Global patterns of communicable disease risk and prevention in migrant populations: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city and a major religious centre, has grown rapidly due to population increase, migration, and tourism. This study presents a comprehensive city profile, examining Mashhad's historical development, urban sprawl, planning policies, and the rise of informal settlements. Urban growth often outpaces planning capacity, leading to fragmented development, inefficient land use, and socio-spatial inequalities. Informal settlements now house a significant portion of the population due to economic pressures, migration, and limited access to affordable housing. Despite successive master plans aiming to manage urban growth and promote compact development, planning responses remain fragmented and largely reactive. This study highlights the challenges of managing urban growth and informal settlements in Mashhad and underscores the need for integrated, proactive planning strategies encompassing housing, infrastructure, and public participation. By examining rapid urbanization under religious, social, and economic pressures, it provides lessons for urban development and planning in other emerging cities worldwide.

Abstract Internal migration patterns are influenced by inherent individual factors and the specific characteristics of the localities. This study analyses how the presence of universities in cities affects the probability of people migrating across departments in Peru for educational and economic reasons. We combined data on universities on the SUNEDU Register at the department level, from 2009 to 2022, with data on individuals from the National Household Survey. To distinguish between educational and economic migration, two samples were used: households comprising members of higher education age and the whole population. Using this data, logistic econometric models were estimated, including and excluding the Lima Metropolitan area. Our findings suggest that the presence of universities induces both educational migration and migration in general. In addition, our results verify the hypothesis that both universities and the economic development of regions drive migration. However, they do not reinforce each other to influence migration.

Based on qualitative data of 34 highly-educated migrant entrepreneurs this paper examines the paradoxical implications of pandemic-induced immobilities in Singapore, interrogating how the same pandemic-related situations – in terms of stringent border restrictions, immigration and workforce policy transformations, or shifting landscapes of population flows – could simultaneously entail both immobility and mobility along different dimensions. The paper contrasts the way newly-arrived (South)East Asian entrepreneurs interpret startup opportunities post-migration as moving towards a positive direction within their lives with the existential immobility that long-term non-Asian entrepreneurs, some of them previous corporate expatriates in Singapore, perceive as stuckedness. Using the notion of existential (im)mobility the paper conceptualizes how spatial, legal, and socio-economic (im)mobility are intertwined and made explicit and reveals the precarious conditions even highly-educated economic migrants face in Asian restrictive migration regimes like Singapore. However, the contrasting cases also foreground the significance of life stage and the time of arrival at different times of geopolitical power constellations and highlight that (im)mobility is never ‘fully achieved’. Rather, existential (im)mobility manifests through subjective interpretations of moving in relation to one’s own and others’ previous experiences and changing expectations over time.

ABSTRACT This exploratory qualitative study examines the lived experiences of Pakistani asylum seekers in Italy, focusing on their motivations for irregular migration, the hardships encountered during transit, and the challenges of settlement after arrival. Drawing on three in-depth case studies, the analysis suggests that decisions to migrate were shaped not only by economic hardship but also by social pressure, status expectations, and strong family obligations. Participants described dangerous journeys marked by exploitation, prolonged uncertainty, and significant psychological distress. Their accounts further indicate that life in Italy remained shaped by language barriers, limited access to education and vocational opportunities, and reliance on co-ethnic networks that supported immediate survival while also constraining broader social integration. Rather than reinforcing a simple distinction between economic migrants and refugees, the findings illustrate how aspiration, desperation, obligation, and insecurity intersect in irregular migration trajectories. The study offers an exploratory contribution to scholarship on migration and border regimes by highlighting how legal uncertainty, everyday exclusion, and transnational family ties shape migrants’ sense of belonging and adaptation. It also points to the need for safer migration pathways, improved access to language and support services, and more humane responses to the psychosocial vulnerabilities of asylum seekers.

