Eritreans on a bus on the road between Keren and Agordat in Eritrea. Eye Ubiquitous/UIG via Getty Images FOR YEARS, ERITREANS fleeing their homeland have known that, even if they make it to Libya, they will be kidnapped and ransomed. The extortion is systematic. Since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi, the southeast of Libya has been under the partial control of the Tubu tribe, which has established a successful cross-border trade in goods, drugs and people. Kidnappers in this region are … [Read more...]
Archives for 2018
A Spurious Relationship? Assisted voluntary return and development- Book chapter in The Routledge Handbook of the Politics of Migration in Europe
The Routledge Hanbook of the Politics of Migration in Europe, edited by Agnieska Weinar, Saskia Bonjour and Lyubov Zhynomirska, is now out! In this handbook, I have contributed a chapter examining the relationship between Assisted Voluntary Return and Development. I argue that the relationship between AVR and development can be explored in different ways: 1) AVR being counted as official Overseas Development Assistance (ODA); 2) the funding of AVR by country or EU development funds; 3) evidence … [Read more...]
IMISCOE 2018: Europe, Migrations and the Mediterranean: Human Mobilities and Intercultural Challenges
I had the pleasure to present in two sessions at this years annual IMISCOE conference in Barcelona, which welcomed over 650 participants. First, in a semi-plenary organized by Jorgen Carling on Managing relationships in research on Mediterranean migration with the amazing Aysen Ustubici and Celine Cantat. Thanks so much to Jorgen for organizing this great discussion about the relationships with funders, between academic partners, with governments, and the ethics of doing research with refugees … [Read more...]
Interview for France 24 -RFI : EU divisions impede better planning for migrants and refugees by Mike Woods
Migrants with their belongings stand in line as French police evacuate makeshift camps in Paris, France, 30 May 2018.Reuters/Benoit Tessier European Union members remained divided on Tuesday over how to welcome and share burdens for arriving migrants and refugees in a sign that political divisions will continue to define debates over the issue. While people fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa, Asia and the Middle East are still making the dangerous journey by land and … [Read more...]
World Universities Network Annual Conference: Cultures in Flux
In May I was fortunate to attend the World Universities Network (WUN) annual conference in Perth as a delegate of Maastricht University for the Understanding Culture Global Challenge group. Reposted from the WUN website is an overview of the event, which discusses my presentation on the results of my NWO Rubicon research project on Eritrean and Nigerian migrants journeys to Europe. Cultures in flux: Migration and cultural dynamics in the past and present WUN’s three-day … [Read more...]