is estimated using a large nationally representative household survey from Jordan. Empirical results show that migrant remittance receipt has a positive effect on education attendance. This finding is obtained while controlling for other socio-economic determinants of schooling behavior and is robust to censorship and endogeneity bias. The results also indicate that the magnitude of the remittance impact on both education outcomes is larger for men compared with that of women.

  tags: newjournalarticles

• Intercountry Adoption Flows from Africa to the U.S.: A Fifth Wave of Intercountry Adoptions? – Davis – 2011 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library

  “This article addresses whether there is the beginning of a fifth wave of intercountry adoptions (ICAs) from Africa to the United States (U.S.). ICAs function as a “quiet migration” of children [Weil (1984)International Migration Review 18(2):276–293; Lovelock (2000)International Migration Review 34 (3):907–949; Selman (2002)Population Research and Policy Review 21:205–225]. U.S. Department of Justice Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) data from 1971 to 2009 indicate that there were 421,085 ICAs to the U.S. Tarmann (2003:2, http://www.prb.org/Articles/2003/InternationalAdoptionRateinUSDoubledinthe1990s.aspx?p=1) reported that in 2000, U.S. parents completed one ICA for every 200 births. In the past, top sending countries have followed flows from Europe, South America, and Asia. INS data are used to analyze the increase in the intercountry adoptees from Africa from 1996 to 2009. Similar Hague Convention data are used for the comparison of the number of ICAs from Africa to other top recipient nations. Demographic and economic data are used to support the suggestion that ICAs, similar to other migratory flows, are from developing to developed countries.”

  tags: newjournalarticles

• The Politics of Home: Dual Citizenship and the African Diaspora1 – Whitaker – 2011 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library

  In recent decades, more countries have started to recognize dual citizenship. Although overlooked in the literature, Africa is part of this trend with more than half of its governments now permitting their nationals to naturalize elsewhere while retaining home country rights. Why have some African countries embraced dual citizenship for emigrants, while others have not? We examine demographic, political, and economic data broadly across the continent and identify few clear patterns. We then explore the cases of Senegal, Ghana, and Kenya, finding that dual citizenship policies are driven as much by politics as they are by economic or security concerns.

  tags: newjournalarticles

• U.S. Data Sources on the Foreign Born and Immigration – Grieco – 2011 – International Migration Review – Wiley Online Library

  Migration data can be divided into two broad types: “stock” or census and survey data and “flow” or administrative data. Both stock and flow data are valuable resources for analyzing the migration process. In the statistical system of the United States, the U.S. Census Bureau is the primary source for census and survey data on the foreign born. The Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. State Department provide several different administrative sources for studying immigration. The goal of this study is to review the best sources of government data available for analyzing (1) the size, distribution, and characteristics of the foreign-born population and their households and (2) the level of immigration into the United States, and the distribution and characteristics of immigrants by status.

  tags: newjournalarticles

• Educational concerns of Arabic speaking migrants from Sudan and Iraq to Melbourne: Expectations on migrant parents in Australia « « BroCAPBroCAP

  Families immigrating to Australia face many challenges integrating into the educational system, including language barriers and interrupted schooling. We have qualitatively evaluated the educational concerns of Arabic migrants from Sudan and Iraq to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, a city that receives a high percentage of Australia’s immigrants. Using an interactive paradigm incorporating focus group discussions for thematic analysis, we concluded that the parents’ frame of reference for education was a more didactic style of learning. Parents viewed education as an essential part of the way forward for their children in Australia. However, it was stressful for them to try to cope with a new host nation’s expectation of their involvement in their children’s education while at the same time dealing with a language barrier. Professionals should look to empower parents with structural information about the key elements of the educational curriculum with minimal reliance on written technical language and match their expectations of parental involvement to the situation of the parents.