In the context of rapid economic development in China, urban development has also been accelerating, leading to a large influx of urban migrants. The problem of regional development imbalance has emerged as a result. Therefore, it is necessary to study the evolution trends and characteristics of rural population changes, because a large portion of these urban migrants come from rural areas. Jiangsu Province, as the most economically developed and powerful province in China, still shows significant differences in rural development and urbanization development in its southern and northern regions. Therefore, the theme of this study is the evolution trends and characteristics of rural population changes in the Jiangsu region. The article reviews some of the existing literature and research in this field and finds that the scale changes of urban and rural migrant populations in China since 2000 have always been the transfer of rural population to urban areas. This trend is currently weakening and is expected to end between 2040 and 2050. At the same time, the development of high-quality rural population still faces various challenges, and the returnees are mainly economic migrants. Currently, research on population change trends is mainly focused on specific regions, but according to the data from Jiangsu Province's statistical yearbook, it can be proved that the population change trends in Jiangsu Province are consistent with the above trend. However, without specific research on specific regions, it is still difficult to make changes to the current situation in that region.

This paper examines the historical trajectory and contemporary transformation of Euroscepticism and populism within the Swedish political landscape. Sweden became a full member of the European Union (EU) in 1995. However, while traditional parties such as the Centre Party, the Liberal Party, and the Christian Democrats continue to advocate for European integration and supranational cooperation, the emergence of populist movements has significantly altered the national discourse. The research highlights a critical shift from traditional, sovereignty-based Euroscepticism to a modern form of populism driven by neoliberal economic shifts, migration challenges, and domestic security concerns. A focal point of this analysis is the rise of the Sweden Democrats (SD), which entered parliament in 2010 and achieved a historic breakthrough in the 2022 general elections. As the second-largest party, the SD now exerts substantial influence over socio-economic and migration policies through the Tidö agreement with the governing coalition. The analysis concludes that Sweden currently faces a dualistic future. First path is characterized by a “soft” Euroscepticism focused on environmental and human rights reforms, and the second path is defined by far-right extremism that challenges the fundamental principles of the EU. The transformative impact of the SD suggests that Swedish populism is no longer a peripheral phenomenon but a central force reshaping both national identity and EU affairs.

ABSTRACT This research examines the kinopolitical dimensions of Kurdish seasonal agricultural labour mobility in South‐eastern Turkey and extends across various agricultural areas. Focusing on rural transformation and climate change. Using Nail's (2015) kinopolitical framework, labour mobility represents a structural circulation within an unstable agrarian regime rather than mere economic migration. For Kurdish workers, this motion functions as an enforced flow, driven by structural shifts that limit agency and reinforce precarious conditions. The study synthesises extensive secondary data sources, reinterpreting existing reporting through a kinopolitical lens to reveal systemic displacement patterns within traditional migration statistics. This approach identifies these workers as mobile subjects within broader struggles, clarifying their socio‐environmental vulnerabilities. In Turkish regions with chronic infrastructural neglect, climatic pressures act as structural multipliers of vulnerability. Movement emerges through the convergence of ecological instability and institutionalised dispossession, making labour circulation a functional necessity for agrarian accumulation. The research emphasises vulnerabilities resulting from the intersection of environmental crises and systemic socio‐political forces, including restrictive labour policies. Focusing on kinopolitical dynamics, this study highlights the ecological and structural factors contributing to the ongoing marginalisation of Kurdish seasonal agricultural workers. Consequently, labour circulation serves as a stabilised circuit for cheap labour supply, driven by the inescapable intersection of environmental crises and structural inequality in Turkey's destabilised agrarian environment.

