“Theoretical categories that we have had from this emphasis on South North have to be rethought, or maybe we need innovation and new categories to be introduced.”

In this episode, Roos Derrix chats with Gerasimos Tsourapas and Kamal Sadiq about their latest project on the politics of South-South labour migration, and the development of a transnational social contract between states and their migrant populations.
They explain how, in the context of labour migration to the Gulf Cooperation Council states, migrant agency is curtailed through surveillance and labour commodification, while novel forms of dependence are created between countries of origin and destination. Gerasimos and Kamal argue that innovative methods and further work on postcolonial migration states are needed to further untangle and to understand these practices.


Kamal Sadiq is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and the Director of the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California, Irvine.

Gerasimos Tsourapas is a Professor of International Relations in the School of social and political sciences at the University of Glasgow.

Are you interested in reading Kamal and Gerasimos work? Look at these:

Malit, F. T. and Tsourapas, G. (2021) Migration diplomacy in the Gulf – non-state actors, cross border mobility, and the United Arab Emirates. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 47(11), pp. 2556-2577. (doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2021.1878875) 

Malit, F. T. and Tsourapas, G. (2021) Weapons of the weak? South-south migration and power politics in the Philippines-GCC corridor. Global Studies Quarterly, 1(3), ksab010. (doi: 10.1093/ isagsq/ksab010)

Sadiq, K., & Tsourapas, G. (2021). The postcolonial migration state. European Journal of International Relations, 
27(3), 884-912. https://doi.org/10.1177/13540661211000114

Sadiq, K., & Tsourapas, G. (2023). The Transnational Social Contract in the Global South. International Studies Quarterly, 67(4), sqad088. https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqad088

Sadiq, K., & Tsourapas, G. (2023). Labour coercion and commodification: 
from the British Empire to postcolonial migration states. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2023.2269778

Tsourapas, G. (2021) Migration Diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa: Power, Mobility, and the State. Manchester University Press: Manchester. ISBN 9781526132093 

Tsourapas, G. (2020) The long arm of the Arab state. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 43(2), pp. 351-370. (doi: 10.1080/01419870.2019.1585558) 


The research behind this interview was funded by the UK Research and Innovation (grant reference no. EP/X019667/1)


If you enjoy the Migration Podcast, please consider “liking” and “following” us. Thank you for listening!

Ep.11 (S4): G.Tsourapas & K.Sadiq on the transnational social contract in the Global South

“There's a total contradiction between irregularity and child protection…not doing anything, or rather the opposite, blocking the access to a resident permit is a children's rights violation, in my opinion,  because it leads to vulnerability, it leads to some kind of protection issues, social exclusion, and so on.”

In this episode, we hear Alexandra Castro talk with Pablo Ceriani about the increasing and changing migration patterns of children across Latin America. Pablo talks about how there has been a general increase in capacity and willingness to deal with migrant child protection in the region; however, he also argues that xenophobia and public narratives that criminalize migrants are influencing new policies and laws and this increases vulnerability for all migrants, including children.

Pablo Ceriani is a lawyer and has a PhD in Human Rights. He is currently the Director of the Master of Migration and Human Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean at the National University of Lanús, in Argentina. He's also a member of the UN Committee on Migrant Workers. 


If you enjoy the Migration Podcast, please consider “liking” and “following” us. Thank you for listening!

Ep.12 (S4): Pablo Ceriani on migrant child protection in Latin America & the Caribbean

Check out the "Migration Talks" podcast and their recent episode on the impact of migration narratives on EU policymaking, just in time before the EP elections this month.

In this episode, the "Migration Talks" team explores how migration narratives shape the upcoming European elections and influence policymaking in Brussels. These narratives are central to discussions and policies across Europe, especially as far-right parties amplify them as security threats for electoral gains. What are the prevailing migration narratives within the EU, and how do they impact the policymaking processes of the European Union? These and more questions will be answered by Florian Trauner, Co-director of BIRMM and Omar Ba who is a community organizer, activist and politician. 