  SOURCE: W.J. Sainsbury, A.M.N. Renzaho, Educational concerns of Arabic speaking migrants from Sudan and Iraq to Melbourne: Expectations on migrant parents in Australia, International Journal of Educational Research (2011), doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2011.10.001

  tags: newjournalarticles

• Kinship construction variability among Nigerian international migrants: The context of contemporary Diaspora

  Understanding the selves, situations and actions of Africans can never be comprehended outside kinship. Local and foreign worldviews are first pigeonholed into culture and defined within kinship realities in Nigeria and Africa. There have been studies on kinship in Africa. However, the findings from such studies portrayed the immutability of African kinship. Thus, as an important contribution to the on-going engagement of kinship in the twenty-first century as an interface between the contemporary Diaspora, this article engaged kinship within international migration. This is a major behavioural and socio-economic force in Nigeria. Methodological triangulation was adopted as part of the research design and primary data were collected through in-depth interviews (IDIs), and life histories of international migrants were documented and focus group discussions (FGDs) were held with kin of returnees. The article found and concluded that while returnees continued to appreciate local kinship infrastructures, the infrastructures were liable to reconstruction primarily determined by dominant support situations in the traditional African kinship networks.

  tags: newjournalarticles

• Impact of psychological disorders after female genital mutilation among Kurdish girls in Northern Iraq

  ABSTRACT – Background and Objectives: This study investigated the mental health status of young girls after genital mutilation in Northern Iraq. Although experts assume that circumcised girls are more prone to psychiatric illnesses than non-circumcised girls, little research has been conducted to confirm this claim. For the purpose of this study, it was assumed that female genital

  tags: newjournalarticles

• Contemporary Political Theory – Abstract of article: Resolving debates over the status of ethnic identities during transitional justice

  Although democratization is desirable, the reframing of ethnic identity, witnessed for example in the peace campaigns of South Africa and Rwanda, raises two questions: First, there is an empirical question: can ethnic identities actually be modified? Second, there is a normative question: should ‘problematic’ elements of ethnic identities be modified? This article is divided into three sections. In the first section, I demonstrate that each of these questions provokes, and indeed merits, debate. In the second section, I argue that in each case these debates are the result of an incoherent response to the complications of identity politics. Thus to address these debates, I first develop a theory of how to manage the machinations of social and ethnic group identities: the recognition–redistribution–participation theory, inspired by the work of Nancy Fraser, which comprises a two-dimensional conception of justice and accompanying norm of equality of participation opportunity. I then in my final section proceed to show that the debates that develop from efforts to desecuritize ethnic relations can be resolved by applying this theory.

  tags: newjournalarticles

• E.U. Accountability to International Law : The Case of Asylum

  tags: newjournalarticles

• IOS Press Books Online, NATO Science for Peace and Security Series – E: Human and Societal Dynamics Volume 78, 2011

  tags: newjournalarticles

• Subsidiary Protection and the Function of Article 15(c) of the Qualification Directive

  The United States’ system of refugee protection, long a source of national pride and a symbol of United States’ openness to the world’s dispossessed, remains generous in many respects. This system – which encompasses refugees, asylum-seekers, and populations in need of short-term protection – has ambitious goals and diverse responsibilities. It seeks to enable those fleeing persecution to reach protection, while preventing terrorist and criminal infiltration; to identify and admit vulnerable refugees, and to promote their successful integration; to screen out fraudulent political asylum claims, but to ensure that bona fide asylum-seekers can apply for and, if eligible, secure asylum; and to weigh endless requests for temporary protection from groups and individuals. Over the past 20 years, particularly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, security and enforcement concerns have driven United States’ refugee developments and protection policies have not kept pace. The present article details the increased difficulties bona fide refugees and asylum-seekers face in trying to reach and to gain protection in the United States. It also describes the paucity of legal tools available to admit and to provide temporary status in the United States on humanitarian grounds. It argues that the United States’ system of refugee protection needs policy attention and revitalisation.

  tags: newjournalarticles

• The Faltering us Refugee Protection System: Legal and Policy Responses to Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, and Others in Need of Protection

