Refugee Flows Research Articles

Immigration in the Eastern Mediterranean as a European Challenge: The Role of Greece and the Necessity for a Common European Immigration and Foreign Policy

Immigration and refugee flows in the Eastern Mediterranean migration path have been increased since 2015, thus, creating the need for coordinated political reaction from the European Union. Some actions have been achieved, such as the EU-Turkey agreement but their effectiveness is contested, while the burden is mainly shared by the Mediterranean EU member states. At the same time, the challenges for all European countries in terms of refugees integration is becoming more and more eminent, due to the continuing immigration flows to the EU. This article analyses two basic parameters on the necessity of coordinated European policy both in the fields of immigration policy and foreign policy towards the stabilization in the Eastern Mediterranean, mainly by focusing on the role of Greece.

Рефлексивният подход при формиране на личностни и социални компетентности чрез учебно съдържание в контекста на бежанската проб-лематика

A contemporary challenge for Bulgarian teachers is the presentation of learning content related to the refugee flows and the formation of personal and social competences in the context of intercultural education, aiming at awareness of the importance of the topic of migration in individual, community, national and international context. The reflective approach seems to be extremely appropriate for understanding the importance of this type of knowledge in terms of global migration processes, not only by students but also by teachers who have a wealth of opportunities to inform children and develop attitudes towards the issue within class activity, hour of class, extracurricular and out-of-school activities.

Тhe burden of tuberculosis in the Russian Federation. Part 1. Dynamics of the prevalence of tuberculosis

WHO uses burden estimates for the surveillance of the epidemic situation and implementation of TB control programs. Russian statistics has the advantage of a system of the link-to-care registration of patients with tuber-culosis, regardless of their consent and treatment, which makes it possible to calculate the prevalence of tubercu-losis more accurately than the estimates. Aim: to study the trends in the prevalence of tuberculosis in the re-gions and overall in Russia based on official surveillance statistics in 2010–2021. Until 2018, the prevalence of TB decreased by 6.7% on average, in 2019 the annual rate of decline was –15.0%, in 2020 –18.6%, in 2021 –10.2%, which is associated with the revision of the order of reg-ular dispensary observation and the COVID-19 epidemic. Analysis of TB patients journeys in the course of regular dispensary check-ups clarifies the effect of these factors. In 2019, there is a sharp increase of clinical cure of patients registered. In 2020, the number of patients, registered by all means, is decreasing, and, accordingly, the number of those cured as well. The difference in the degree of in-tensity of the TB epidemic situation in the regions of the Russian Federation with a high and low burden of TB is growing. The share of patients in the 10 regions with the largest numbers of those grew from 33 .1% of the overall number of TB patients in the Russian Federation in 2010 to 38.3% in 2021. In the 5 regions with the highest prev-alence of TB, the average rate over 12 years decreased 2.3 times from 416.6 per 100,000 to 184.5, and in the ter-ritories with the lowest rate 5.5 times from 64.0 to 11.7. The dynamics of the decline in the spread of tuberculosis in Russia may slow down if the negative impact of the COVID-19 epidemic continues, especially in the context of the global socio-economic crisis. It is possible to slow down the regression of indicators as we approach the stage of «liquidation» of a chronic endemic infection, and also due to an increase in the flow of refugees from Ukraine.

Venezuelan refugees at the borders of Brazil during the covid-19 pandemic: an analysis based on security studies

The Covid-19 pandemic impacted incisively on the migration issues in the Brazilian state of Roraima, producing effects both on the flows of migrants and refugees coming from Venezuela, as well as on the management of migration processes carried out by governments, international organizations, and civil actors. This paper aims to present and expose the situation of Venezuelan refugees on Brazilian borders during the Coronavirus pandemic, analyzing the migratory flow from international security studies, under the theory of Buzan and Weaver. For this, a clipping was conducted on the performance of the "Acolhida" Operation, launched by the Brazilian Army in 2018, considered a Humanitarian Logistics Task Force, focusing on the actions developed during the pandemic. Collaborative and solidary cooperation between national and transnational agents is necessary and urgent in order to mitigate the suffering of people who are vulnerable, such as the refugees, who before the closing of the border, arrived daily in large numbers to the Brazilian territory.

