European Refugees Research Articles

Les résultats économiques des réfugiés et réfugiées d’Europe de l’Est admis au Canada entre 1990 et 2007 : une analyse longitudinale par catégorie d’immigration et région d’origine

Canada received more than 6 million immigrants from 1990 to 2007, of whom more than 500,000 were refugees fleeing the conflicts and persecution that plagued the world during that period. However, the labour market outcomes of Eastern European Refugees have not often been examined in detail. Using the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB), this paper analyzes the early years of economic integration of Eastern European refugees admitted as permanent residents to Canada from 1990 to 2007, when they were aged 25 to 54. Particular attention is paid to Eastern European immigrants because Europeans are generally among those who demonstrate better economic outcomes in the country. Thus, this paper focuses on two key labour market indicators: employment rates and income levels. Labour market outcomes are then examined by immigration categories (government-assisted refugees, privately sponsored refugees and asylum seekers), region of birth, and gender. The results show that asylum seekers (both male and female) generally have an initial advantage on both economic indexes under analysis, but, relative to resettled refugees (those who are government or privately sponsored), this advantage fades over time. Additionally, we observe a significant variation in results depending on the region of origin and male refugees have higher economic participation than female refugees.

The role of the European Union’s securitisation policies in exacerbating the intersectional vulnerability of refugees and asylum seekers

ABSTRACT This article compares the European Union's (EU) reception and resettlement of European and non-European refugees and asylum seekers from an intersectional viewpoint. It does so using data collected during fieldwork in Greece focusing on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). The goal is to examine, through an empirical and theoretical study, the gendered, racialised, national and religious nature of the EU's approach to its external policies, border security approaches and its constitutive nature based on contingent, relational and non-additive vulnerabilities and inequalities that have been inherited from the EU's colonial past. The study asks how the influx of refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine exemplifies the gendered, racialised, national and religious dimension of the EU's approach to border security. It examines how the EU's approach showcases the paternalistic approach to refugees' vulnerability through essentialisation, which leads to their vulnerabilisation. It looks at the intersectional impact of the gendered, racialised, national and religious constitutive nature of non-European refugees, as well as the gendered, racialised, national and religious notion of ‘others'. Based on the comparison, the article contends that, theoretically, State or EU security and human security policies should not be mutually exclusive. However, as the empirical data illustrate, there are multiple competing ‘insecurities’ which are prioritised over others.

Global Transit, Imperial Performativity, and Survival: European Jewish Refugees in the Philippines Under US Tutelage and Japanese Occupation, 1937–1946

Abstract By late 1941, some 1,300 Jews had escaped from National Socialist-controlled Europe to the Philippines. This essay problematizes the existing historiography on this rescue by going beyond examinations of its mechanisms and the politics of memory. Instead, it introduces a rereading of the refugees’ struggles by focusing on their continued being-in-transit and mandated imperial performativity, which allows for analysing transnational spaces shaped by their seemingly mundane everyday practices, from walking to cooking. During the early years, American, Filipino, and Jewish community leaders expected the performance of imperial norms and policed interactions between the refugees and native Filipinos. Some of the refugees succeeded. Some even managed to open shops. Others failed or rebelled and soon found themselves in peril. The late 1941 invasion by Japanese forces subjected Philippine society to new racial hierarchies. Jewish refugees, suspected of collaborating with the enemy, had to engage in different imperial performances in order to survive. By late 1946, many Jewish survivors had managed to leave, mostly to the United States, where they encountered new challenging power asymmetries of a different kind.

Chongqing Transit: Central European Jewish Refugees in China’s Wartime Capital and Interior*

While most central European Jewish refugees who transited through China during the Second World War lived in Shanghai, some found refuge in other Chinese cities. This article is a microhistory of two German-speaking refugee families, the Karfunkels and the Gottliebs, who spent the war in China’s interior—in the Nationalist wartime capital of Chongqing, amongst other locales. During the war, the relocation of the Nationalist seat of government to Chongqing and the arrival of Allied military missions in inner China led to great demographic upheaval in the city. On the margins of both foreign and Chinese society, the Karfunkels and the Gottliebs found themselves caught up in a significant population shift and a number of social changes. As Japan’s assault on China worsened, the families’ medical, mechanical, and technical expertise was increasingly in demand, elevating their position in Chongqing society. This article investigates the ways that the progression of the Second World War changed Jewish refugee individuals’ circumstances in China’s interior.

