Here is a new working paper that provides an overview of Assisted Voluntary Return from Europe. Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) is a central component of European Union (EU) member states migration management policies and has grown in popularity over the past two decades. At present, all EU member states have active AVR programmes, however, despite the growing prevalence of these programmes there has been a dearth of research and evaluation on AVR. In addition, a common goal of these AVR … [Read more...]
The Broker Living Analysis- Lack of shared responsibility turns Turkey into gateway instead of safe stay
The Broker is a think net on globalization and development that synthesized and analyzes knowledge and information. They have just conducted a living analysis of the current migration crises in Europe, for which I have contributed a piece on Turkey below. As both the largest host of refugees worldwide and a transit country for refugees travelling to Europe, Turkey is one of the main players in the current refugee crisis. Despite several government services to refugees, … [Read more...]
Global Forum on Migration and Development
As a member of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) International Steering Committee organizing the Civil Society Days at the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), I have thoroughly enjoyed the last three days at the GFMD. Hosted by Istanbul, a city in the midst of the current migration crisis, and with Turkey now being the largest host country for refugees in the world. The days were rich in discussion and debate with several excellent speakers and the Syrian … [Read more...]
Is this the end of Asylum in Europe?
In early September 2015, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade & Development Cooperation together with the State Secretary for Security & Justice sent a letter to their House of Representatives about the European asylum system. The letter proposes a new policy based around three central points: 1) That asylum seekers should be processed by UNHCR within their region; 2) That asylum seekers who reach the Netherlands can be sent back to a ‘region of safety’; 3) That some refugees … [Read more...]
Understanding the current refugee/migrant crisis in Europe UNU-Merit Panel Discussion
At UNU-Merit/ MGSoG the PhD-Committee organized and hosted a panel discussion on the current refugee crises. The panel was moderated by Zina Nimeh, Assistant Professor and included myself and three other panelists: Melissa Siegel, Associate Professor; Maurice Boon, Dutch Refugee Council; and Mohamed Nour Khatib, Not Just a Number. Mohamed is a Syrian refugee in the Netherlands who started the organization Not Just a Number to bring a human face to Syrian refugees and remind us all that each … [Read more...]