You will find the Migration Talks podcast here: Migration Talks: 
https://birmm.research.vub.be/migration-talks-a-podcast-by-birmm

Introducing: Migration Talks - The Impact Of Migration Narratives On EU Policymaking

“Even the market next to the station was called Warsaw Market.”

In this episode you’ll hear Louise Ryan interview Ivanna Kyliushyk about the situation of Ukrainian migrants in Poland, before and since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. She talks about how NGOs and local governments have stepped forward to provide aid and the urgent need for a long-term strategy to integrate Ukrainians into the economic and political fabric of Polish society. We also hear a bit about her personal experience as a Ukrainian, migrant, and researcher in Poland.

Ivana Kyliushyk is a political scientist and researcher at the Centre for Research on Social Change and Human Mobility, also referred to as CRASH, at Kozminski University in Poland. 
Her current research is on migrant inclusion and political participation, and focuses on Ukrainian and women’s migration.  


If you enjoy the Migration Podcast, please consider liking and following us. Thank you for listening!

Ep.13 (S4): Ivana Kyliushyk speaks about Ukrainian emigration to Poland

Announcement: The deadline for submitting a paper proposal for IMISCOE’s 2025 conference has been extended to October 8. All information can be found here: https://www.imiscoe.org/events/imiscoe-events/2117-22nd-imiscoe-annual-conference 
**************
In this episode, you’ll hear Asya Pisarevaskaya’s conversation with Mathew Creighton about his recent book “Hidden Hate: The Resilience of Xenophobia.” Mathew talks about how our opinions and behaviours, for example when it comes to race and ethnicity, can vary greatly whether they are being expressed in public or not. In other words, people may have an opinion or belief, but they may show another one, through “masking”.

The research behind the book helps us understand anti-immigrant attitudes in countries including in Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, and the US, and how we can go beyond a “majority vs the minority” perspective to better understand the persistent marginalization of minority groups.

Mathew Creighton is associate professor in the School of Sociology at University College Dublin. He is also the national coordinator of the European Social Survey in Ireland and the principal investigator of a Horizon Europe project, EqualStrength, which assesses prejudice in work, childcare, and housing throughout Europe.

If you enjoy the Migration Podcast, please consider “liking” and “following” us. Thank you for listening!


Ep.14 (S4): Mathew Creighton discusses the resilience of xenophobia

While we take a break from our regular programming before our fifth season – we have a special treat for you! We have the honour of offering you an episode from the fantastic podcast "Border & Belonging, a CERC Migration podcast", which is produced by the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration at Toronto Metropolitan University.

The episode is about the rise of digital nomads – how do “digital nomads” disrupt definitions and theories we have about migration and the nation state? From Lisbon, to Chang Mai, to Barbados, what are the impacts of this form of human mobility? What insights do we have from research on this phenomenon?

Are you interested in hearing more Borders & Belonging episodes? This is where you can find them: https://www.torontomu.ca/cerc-migration/borders-and-belonging/#!accordion-1729180383471-season-3 

Follow the Borders & Belonging podcast here:
X: @cercmigration, host: @maggie_perzyna
LI: Borders & Belonging Podcast, host: Maggie Perzyna
FB: https://www.facebook.com/CERCMigrationFB
IG: @cercmigration

Please stay tuned for the Migration Podcast’s next season! We look forward to bringing you a fresh slate of interviews on the latest migration research starting in the next few months.

REPOST Borders and Belonging: The rise of digital nomads

Welcome back! You’re listening to the first episode of the 5th season of IMISCOE’s Migration Podcast. 

If you’re listening for the first time: IMISCOE is the largest European network of scholars in the area of migration and integration, with 69 member institutes and over 1400 scholars from all over the world. And this is the network’s podcast, where we hear migration researchers talk about their latest research and why it matters. 

As in the past seasons, we have an amazing team of interviewers who are migration scholars themselves. And this season, you’ll hear more episodes with them talking to 2 or more researchers who are working on similar themes, together.

The conversation you'll hear is about concepts in migration governance that are often taken for granted – but when you dig a bit deeper, or wider, like the researchers in this episode have done, it’s clear that not everyone has the same idea of what they really mean or their implications in practice. 