Sheltering the Ukrainian Refugees: Implications for Poland in the light of Pakistani Experiences

Pakistan has taken in a sizeable number of Afghan refugees ever since the Soviet Union launched its invasion of Afghanistan at the height of the Cold War. This has resulted in significant repercussions for Pakistan. Some examples of this would be things like terrorism, drug trafficking, and human smuggling. As a result of the invasion by Russia, a significant number of Ukrainians will go for refuge in Europe, particularly Poland. They arrive in the tens of thousands at a time. You have the option of taking the bus, the train, or driving your own vehicle. On the Polish side of the border, the Ukrainians who have escaped the Russian bombardment of their cities are greeted with open arms by the Polish administration. In the last several years, there has been a migration of around one million Ukrainians to the United States from other countries, and this current wave of migrants will join them. In light of the fact that the fighting in Ukraine does not seem to be coming to an end any time soon, we investigate the potential long-term consequences for Poland of taking in such a huge number of refugees.

Food security and nutrition in refugee camps in the European Union: Development of a framework of analysis linking causes and effects

AbstractThe literature on food security and nutrition -FSN among refugees found high rates of food insecurity- FI among refugees in both, low- and middle-income - LMIC countries and high-income countries- HIC. Despite high rates of FI among refugees in HIC, little is known about FSN status of refugees and asylum-seekers living in refugee camps in the European Union- EU. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by reviewing issues related to the Food Security and Nutrition-FSN of refugees in the EU and worldwide and provides three main contributions to the existing knowledge. Firstly, it identifies the main drivers of FSN in a refugee context and offer a causal framework describing the main causes and effects of FNI in refugee camps. The immediate causes of FNI are poor Shelter and Settlement, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and Healthcare. Moreover, secondary causes of FNI are the lack of adaptation to a new environment; Lack of culturally adapted food; Inadequate FSN interventions; Poor livelihood strategies. Secondly, it demonstrates that FNI exists in European refugee camps underscoring that EU member states have been unable to deliver sustainable solutions towards the realization of FSN in the E.U. Finally, the paper calls for a multisectoral and non-discriminatory European common policy targeting refugees’ FSN.

From Bolton to Brussels and Beyond: Two Women’s Passion for Museums and Collecting

The youngest daughter of one of the northwest of England’s largest cotton magnates, Annie Barlow, was a well-educated and passionate woman. At the time of studying English Literature and History in London in 1880 to 1882 she became involved with the newly formed Egypt Exploration Fund, and at just nineteen years old became one of the first, and youngest, Honorary Local Secretaries for Bolton and the surrounding area—a roll she held for almost sixty years up to her death in 1941. The social circles opened to her by her father and brothers included world business leaders, academics and royalty. Through lectures, exhibitions and many cups of tea, Annie proclaimed the work of the fund across the United Kingdom, while modestly keeping her own efforts unannounced. Her fundraising surpassed that of many other local secretaries and led to the amassing of the largest collection of Egyptology in a local authority museum in the UK at Bolton Museum. Her travels took her far and wide, and she too built a sizeable collection of antiquities. Her passion for history, driven by a desire for educational development and religious devotion, was transmitted to those whom she met. It was through her influence and intimate knowledge of textile production that Bolton and its first curators became a renowned center for textile analysis, with excavators sending material to Bolton to aid their interpretations. During the First World War, Annie and her family homed European refugees. Her support for one girl in particular, Raymonde Frin, became a life-long friendship. Growing up under the wing of Annie, and surrounded by private collections of ancient material, Raymonde developed a passion for archaeology. Annie’s financial legacy directly supported the development of Raymonde’s life. Eventually achieving formal archaeological qualifications, she went on to be an integral part of the newly formed UNESCO museums and monuments division, becoming its first editor for Museums International Magazine, and involved in projects to save Egyptian heritage. This paper will look at the two women, Annie and Raymonde, within the context of women collecting and museum work, and their legacy for collections, in particular Egyptology, to the current day.

International Law Issues and Countermeasures of Refugee Protection

On January 17, 2022, the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, and on October 11, 2023, a new round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict broke out. In the context of the continued escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the renewed Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the international community is facing an increasingly severe problem of illegal immigration and refugees. At present, scholars at home and abroad have made a lot of achievements in the research of the world refugee problem in the areas of the concept of refugees, causes, responses to refugee problems, and solutions. However, domestic academic circles have done more research on regional or national refugee issues, such as European refugees, North African refugees, Syrian refugees, etc., and the research on the world refugee issue from a global perspective is relatively weak. This article is to study the refugee protection issue from the international legal level it is to discuss refugee protection from the global perspective.