Features of Adaptation of Ukrainian Refugees in the EU, Great Britain, USA, and Canada

Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, destruction of cities and towns, homes and infrastructure. The constant threat is a consequence of the large flow of refugees who are forced to leave the country in search of security and asylum. European Union countries, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada have accepted those fleeing the war and provided temporary protection. The relevance of the study consists in the identification of ways for assistance and benefits conferred, which are aimed at adapting and supporting Ukrainian refugees. The purpose of this paper is to study the features of adaptation of Ukrainian refugees in the EU, Great Britain, USA, and Canada, the socio-psychological state of refugees during the adaptation period, to compare the concepts of “refugee” and “person in need of temporary protection”, the characteristics of the social assistance package for Ukrainian refugees. The methods used to investigate the topic are: comparative, legal recognition, logical and legal method, hermeneutical method, analysis, etc. The results of this study are a comparison of the main concepts, including: “refugee”, “person in need of temporary protection”, characteristics of Ukrainian and international laws and regulations on refugee protection issues, clarification of the features of adaptation of Ukrainian refugees in the EU countries, Great Britain, USA, and Canada, psychological aspects of refugee adaptation, comparative analysis of social assistance and benefits for refugees between EU countries, Great Britain, USA, and Canada, processing statistics to compare the number of refugees between countries that provide asylum and protection. The provisions presented in this paper reveal the current problems of adaptation of Ukrainian refugees in the EU, Great Britain, USA, and Canada and may be useful for further study

More destructive than guns: contagious epidemic fever and public health in Lisbon, 1810-1812

The paper analyzes the controversy on the contagious epidemic fever in Lisbon between 1810 and 1811. Occurred during the last French invasion in Portugal, the epidemic was caused, among other factors, by the intense migratory flow of refugees displaced to the capital from countryside villages. Faced with the spread of the disease, the health services of Lisbon put in place preventive measures to curb its reach and disseminated preventive guidelines to the population. However, after French retreat in the early spring of 1811, the status of the epidemic itself, as well as the legitimacy of the measures taken, would be the subject of intense dispute. We propose an analysis of the controversy between Henrique Xavier Baeta, a navy physician who reported the events in theMemória sobre a febre epidêmica contagiosa (1812), and the editors ofJornal de Coimbra, who published a critical examination of Baeta’s book. For the latter, the main disease in those months would have been dysentery rather than fever, and its extent, much smaller than that reported by Baeta. The paper aims to show how different conceptions of disease and health underpinned both sides of the debate that spanned months in local newspapers. The analysis focuses on three of the main axes of the dispute: the effectiveness of the quarantine methods applied, the dispute over the most appropriate fumigation techniques, and the ability of Lisbon's public health services to respond to the crisis.

Problems of European Solidarity: Baltic States in the Context of the Migration Crisis

At the beginning of the 21st century, the solidarity of the member states of the European Union is under unprecedented pressure. The migration crisis of 2014—2016 was one of the main reasons of that. The Baltic region took a special place during the crisis. This region is a combination of states with two models of approaches to the implementation of the refugee admission policy — from full implementation to complete rejection of admission. This article analyzes the content of the activities of the EU border states governments in the Baltic region, through which the migration flow has passed, and its correlation with the official position of Brussels. Special attention is paid to the public opinion and social cohesion in relation to incoming refugee flows.

The role of the Mobile Mental Health Units in mental healthcare delivery in rural areas in Greece: current challenges and prospects.