You’ll hear Liberty Chee speaking to Eleonora Milazzo, who has been working on what exactly “solidarity” means between European Union Member States when it comes to the asylum system. We may have a sense that so far, it’s been “failing”, but what does solidarity really mean in practice?

Ulrike Bialas also joins the conversation, to talk about her research on how age classification determines the lives of young asylum seekers in Germany. How do they experience this legal focus on age, especially when many do not actually have documents that can prove their dates of birth and may not know them, anyways. 

I also found the practical challenges of conducting their research, that both Elenora and Ulrike talk about, particularly interesting. Just a last note: both of them talk about research to do with migration governance in Europe, and both mention “the Dublin System”. In case you need a refresher: the Dublin System is made up of several procedures that determine responsibility for assessing asylum claims in EU Member States.  

Further readings:
Bialas, Ulrike. 2023. Forever 17: Coming of Age in the German Asylum System. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Bialas, Ulrike. 2023. "Ambiguous Ages, Ambivalent Youths: How Asylum Seekers in Germany Navigate Age Categorization." Migration Politics 2, no. 1: 003.

Bialas, Ulrike. 2024. "Who is a minor? Age assessments of refugees in Germany and the classificatory multiplicity of the state." Ethnic and Racial Studies: 1-23.

Bialas, Ulrike, Johanna M. Lukate, and Steven Vertovec. 2024. "Contested categories in the context of international migration: introduction to the special issue." Ethnic and Racial Studies: 1-23.

Milazzo, E. (2024). Refugee Protection and Solidarity. The Duties of EU Member States. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/refugee-protection-and-solidarity-9780192885715?cc=be&lang=en&# 


Also have a look at the Migration Research to Policy Co-Lab https://migrationresearchtopolicy.eu/  





Ep.1(S5):Dublin, solidarity and age. How do these factors matter in the EU asylum system?

It’s an exciting time for qualitative research methods these days. Migration scholars are pushing the boundaries of traditional interview techniques, with the aim to amplify the voices of marginalized groups as well as to influence policy and reach wider audiences. In this episode you’ll hear Silindile Mlilo interview two researchers who are using creative and non-traditional research methods.

Isabel Rose Soloaga will talk about the use of participatory research and film through her forthcoming documentary, Growing Up in America: Life After the Taliban. The film is a personal story following two young girls and their family, who were forced to evacuate Kabul after the Taliban rose to power in 2021. Isabel told us: “Everyone has a camera and a platform today through social media, so I think debates on how to use these tools in an ethical way, while inviting people to reach out to their new neighbors -- the key message of my film.”

Ntokozo Yingwana will discuss her use of digital story telling – which I learned is, the growing practice of everyday people using digital tools to tell their stories. In her PhD research project “Queering Sex Work and Mobility in South Africa: How does Migration and mobility Influence Genderded Sexualities in Sex Work? Duh-kozo conducted data collection through a digital storytelling workshop and WhatsApp. She also worked with two of people from her research participant group, who are sex workers, as research assistants.

Isabel Rose Soloaga is a Research Fellow at the University of Sussex School of Law, Politics and Sociology in the UK and an Independent Documentary Filmmaker

Ntokozo Yingwana is a Doctoral researcher at the African Centre for Migration and Society at Wits University in South Africa.


Are you interested in reading more?
Yingwana, N. (2024). Sex Work in Africa. The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Sexuality Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95352-2_83-1.  

Yingwana, N. (2022). Queering Sex Work and Mobility. Anti-Trafficking Review, 19, 66–86. https://doi.org/10.14197/atr.201222195. 

Vidima, N., Tenga, R., & Yingwana, N. (2022). Reflections on the use of FPAR as a research methodology for sex worker (and key populations) research. Global Public Health, 17(10), 2604–2616. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2022.2110915. 