Ferramonti, not Palestine: The Failed Aliyah bet of the “Benghazi Group,” 1939–1943

Abstract This article focuses on the journey of “the Benghazi group,” three hundred European Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism, who, for several months in 1940, were stranded in Benghazi, then part of the Italian colonial empire. They organized and attempted to sail from Italy to Palestine in an Aliyah bet voyage, but were eventually forcibly returned to Italy and interned in the Ferramonti camp in the south of the country. Even though the British liberated Ferramonti in 1943, in 1941 and 1942 many Jews had already been transferred to internment locations further north. When Germany occupied Italy in fall 1943, many members of the Benghazi group thus fell victim to the Holocaust. This article examines the possibilities and limitations for self-help and agency among Jewish refugees in Fascist Italy. It describes their experiences in the context of Fascist Italy’s antisemitic policies and the history of Aliyah bet operations, which did not treat Jews in Italy as a high priority for rescue. At the core of this article lies the story of an encounter between central European Jews and the North African Jews of Benghazi. Having spent their last remaining financial means on the journey to Palestine, the members of the Benghazi group became dependent on the extraordinary hospitality of the Libyan Jews, making Benghazi a temporary sanctuary for European Jewish refugees.

Comments on: Electromyographic signature of isometric squat in the highest refuge in Europe.

We read the comment by Šarabon and Sašek (Eur J Transl Myol 11846, 2023 doi: 10.4081/ejtm.2023.11846) on our study on the electromyographic results during squat at high-altitude. Their highlighting of the factors that may have biased our results is commendable, despite they criticized our work as if it were a controlled laboratory study. We considered the limitations and argued our interpretation with caution. We found no changes in median frequency, frequency's slope and conduction velocity of EMG signals at high altitude, and a slight decrease of root mean square. We argued that our results may have been due to a preventative mechanism that compensates for relatively greater effort during a fatiguing strength test involving large muscle masses, or to cumulative exertional stress on the muscles. The authors of the comment themselves somehow agree with these interpretations. Guidelines for collecting, reporting and interpreting data from EMG to obtain original information on the neuromuscular system should be integrated with the effort to maintain as much as possible those field conditions that offer unique opportunities.

Comments on: Electromyographic signature of isometric squat in the highest refuge in Europe.

We read with particular interest the study by Rua et al. (Eur J Transl Myol 33 (3) 11637, 2023 doi: 10.4081/ejtm.2023.11637) on the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the quadriceps muscle during squat at high-altitude. It offers interesting insights into how neural factors might alter muscle function during a multi-joint low-intensity motor task with sustained contraction after trekking under hypoxic conditions. However, the methodological processes and procedures used in the study could bias the interpretation of the outcomes. Therefore, we outline the procedural considerations that should be taken into account in further studies aimed at investigating the potential changes in quadriceps EMG activity during the squat as a result of trekking at high-altitude.

A critical discourse analysis of the representation of Ukrainian refugees across the British mainstream news media

This research investigates the dominant rhetorical/ discursive strategies in the British mainstream news media regarding their reports on Ukrainian refugees in the United Kingdom (UK). While news media have negatively constructed the non-European refugees, as previous studies have revealed, this research is unique because it specifically focuses on European refugees as its research sample. The ultimate objective was to demonstrate how the news media in the UK portrayed the incoming Ukrainian refugees on British soil. The data were 40 Ukrainian-refugee-related news reports published in four mainstream news media in the UK from March until July 2022. The data was then analysed by using Wodak’s Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA), consisting of six analytical categories: Referential, Predication, Argumentation (Topoi), Perspectivisation, Mitigation, and Intensification (Reisigl Wodak, 2008). The research found that regardless of their ideologies, all four news media consistently employed the discursive strategies of humanization and individualization and pervasively established a positive argumentative strategy on Ukrainian refugees. These dominant strategies depict a positive representation of Ukrainian refugees. Moreover, despite the overall negative picture of third-world refugees in British news media, the finding of this research is distinctive from the previous ones, showing that the British news media actively constructed the Ukrainian refugees positively and sympathetically. It is argued that the news media’s ideological stance of Eurocentrism and biased racial values played a decisive role in framing the pictures of European/Ukrainian and non-European refugees in their reports.