The present paper aims to highlight the importance of Mobile Mental Health Units (MMHUs) in the delivery of mental health services in remote areas in rural Greece. Since the foundation of the first MMHUs in the eighties till nowadays, those services have expanded in many rural areas and there is some evidence that they are effective in the management of patients with severe mental disorders. The care of those patients seems to contribute to a significant reduction in voluntary and involuntary acute admissions and in length of hospital stay. Cost/effectiveness analysis studies have also shown favorable results. Besides their regular clinical work, MMHUs conduct research, such as epidemiologic surveys. Other research explores the care of elderly patients in rural areas and the care of immigrants that permanently reside in Greece. Other research involves the study of psychotic disorders in the rural context, such as the long-term outcome, the patients' functioning, and the long-term treatment with benzodiazepines. Current challenges for MMHUs involve staffing, particularly for those run by public hospitals, and the retainment of highly trained personnel. Other important challenges are related to the aging of the rural population and the refugee/migrant influx. The MMHUs of the islands that initially accept the refugee flow, have already faced an increased number of new referrals. Given the disparities in mental healthcare between rural and urban areas, further enhancement of the MMHUs' operation is required, as well as continuing training of their workforce. Research at the national level is needed and could be the basis for the design and staffing of new services. The establishment of valid and broadly accepted clinical indices to measure treatment outcomes would facilitate research and ensure the recording and evaluation of the MMHUs' work and their effectiveness as well; and would highlight their utility within the contemporary health system.

Far-stretching Strategy of Myanmar Junta to Forcefully Displace the Rohingya: Bangladesh, Regional and International Responses

The world continues to see large refugee flows, and the challenges comprising these population migrations are anticipated to become increasingly complicated as a result of rising social, economic, ethnic and especially religious conflicts. In the south-east Asia, this problem has become acute with Rohingya refugees. Northern Rakhine State in Myanmar is predominantly Buddhist and authoritarian despite a majority Arakan Muslim population and a minority Rakhine Buddhist population. Exclusionary citizenship laws and military actions against Arakanese Muslims, often known as Rohingyas, have forced them to depart Myanmar and seek refuge in Bangladesh. This circumstance pictured the inhuman role of the material world to the persecuted Rohingya refugees. The manuscript aimed at delineating Myanmar’s long-term oppressive and illegal strategy of dislocating Rohingya, and the attitude of the host-state Bangladesh, the regional and global superpowers, and instruments in this respect. The short article is designed in accordance with the qualitative method where information has been collected from different sources predominantly from scholarly articles. The manuscript has also suggested that the buzzword ”Rohingya issue” can be solved only if the Sino-Indian mutual understanding takes liberal steps with neutral support towards Bangladesh and Myanmar including asylum-seeker Rohingya refugees

The torture victim and the dentist: The social and material dynamics of trauma re-experiencing triggered by dental visits

Introduction: The flow of refugees towards Europe over the past decade has placed increased demands on the health care services. A significant proportion of refugees have been subjected to torture involving their mouth or teeth, still the importance of oral health challenges is often overlooked or underestimated in the rehabilitation of torture victims. In this qualitative study, we set out to explore the processes that complicate torture victims’ ability to engage in and tolerate dental procedures.
 Methods: Ten resettled refugees with experience of torture were recruited among patients affiliated with specialized clinics for oral health rehabilitation in Norway. Data were collected through semi-structured exploratory interviews, and analyzed using a qualitative content analysis approach.
 Results and discussion: We present an exploration of what we have called the social and material anatomy of the triggering event; the process through which trauma-related reactions are produced in torture victims in the course of undergoing dental treatment. All professionals who work with torture survivors should be aware that these individuals often suffer from oral health problems that may affect both their physical and their psychological quality of life. However, although dental treatment is essential, it may still represent a major challenge. Our data suggest, we propose, that dental treatment often involves an experience being suspended, albeit temporarily, in an objectified position, acted on by subjects capable of producing deeply undesirable mental, emotional or bodily states. Three main categories emerged as the most prominent factors with such an agentic capacity: 1) pain, 2) traumatic memories and 3) the dentist. Submitting to dental treatment hence requires the patient’s willingness to give in to the actions of these factors, and avoiding treatment may therefore, in this situation, represent a means of retaining control.

Refugee Policies and Narratives in the Globalised Era

One of the effects of globalisation has been population mobility as a result of famine, climate warming and war conflicts, among other things. This flow of refugees, however, is often seen as a menace to the rule of law and human rights concomitant with the Western lifestyle. Refugees are no longer regarded as human beings and victims, but rather as danger, even as potential terrorists, which has led many governments, including the Australian, to detain them indefinitely in detention centres where they are confined in inhuman conditions. The main aim of this paper will be to describe Australian immigration policies and how contemporary Australian narratives on and by refugees are reflecting this situation, mainly by analysing a selection of texts from three recently published collections, namely, A Country Too Far (2013), They Cannot Take the Sky (2017) and Seabirds Crying in the Harbour Dark (2017), and Behrouz Boochani’s No Friend but the Mountains (2018).

