The Spatial Language of Migration

Burcu Ateş As probably for almost anyone communicating in a context ‘foreign’ to their native language, writing in a second language has always been challenging for me. Given that I am unfortunately unable to know my mother tongue Kirmanckî, which is itself a refugee language forcefully replaced by the governmentally approved one, contributing to a

The Estranged Song

Dipsita Dhar Migration discourses have mostly revolved around economics or, more recently, legality. However, questions around non-economic opportunity cost are not discussed enough. In South Asia’s developing countries, internal and international migration have been shaped by the economic mobility of the working class.  Kerala and Bihar, the two Indian states discussed in this piece, are

Expatriate

Corrie Macleod What do you see when you read the word ‘expatriate’?  A well-dressed, young multilingual European man with a tertiary education and lofty career ambitions? What about ‘migrant’?  A desperate father crossing the English Channel in damp, muddied clothes crawling to shore looking for his missing daughter?  Why do these two images inspire different

Refuweegees and New Scots

Boel McAteer In Scotland, local government and civil society have invented new words for people who have migrated to the country. The term ‘refuweegee’ was coined by a Glasgow-based charity with the same name, founded in 2015. Refuweegee is a combination of ‘refugee’ and the Scottish slang word ‘Weegie’ that means someone from Glasgow, creating

Remittances

Daniella Espacio The first thing that commonly comes to mind when one hears the word ‘remittance’ is money. Remittances are a significant part of a migrant’s migration cycle or ‘journey’. In fact, many families and individuals rely on remittances to overcome their financial insecurities back in their country of origin. Among the structural issues that cause

‘Safe Migration’

Sylvia Koh According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Indonesia is host to over 13,000 registered forced migrants. Intensified border policing at sea as well as the unlikelihood of formal resettlement have meant that most forced migrants are stuck in this ‘country of transit’ indefinitely, with little means of controlling their life trajectories.  Yet reports

Terms of Migration

Lucia Chiurco In recent years, the topic of international mobility has received a high level of mediatisation, whilst levels of hostility, discrimination, racial harassment and hate speech towards people with a migrant background are growing alarmingly in many countries. The words used in the media matter in the migration debate because language both shapes and

Integration and Methodological Nationalism

Ioana Pisaltu Despite its conceptual vagueness, integration is a central topic in discussions about culture, politics, and migration throughout the European Union. Questions about who does and does not ‘belong’ to a nation have come to the forefront of many political and public debates. Two phenomena might have played an important role in this development:

Refugees as Guests

Ghofran Hilal Jordan has long been one of the main host countries for refugees in the Middle East. It is a land of a unique condensation of forced migratory movements; nowhere else has experienced such a high density of mobility in a small space. Most forced migrants have been forced to seek refuge in Jordan

Hybrid Hosts

Caroline Lenette We often speak of ‘host communities’ when discussing displacement and migration in research, policy and practice. The term usually refers to citizens or established communities in countries and neighbourhoods who host new arrivals, including refugee-background individuals and families. The word ‘host’ implies welcome, hospitality and support. But who exactly are the hosts assisting newcomers in