The article provides a comprehensive and multi-layered analysis of the economic impact exerted by Ukrainian labor migrants and war refugees on the Polish economy, particularly focusing on the dramatic transformation of migration flows following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The study carefully examines the fundamental differences between the pre-war economic migration and the subsequent wartime humanitarian wave, highlighting shifts in demographic structure, employment rates, income levels, and the pervasive issue of occupational mismatch. A significant portion of the research is dedicated to evaluating the direct contribution of Ukrainian citizens to the Polish labor supply, domestic consumer demand, and the stability of public finances.The findings demonstrate that Ukrainian migration has evolved into a vital structural component of the Polish economy and serves as a crucial factor in maintaining macroeconomic stability among pressing demographic challenges and labor shortages. The research confirms a consistently positive or neutral fiscal effect of the migrants’ presence, noting that tax contributions and social security payments by Ukrainians outweigh the social transfers they receive. Furthermore, the study identifies a clear multiplier effect of their economic activity on Poland’s GDP growth and explores the dynamics of the housing market and bilateral external economic relations.At the same time, the phenomenon of professional deskilling, often referred to as "brain waste", is highlighted as a primary constraint that limits the full utilization of the high-quality human capital possessed by migrants. It is concluded that, under the condition of implementing effective and inclusive integration policies, Ukrainian migration has the potential to become a long-term driver of the structural transformation of the Polish economy. Ultimately, the paper argues that such integration not only benefits the host country but also creates a strategic foundation for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine and the permanent strengthening of economic ties between the two nations.

ABSTRACT In recent years, as elsewhere in the MENA, an increasing number of Egyptians have undertaken the study of Chinese. Existing scholarship on this burgeoning trend has tended to focus on the Confucius Institutes, a state-led, soft power-oriented policy initiative. This article argues for expanding understandings of soft power beyond official frameworks and the confines of International Relations through a methodological turn. Drawing on a case study of Cairo’s Kamal Shan Vocational Training Centre, this article proposes ‘cultural intermediaries’ as a categorical perspective on the promotion of the Chinese language among locals. Such an approach opens a new avenue for understanding: (1) soft power as socially constructed rather than simply imposed through top-down state initiatives and (2) the roles non-state actors play in the shaping of local perceptions of China. Cairo’s Kamal Shan Vocational Training Centre pioneers vocational Chinese training that directly benefits local learners’ economic mobility, educational migration, and career development. In addition, it has successfully introduced courses in Human Resources Chinese and Industrial Chinese into the factories and offices of several Chinese enterprises, thereby contributing to the training of the local workforce – both a key component of, and an ongoing challenge in, these enterprises’ globalisation and localisation.

Objective: The article aims to analyse the key determinants of multiple dimensions of economic integration among Ukrainians in Poland, including employment status, job quality, skill matching, job satisfaction, and perceived financial situation, with a comparison between forced and economic migrants. Research Design & Methods: The study draws on a large cross-sectional CAWI survey of Ukrainians living in Poland (1 082 observations), conducted between March and April 2025. We designed the survey to enable comparisons of the economic performance of individuals across economic/forced migration status and urban/central/rural/remote areas. We constructed post-stratification weights to enhance representativeness and reliability of the study results according to voivodship, sex, and age based on the Polish PESEL register. The econometric analysis employed logit models. Findings: In line with the expectations, the study demonstrates that the Ukrainian forced migrants exhibit lower levels of integration than economic migrants. Employment is particularly constrained for women with young children, despite overall high participation rates. Social networks exert positive effects: Polish contacts enhance employment prospects and job-skill matching. Implications & Recommendations: The evidence underscores that women with young children face particular barriers to entering the labour market. Therefore, expanding access to preschools and maintaining child benefits are essential policy measures for fostering economic mobility and supporting refugee employment. Contribution & Value Added: This study provides new insights into the economic integration of Ukrainians in Poland, an increasingly important destination country within the EU. It contributes to the literature by comparing economic migrants and forced migrants from the same ethnic group within a single national context, while explicitly incorporating the urban-rural settlement dimension.