U.S. Migration Policy Radicalization (2017-2019): Case of Mexico and Central America

This article is an attempt to critically analyze the policy of the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump regarding the southern border of the USA with Mexico. The paper analyzes the approach of Washington under the administration of D. Trump to the problem of the joint border between USA and Mexico, as well as conducts a comprehensive assessment of the main programs underlying the most pressing changes in D. Trumps policy in this area. In particular, the paper focuses on the structure of migration flows between 2017 and 2019, as well as on the reasons behind those changes. The author looks at the root causes of the unprecedented increase in the flow of potential migrants and refugees, and correlates them with the ongoing political, economic and humanitarian crises in the Central American sub-region. An important focus is given to the increasing role of Mexico in the settlement of this issue, as well as to the potential impact of such cooperation between the authorities of the United States and Mexico on the situation in Central America and Latin America in general. The significance of this paper is determined by the objective necessity of academic evaluation of the Donald Trumps administration impact on the United States governmental and foreign policy course. The author argues that the approach of the 45th president of the United States regarding traditionally sensitive issues like US - Mexico border control and migration has been mostly based on coercive tactics with obvious disregard towards social basis and root-causes of the issue at hand. One of the most distinguished traits of this approach is the practice of outsourcing managing the problem of refugees from Central America to the border-country, which in this specific case is Mexico.

Progress of migration scholarship over 60 years of International Migration

Progress of migration scholarship over 60 years of <i>International Migration</i>

Refugee flows, foreign policy, and safe haven nexus in Turkey

While the relationship between refugees and foreign policy has been extensively studied, scarce attention has been paid to the linkages between refugee flows and safe haven policy as foreign policy. This article fills this gap in the literature by comparatively examining Turkey’s refugee and safe haven policies. Turkey witnessed two major influxes of refugees: after the Saddam Hussein regime oppressed the Kurdish uprising in 1991 and following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Turkey closed its Iraqi border to the Kurdish refugees and labelled their mass movement as a threat to its national security. In sharp contrast, Turkey has generally adopted accommodative policies towards Syrian refugees with a strong emphasis placed on humanitarian values. During both crises, Turkey supported safe haven policies for the repatriation of refugees to their home countries on international platforms. While Turkey was immediately able to persuade the international community for the creation of a safe haven in northern Iraq, it was less successful with respect to northern Syria, as it could only put its safe haven project on the negotiation table after relying more heavily on brute force.

Refugee-migration crisis in Europe and public health

Given the fact that migration is increasingly becoming part of the lives of European citizens and there is an unprecedented flow of refugees and migrants to Europe, the impact of migration on public health and the health of migrants and refugees, must be recognized as an important issue for public health policy making. These people are exposed to a variety of experiences, which affect their health and increase their susceptibility to various diseases during all stages of the migration progress. The purpose of this literature review was to investigate the impact of refugee-migration flow in Europe on public health. The access of these people to health services is an important aspect of their integration into society and of safeguarding public health. However, today, few EU countries provide equal access to health services for both migrants and refugees, as well as for the wider population of the host country. The range of health issues that can be associated with the migration of the populations is inevitably wide. This includes communicable and non-communicable diseases as well as work-related injuries. Further development of guidelines on access to health services is therefore needed, in order to improve the level of health and to avoid the emergence of secondary cases. Thus, the integration of refugees and migrants into the host countries will be reinforced and therefore public health will be safeguarded.