Life After the Taliban: 
Kabul to California: A Cinematic Exploration of New Beginnings by The Reel Truth https://videoconsortium.org/mag/thereeltruth05 

Watch our short film: 
https://vimeo.com/801454823?share=copy 
After narrowly escaping from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in August 
2021, 21 year old Ali and his family begin a new life in Northern California. 
Growing up in America: Life After the Taliban, is an intimate documentary 
short following one family's journey of building home after war. 
Directed by Isabel Soloaga (https://www.isabelsoloaga.com)
Co-Directed by Najaf Ali Mohammady 
○ Website: https://www.lifeaftertalibandoc.com 
○ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifeaftertalibdoc 
○ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeaftertalib_doc/ 
○ You can support Isabel's upcoming feature film by donating at 
https://bit.ly/LifeAfterTalib_Doc 






Ep2(S5) How can film and digital storytelling be used in migration research?

In this episode I talk with two researchers about the lives of migrants from Central Asia in Russia, both before, and since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is probably no surprise that this conflict is affecting migrants in Russia, and you’ll hear all about this from the guests in this episode. 
You’ll also hear a bit about the people behind the numbers, when we talk about the millions of migrants from central Asia in Russia, as well as how their lives are shaped by the formal and informal legal constraints in Russian society. Finally, we touch on some intriguing areas of research emerging as a result of the limited access to data in Russia today and that focus on new trends in Central Asian migration.
To discuss all of this, I’m joined by Rustam Urinboyev and Nodira Kholmatova.

Rustam Urinboyev is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology of Law at Lund University in Sweden. His research is on socio-legal approaches to Migration, corruption and informality (among other topics.) He is also the principal investigator of the EU-funded project “MARS: Non-Western Migration Regimes in a Global Perspective”.

Nodira Kholmatova, who works as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Political Science and the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Amsterdam. She is a sociologist and migration researcher who studies social and gender inequalities in return migration and deportation regimes as well as the impact of migration policies on migrants and their families. Her geographic focus is Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and more recently Western Balkans and Southeast Asia. 
Let’s get into it!

Info for episode description:
Rushtam: https://www.soclaw.lu.se/en/rustamjon-urinboyev

1. Urinboyev, R. (2020) Migration and Hybrid Political Regimes: Navigating the Legal Landscape in Russia. Oakland, CA: University of California Press. Available at: https://www.luminosoa.org/site/books/m/10.1525/luminos.96/.
2. Urinboyev, R. and Eraliev, S. (2022) The Political Economy of Non-Western Migration Regimes: Central Asian Migrant Workers in Russia and Turkey. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (International Political Economy Series). Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99256-9 (Accessed: 20 May 2022).
3. Urinboyev, R. and Pallot, J. (2024) ‘Ethnic and religious identities in Russian penal institutions: A case study of Uzbek Transnational Muslim prisoners’, Open Research Europe, 3(122), pp. 1–35. Available at: https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.16142.2.
4. Eraliev, S. and Urinboyev, R. (2024) ‘“What have you done, brother Putin?”: Everyday geopolitics and Central Asian labour migration to Russia’, Central Asian Survey, 43(2), pp. 215–234. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2023.2266519.

Nodira: https://www.uva.nl/en/profile/k/h/n.kholmatova/n.kholmatova.html 
Project webpage: https://reintegrateerc.com/nodira-kholmatova/ 
1.Kholmatova, N. (2022). Gender. Introduction: critical appraisal. In R. Isaacs (Ed.), A Critical Reader in Central Asian Studies : 40 Years of Central Asian Survey (pp. 139-143). (Central Asian Studies; Vol. 42). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003200338-8
2. Kholmatova, N. (2021). The precarity of transnational migration and the COVID-19 pandemic: addressing female return migration in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. (Policy Brief of the Migration Governance and Agricultural and Rural Change (AGRUMIG) Project]. London, UK: SOAS University of London. 8p. (AGRUMIG Policy Brief Series 3)). European Union Horizon2020 work programme. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/131900 
3. Kholmatova, N. (2021). Navigating contradictions : female return migration and social change in Tajikistan, Florence : European University Institute, 2021, EUI, SPS, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/72723 

Ep3(S5) Migration & Russia: Understanding the Broader Context and Impacts of the War in Ukraine

Is migrating a risk factor for one’s mental health? Well, sometimes yes, and sometimes no – it depends on the context and perspective. (Of course, “context and perspective” is the simple way of putting it. You’ll hear about some of the complexity behind this, in this episode!) 