  The United States’ system of refugee protection, long a source of national pride and a symbol of United States’ openness to the world’s dispossessed, remains generous in many respects. This system – which encompasses refugees, asylum-seekers, and populations in need of short-term protection – has ambitious goals and diverse responsibilities. It seeks to enable those fleeing persecution to reach protection, while preventing terrorist and criminal infiltration; to identify and admit vulnerable refugees, and to promote their successful integration; to screen out fraudulent political asylum claims, but to ensure that bona fide asylum-seekers can apply for and, if eligible, secure asylum; and to weigh endless requests for temporary protection from groups and individuals. Over the past 20 years, particularly since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, security and enforcement concerns have driven United States’ refugee developments and protection policies have not kept pace. The present article details the increased difficulties bona fide refugees and asylum-seekers face in trying to reach and to gain protection in the United States. It also describes the paucity of legal tools available to admit and to provide temporary status in the United States on humanitarian grounds. It argues that the United States’ system of refugee protection needs policy attention and revitalisation.

  tags: newjournalarticles

• Struggle for Recognition: Bosnian Refugees’ Employment Experiences in Sweden

  This article presents the personal experiences of refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina related to their employment in Sweden. It is based on 35 interviews conducted in 2009 with asylum claimants and resettled refugees who came to Sweden in the early 1990s, aiming at their own perceptions and subjective assessments of their employment paths. The variety of experiences within each of these two groups suggests that individual employment paths can neither be fully explained by the admission category, nor in terms of the type of education, age, or gender. Although they admit the importance of these factors, the interviewees perceive chance as a decisive issue with regard to their initial access to the labour market, and its strong impact on their further success. They see official channels of professional recognition as far less functional than informal paths leading into the labour market that depend on personal encounters and connections. Against the background of laws and policies, personally experienced employment integration is revealed as a chance-ridden individual process.

  tags: newjournalarticles

  • This article presents the personal experiences of refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina related to their employment in Sweden.  It is based on 35 interviews conducted in 2009 with asylum claimants and resettled refugees who came to Sweden in the early  1990s, aiming at their own perceptions and subjective assessments of their employment paths. The variety of experiences within  each of these two groups suggests that individual employment paths can neither be fully explained by the admission category,  nor in terms of the type of education, age, or gender. Although they admit the importance of these factors, the interviewees  perceive chance as a decisive issue with regard to their initial access to the labour market, and its strong impact on their  further success. They see official channels of professional recognition as far less functional than informal paths leading  into the labour market that depend on personal encounters and connections. Against the background of laws and policies, personally  experienced employment integration is revealed as a chance-ridden individual process.

• Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, Online First™ – SpringerLink

  The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of macro-level factors on immigrant and non-immigrant women’s mental health status in a Canadian context. This study was part of a larger study examining women’s quality of life in south eastern Ontario. Using survey research methods, data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 91 women of whom 66 identified their country of origin as “other” than Canada. Descriptive, bivariate and regression analysis of this data revealed that immigrant and non-immigrant women’s macro-level predictors of mental health status vary. Overall, for immigrant women’s perceptions of neighbourhood social cohesion was a stronger predictor influencing mental health status, while for non-immigrant women social support was more influential. Research with larger, representative samples should explore the findings to ascertain generalizability.

  tags: newjournalarticles

  • The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of macro-level factors on immigrant and non-immigrant women’s mental  health status in a Canadian context. This study was part of a larger study examining women’s quality of life in south eastern  Ontario. Using survey research methods, data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 91 women of whom 66 identified  their country of origin as “other” than Canada. Descriptive, bivariate and regression analysis of this data revealed that  immigrant and non-immigrant women’s macro-level predictors of mental health status vary. Overall, for immigrant women’s perceptions  of neighbourhood social cohesion was a stronger predictor influencing mental health status, while for non-immigrant women  social support was more influential. Research with larger, representative samples should explore the findings to ascertain  generalizability.

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