Rural societies across the world are undergoing rapid transformation due to economic globalisation, technological advancement, urbanisation, and state-led development policies. In India, rural communities that were historically characterised by agrarian livelihoods, strong kinship networks, caste-based social organisation, and traditional cultural values are now experiencing significant structural and cultural changes. The present study examines the changing nature of rural society and analyses the challenges and opportunities associated with rural development from a sociological perspective. The research is based on primary data collected through field surveys, interviews, and observations in selected rural communities. The study explores changes in economic structure, social institutions, migration patterns, education, and technological adaptation. It also evaluates the role of government development programs in improving rural livelihoods. The findings reveal that while development initiatives and modernisation processes have improved infrastructure, education, and communication, rural communities continue to face several challenges such as unemployment, agricultural instability, migration, social inequality, and weakening of traditional social institutions. The study concludes that rural development must be understood through an integrated sociological approach that considers economic, social, cultural, and institutional factors. Sustainable rural development requires inclusive policies, empowerment of rural populations, and strengthening of local institutions.

Lagos, Africa’s most populous metropolis, has long undergone turbulent transformations driven by both economic migrants and internally displaced persons (IDPs) whose rapid inflow to the city has deepened housing shortages and heightened inequality, particularly for low-income groups. This article examines how forced and itinerant migrants from northern Nigeria negotiate home/lessness across public and semi-public spaces of Lagos. Drawing on two qualitative datasets and four case studies, we trace migrants’ trajectories and analyse their homemaking practices through the lens of spatial refiguration. We conceptualise intersections as the cross-points where (a) migration trajectories, (b) infrastructural affordances and (c) networks of belonging converge to shape situated practices of home/lessness. The analysis develops a typology of homemaking under precarity, showing how migrants create provisional forms of presence through infrastructural niches, religious communities and solidarity networks. In doing so, this article shifts focus from the absence of housing to the agentful practices of homemaking that reconfigure urban space. We argue that an intersectional refiguration perspective clarifies how homelessness and homemaking are co-produced, offering new insights into migration and urban transformation in the Global South.

The Dual Role of Economic Migration in Pakistan: Direct and Spatial Spillover Effects on Food Insecurity

This study investigates the factors that influence international labor migration from Timor-Leste, with a focus on South Korea under the Employment Permit System. An extended gravity model was employed using bilateral migration data for 29 destination countries from 2000 to 2024 to assess the impact of economic size, geographic distance, trade relations, and migration policy regimes on migration flows. Migration is significantly influenced by political factors, such as formal recruitment channels and visa availability, and a positive correlation is observed between migration arrangements and bilateral exports. Furthermore, primary survey data of 250 Timor-Leste migrant workers in South Korea provide micro-level insights into employment outcomes, remittance patterns, and migration motivations. The findings confirm that sectoral recruitment driven by household economic demand and demand in the manufacturing and fishing sectors is a key driver, supported by Korea’s open institutional structure. The policy implications of this study highlight the need for stronger labor governance, better skill development, and diversification of migration routes to ensure safe and productive mobility.

In an increasingly globalized world, linguistic diversity has become both a valuable cultural resource and a complex policy challenge. Globalization, driven by economic integration, migration, technological advancement, and international communication, has intensified contact between languages while simultaneously privileging a small number of global languages. This article examines the relationship between linguistic diversity and language policy in global contexts, focusing on how states and institutions respond to multilingual realities. Drawing on sociolinguistic and language policy frameworks, the study explores the tension between language standardization and linguistic pluralism. Using a qualitative policy-analysis approach, the research analyzes selected national and international language policy documents to identify dominant ideologies, policy objectives, and implementation strategies related to linguistic diversity. The findings reveal that while many language policies rhetorically promote multilingualism and cultural inclusion, in practice they often prioritize economically powerful languages, leading to the marginalization of minority and indigenous languages. The study further demonstrates that language policy functions as an instrument of power, shaping access to education, employment, and social participation. The article argues that effective language policy in a globalized world must move beyond symbolic recognition of diversity and adopt inclusive, context-sensitive strategies that support linguistic rights and sustainable multilingualism. By contributing to debates in sociolinguistics and language policy studies, this research highlights the need for equitable policy frameworks that balance global communication demands with the preservation of linguistic diversity.