Electromyographic signature of isometric squat in the highest refuge in Europe.

Reports of electromyography during hypoxic exercise are contrasting, due to protocol and muscle diversity. This work aimed to investigate alterations in muscle activation and myoelectrical fatigue during exercise at high-altitude in those muscles primarily involved in trekking. Twelve young adults balanced by gender and age were tested at low (1,667 m) and high (4,554 m, "Capanna Margherita", Italy) altitude, during an isometric squat lasting 60 seconds. High-density surface electromyography was performed from the quadriceps of right limb. The root mean square (RMS), median frequency with its slope, and muscle fiber conduction velocity (MFCV) were computed. Neither males nor females showed changes in median frequency (Med: 36.13 vs 35.63 Hz) and its slope (Med: -9 vs -12 degree) in response to high-altitude trekking, despite a great inter-individual heterogeneity, nor differences were found for MFCV. RMS was not significantly equivalent, with greater values at low altitude (0.385 ± 0.104 mV) than high altitude (0.346 ± 0.090 mV). Unexpected results can be due either to a postural compensation of the whole body compensating for a relatively greater effort or to the inability to support muscle activation after repeated physical efforts. Interesting results may emerge by measuring simultaneously electromyography, muscle oxygenation and kinematics comparing trekking at normoxia vs hypoxia.

What Becomes a Refugee Camp? Making Camps for European Refugees in North Africa and the Middle East, 1943–46

AbstractRefugees have often been housed in camps made by ‘adaptive reuse’ of a wide range of existing sites. We argue that any given refugee camp’s previous uses shape the experiences of its residents and may indicate how that displaced population is viewed by the responsible authorities. We test this argument on three historical case studies drawn from an important but under-researched episode in the history of the refugee camp: the far-flung network of camps established by the Allies in North Africa and the Middle East in the 1940s for European refugees from Fascism. They range from a former hotel housing under 50 people to a vast tented encampment housing over 20,000, adapted from an army ‘rear camp’. We argue that research on any given camp should include analysis of the site’s architectural origins. This is a step towards a more fully articulated methodological approach to researching refugee camps, the ‘site biography’.

Pinter and Stoppard: A Director’s View

Pinter and Stoppard: A Director’s View

(Un)desired others: Central Eastern European refugees in post-war Italian cinema

This article studies the representation of Central Eastern European refugees in post-war Italian cinema. In our essay, we identify three films that deal with ‘displacement’: Lo sconosciuto di San Marino (The Unknown Man from San Marino) (Waszyński 1948), Donne senza nome (Women without Names) () and Stromboli: Terra di Dio (Stromboli) (). In the immediate post-war period, Italy was a country deeply affected by a Central Eastern European refugee crisis. As Hannah Arendt wrote, many people were in a ‘stateless’ situation either because of the war or because they had fled Soviet domination. The three films represent refugees marginalized for their social status, cultural background or nationality as well as for their sexuality or gender. Starting from Noa Steimatsky’s revealing revision of neorealism vis-à-vis the story of the refugee camp at Cinecittà, we analyse the responsibility cinema had in the erasure of these asylum-seekers from the screen and public awareness.

ВПЛИВ ОБУМОВЛЕНОЇ ВІЙНОЮ ВИМУШЕНОЇ МІГРАЦІЇ ЗА КОРДОН НА СТАН ТРУДОВОГО ПОТЕНЦІАЛУ УКРАЇНИ В КОНТЕКСТІ СОЦІАЛЬНОЇ СТІЙКОСТІ

The labor potential is an important component of the country's economic potential, and its quan-titative and qualitative characteristics significantly affect the rate of economic growth and social sus-tainability. The article presents the general theoretical foundations of the concept of social sustainabil-ity, the main milestones of its formation, key principles and concepts. The information base for the study of migration flows and their expected impact on the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the labor potential was based on statistical data from Ukraine and countries that have provided asylum to forced migrants. The results of sociological surveys were also used, dozens of which were conducted by international organizations, foreign and Ukrainian think tanks during the war year. An analysis of the available estimates and reservations to them allowed us to formulate the author's assumption about the real number of refugees from Ukraine who have taken refuge in Europe, the United States, and Canada, as well as voluntarily or forcibly ended up in the Russian Federation. The socio-demographic charac-teristics of those who left indicate a significant outflow of working-age people, including a large number of highly skilled workers. A serious risk is posed by the emigration of children and young people, and their failure to return threatens the Ukrainian economy not only with a reduction in labor supply in the near future, but also with a deterioration in its quality characteristics and a loss of Ukraine's demo-graphic potential in the medium and long term. The massive out-migration of the population had a negative impact on effective demand, which is an important driver of the economy.The author proves the expediency of formulating and implementing the state policy of Ukraine aimed at counteracting these negative challenges, which is a prerequisite for ensuring social sustaina-bility. During the period of military operations and post-war recovery, state policy measures in the area of preserving and utilizing labor potential should be as effective as possible and aimed at creating a favorable environment for the return of war refugees to Ukraine and their reintegration into Ukrainian society.