The Albanian Migration to Greece and the Refugee Crisis of 2015 from the Greek Perspective

Although migration has always been a timeless and volatile phenomenon, modern transnational movements of people have become a dominant topic of interest by constantly acquiring new characteristics that modify their evolutionary process. Europe is a geographical area that has been significantly affected by recent changes as a result of the evolution of migration flows of the last 30 years. The urgent need to initially understand and later implement evidence-based policies in order to sufficiently manage the migration phenomenon can be considered as the basic spark that led to the scientific blast of the 21st century, focusing on the gradual development of migration studies. One of the most notable efforts of the scientific community was the use of the comparison method to examine, understand, and in some cases even forecast the characteristics of specific migration case studies, thereby forming the backbone of comparative migration research in general. Greece, due to its geographical position, has been unintentionally positioned, many times, inside the so called “ring of fire”, as result of multiple factors and disastrous events that evolved mainly in its neighbouring countries, forcing massive, irregular migration flows to its external borders. The outbreak of the Albanian exodus in the early 1990s and the recent refugee flows of 2015 can be described as two major migration crises that have occurred in Greek’s contemporary history, making their comparison a fruitful example of the potential capabilities of the above-mentioned method, contributing to a holistic study of the migration phenomenon in Greece.

Refugee flows and terrorism in the European Union: securitization through association

Refugee flows and terrorism in the European Union: securitization through association

Refugees, Perceived Threat & Domestic Terrorism

Refugees’ effect on domestic terrorism is conditioned by host-country social perception (attitude about living next-door to foreigners) and economic competition. These hypotheses are tested cross-nationally from 1995-2014 leveraging data from the World Values Survey. The results show social perception matters. When refugee flow to a country increases from the mean to 75th percentile, it does not statistically alter domestic terrorism risk. But when a host-country’s preference to not live next-door to foreigners is accounted for and changes from the mean (20.9%) to 75th percentile (30.3%), the change in refugee flow increases the risk of domestic terrorism by 40%.

САНИТАРНО-ГИГИЕНИЧЕСКИЕ МЕРОПРИЯТИЯ, ПРОВОДИМЫЕ НА ТЕРРИТОРИИ МИНСКОГО ВОЕННОГО ОКРУГА (1914-1917 ГГ.)

The article highlights and analyzes sanitary and hygienic measures carried out on the territory of the Minsk Military District at the beginning of the First World War. With the outbreak of war, the number of cases constantly increased, the growth of infectious diseases was especially large. Cholera epidemics were recorded annually. There was a high incidence of typhoid fever and dysentery. There was an increase in the incidence of variola. The spread of diseases was facilitated by huge flows of refugees who were evacuated by whole echelons to the internal provinces of Russia and whose route passed through the territory of the Minsk Military District. The program of anti-epidemiological and preventive measures included concern for the health of soldiers, contentment, and a place to relax. Awareness-raising activities were carried out. However, the measures taken at the beginning of the war turned out to be ineffective due to the lack of a single military medical organization and medicines. The lack of medical staff in the rear and especially at the front, material and human resources, and the inconsistency of actions between departmental structures complicated the implementation of preventive and therapeutic measures to prevent and reduce the spread of morbidity rate. The article is written on the basis of the materials of the Orders of the Minsk Military District Administration at the theatre of war.

A Mediterranean Region? Regional Security Complex Theory Revisited

This article argues that the shift from the bipolar structure of the Cold War international system to a more polycentric power structure at the system level has increased the significance of regional relations and has consequently enhanced the importance of the study of regionalism. It makes a case for a Mediterranean region and examines various efforts aimed at defining what constitutes a region. In so doing, it investigates whether the Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) can be utilized to define a Mediterranean region and argues that the patters of amity and enmity among Mediterranean states are necessary but not sufficient to identify such a region. It suggests that economic, energy, environmental, and other factors, such as migration and refugee flows should be taken into consideration in order to define the Mediterranean region. It also claims that the Mediterranean security complex includes three sub-complexes. The first is an eastern Mediterranean sub-complex that revolves mainly - albeit not exclusively - around three conflicts: the Greek-Turkish conflict, the Syrian conflict, and the Israeli-Palestinian/Arab conflict. The second is a central Mediterranean sub-complex that includes Italy, Libya, Albania and Malta and which revolves mainly around migration with Italy playing a dominant role due to its historical ties to both Libya and Albania. The third is a western Mediterranean security sub-complex that includes France, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Spain and Portugal. This sub-complex it centered around France, the migration question and its associated threats, such as terrorism, radicalism, and human trafficking. In conclusion, it is concluded that the Mediterranean security complex is very dynamic as there are states (i.e. Turkey) that seem eager and capable of challenging the status quo thereby contributing to the process of the complexs internal transformation.