Abstract This essay shows how the United States racialized refugees through photography. American policy makers and news media have deployed photography as a definitive tool in characterizing Haitian “economic migrants” as “bad” refugees in opposition to “good” or “model” refugees from Vietnam. A cluster of black bodies on an unseaworthy boat came to represent an economic and hygienic threat, unlike the Vietnamese who are political victims of an oppressive communist regime. To critique our optical framework regulated by the Cold War racial politics, this essay historicizes how refugees were produced by American warfare and militarism. In the United States, war making, race making, and refugee making are mutually constitutive.

This study investigates chronic health disparities between refugees and other migrants in Europe. While economic migrants often benefit from positive health selection, refugees face unique challenges related to trauma and vulnerabilities associated with forced displacement. Using data from the EU-MIDIS II survey (2015-2016), we analyze chronic health conditions by migration status. Descriptive results show variation in the distribution of health issues across a range of individual and contextual characteristics, including age, socioeconomic conditions, length of residence and context of destination. Regression analyses do not show statistically significant differences in the likelihood of reporting long-term health problems between refugees and other migrants. These findings highlight the importance of addressing migrant health disparities through targeted policy interventions, with a particular attention to on socio-economic integration, equitable access to healthcare services, and the role of family support in improving health outcomes across Europe.

The paper discusses the first results of a linguistic expedition to Slavic communities made in the spring of 2025. The study seeks to to document the Slavic languages of migrants, establish the dialectal basis of the Slavic speech under study, and analyze the preservation and reflection in narratives of dialectal features typical for the region that the first Slavic migrants came from. The fieldwork was done using semi-structured interviews among Polish speakers in São Paulo, Bosnian speakers in Santos (Brazil), Croatian speakers in Santiago, Iquique, and Antofagasta (Chile), Russian, Belarusian, Polish, and Ukrainian speakers in Encarnación, Fram, and Coronel Bogado (Paraguay). All respondents are representatives of economic migration who settled in South America. The degree of influence of foreign language items, their level of adaptation, as well as cases of code-switching were analyzed using the comparative method based on oral interviews and the most representative statements that the respondents made in Slavic languages. The narratives discussed a variety of topics, including the language situation in the past and present, as well as cultural adaptation mechanisms within both spiritual and material aspects of culture. On the one hand, when Spanish and Portuguese words are adapted, phonetic features that are atypical for a specific Slavic language are eliminated. Morphological adaptation occurs by integrating into existing declension paradigms and by eliminating the unusual endings of words in the nominative case. On the other hand, there is interference from other languages. The linguistic competence of respondents varies; still, all of them use Spanish or Portuguese elements. The linguistic situation shows a similar trend everywhere: early on Slavic languages were used for communication within families, whereas today there has been a linguistic shift in favor of Spanish and Portuguese, which calls for preservation of the existing Slavic languages in the region.

This study examines the dynamics of migration from southern Niger to northern Nigeria, focusing on the processes that leads to de-agrarianization. Data was collected through household interviews and focus group discussions with migrants in Daura, Katsina, ‘Yar Shanya, Magama Jibiya, Kano, and surrounding areas. Findings reveal that migration is driven by multiple factors including economic (bida), seasonal (ci rani), educational, health, and business-related motives. Most migrants initially engage in circular or seasonal migration, returning home during the rainy season for farming, but after six to ten years many transition into permanent settlement. This shift is often accompanied by household restructuring, where spouses either relocate from Niger or Nigerian partners join the household. Migrants sustain links to their origins through remittances, facilitated informally via personal networks. Results further show that economic migrants, particularly ‘yan ci rani, are the group most associated with de-agrarianization, gradually abandoning farming for non-agricultural livelihoods. While this transition enhances income opportunities in host communities, it simultaneously contributes to farmland abandonment and declining agricultural productivity in areas of origin. The study concludes that de-agrarianization poses a growing threat to food security in the Sahel, underscoring the need for policies that encourage sustainable land use, strengthen agricultural support systems, and provide livelihood diversification strategies that complement rather than replace farming.