탈북 청년의 월경과 유럽 난민의 연대 ― 조해진의 『로기완을 만났다』를 중심으로

1990년대 이후 탈북 이주의 원인은 정치·경제·문화적인 측면에서 복합적이고, 거기에는 북한 체제의 내적 요인과 정착지의 외적 요인이 동시에 작용하고 있다. 따라서 탈북이라는 이동성의 조건 및 형식, 방향성과 회로는 전지구적 현 상 속에서 파악되어야 한다. 이 글에서는 조해진의 『로기완을 만났다』를 중심으 로 탈북 청년의 월경의 과정이 갖는 의미와 함께 유럽 난민으로서 연대를 모색하고 있는 점에 주목하였다. 탈북자의 월경의 과정은 과거의 자기를 극복하고 새로운 자기를 정립하는 과정과 그 궤를 같이한다. 그런데 유럽 지역에서 탈북 자가 난민으로 인정받기 위해서는 자신이 극복하고자 했던 정체성을 소환해야 한다. 자기 증명이 출신국가에 의해 승인되는 이러한 과정은 난민이라는 비국민 의 자리 또한 국민국가의 경계 속에 놓여 있음을 확인하게 한다. 한편, 이 소설 은 탈북자의 월경의 과정을 통해 탈북자 문제를 국제 난민의 층위에서 접근할 수 있는 가능성을 보여준다. 이 소설은 국민국가를 하나의 단위로 구축된 세계 체제가 작동하는 가운데 만들어낸 난민이라는 존재들 사이의 연대의 가능성을 제기하는 것을 통해 그러한 체제의 질서와 문법이 폭력적으로 작동하는 메커니 즘을 폭로할 뿐만 아니라, 그에 대응하는 인간 존재의 자기 구축의 가능성을 탐 색하고 있다는 점에서 탈북문학을 트랜스내셔널 마이너리티들의 ‘소수자문학’으 로 읽을 수 있게 한다. 탈북자들을 통해 국민국가-지역 질서-세계 체제로 연쇄 하는 경계 긋기의 작업이 타인의 고통에 대해 이해할 수 있다는 환상을 강화시 키는 동시에 나와 그들 사이의 또 다른 경계로 작동하고 있다는 점을 인식할 수 있다면, 비록 더디더라도 탈북자와의 만남의 가능성을 모색할 수 있을 것이다.

Polish Physicians Held in the Miranda de Ebro “Campo de Concentración”

Abstract Spain played an ambiguous and pragmatic role during the Second World War and its policy evolved as the war progressed. While Francoist Spain was friendly towards Nazi Germany, it never declared war on the Allies, even if it contributed Division Azul to the Reich’s invasion of the Soviet Union. Spanish neutrality allowed its territory to become a temporary safe haven for refugees fleeing the Nazi terror in Europe. Miranda de Ebro concentration camp (1937–1947) saw the internment of soldiers from the International Brigades who had fought on the Republic’s side in the Spanish Civil War, and of European refugees escaping from the Nazis. After the French, Poles represented the second biggest national group at Miranda and it is the Polish doctors on whom I focus in this paper because of Poland’s situation during and after the war. Most of the Polish doctors held in Miranda were Jews who had come to France before the war, where they had studied while keeping Polish citizenship. After release from Miranda, many joined the Allied forces fighting against the German Reich. But when the war ended, Poland – though formally independent – became a satellite country of the Soviet Union. Only one of the physicians ever returned to Poland. The rest continued their careers in Great Britain or the USA despite all the difficulties this entailed.

Issues in Australian Foreign Policy January to June 2022

Issues in Australian Foreign Policy January to June 2022