You’ll hear Itzel Eguiluz interview Ietza Bojorquez and Sylvia Dantas about their work with migrants in Mexico and Brazil.

In their short conversation, they get to the heart of why treating mental health in multicultural contexts can be so challenging. We hear about the importance of reflexivity – and specifically how the position and cultural backgrounds of practitioners as well as migrants facing mental health difficulties should be taken into consideration. 

It turns out, that in their work trying to improve mental health support for migrants, both Ietza and Sylvia are working to provide better access to the health care for migrants in general, and they talk about why this is a necessary foundational step. 

Ietza Bojorquez is a professor-researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Tijuana, Mexico. She is also working on the Observatorio de Salud y Movilidad en México, and has a background in epidemiology. She works on the topics of migrant mental health, including migrants' access to healthcare and addressing mental health issues among migrants. These days her research mainly focuses on migrants in transit through Mexico and Mexican migrants deported from the United States.

Sylvia Dantas is a Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at São Paulo Federal University. She is also the vice-coordinator of the research group “Intercultural Dialogues” at the Institute for Advanced Studies at the same university. Sylvia has a PhD in social psychology, and she focuses on intercultural psychology, psychoanalysis and guidance for organizations and individuals, especially when it comes to migration, prejudice, and ethnic and cultural identities. 
 
Thank you for tuning in!

For more information on Ietza's and Sylvia's work, see below;

From Ietza Bojorquez:
Project name and website: https://observatorios.colef.mx/osymm/
1. Bojorquez-Chapela, Ietza, Leyva-Flores, René, Gomez-López, Diana, Vázquez, Esther K, Cortés-Alcalá, Ricardo (2023).  Forced migration and psychological distress among migrants in transit through Mexico. Salud Pública de México. Publicado en línea 15 de diciembre 2023. https://doi.org/10.21149/14829
2. Bojorquez Ietza, Sepúlveda Jaime, Lee Deandra, Strathdee Steffanie (2022). Interrupted transit and common mental disorders among migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 68(5):1018-1025. doi:10.1177/00207640221099419.
3. Bojorquez, Ietza, Odgers-Ortiz, Olga, Olivas-Hernández, Olga (2021). Psychosocial and mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown: A rapid qualitative study in migrant shelters at the Mexico-United States border. Salud Mental, 44(4):167-175. DOI: 10.17711/SM.0185-3325.2021.022
4. Bojorquez, I., Aguilera, R. M., Ramírez, J., Cerecero, D. & Mejía, S. (2015) Common Mental Disorders at the Time of Deportation: A Survey at the Mexico–United States Border. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 17(6):1732-1738. Publicado en línea 14 de agosto de 2014, DOI: 10.1007/s10903-014-0083-y

From Sylvia Dantas
Her new book:
Resignifying Migration and Minorities’ Cultural Contact in Brazil (May 2025), Springer:
Launch event (in Portuguese): June 9, 2025. More information here:
https://www.iea.usp.br/eventos/lancamento-resignifying-migration?fbclid=IwY2xjawKi3DVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF4S3JORkZPQXl3cmtWSWtMAR6QZ_r94cli9D_gY0Zr7Ac2TG4jIutnszLaICgSdR3VGlCciMTRw6Tjs6uvkg_aem_ZsVhM7tTDLj4MvKsoDdiJQ


Ep4(S5) Migration and Mental Health: A Look at Latin America

The field of migration and mobility studies is vast and has grown exponentially over the past decades. To make sense of the movement of people, this podcast explores migration and mobility research globally. Providing a platform for migration scholars to speak about their projects, ideas and insights, The IMISCOE Migration Podcast aims to publicize what happens inside universities around the world. This is a podcast by the research community for everyone interested in knowing more about academic research on migration. 

Download or subscribe to hear about new books, or listen to one of our episodes in which we speak to scholars about ideas that changed how we think about migration. 

Team for season 5:
Production: 
Kate Dearden 

Team & Programming Coordinators: 
Milena Belloni, Roos Derrix, Mark Marvin Kadigo

Financial Administration & Engagement: 
Asya Pisarevskaya

Interviews: 
Amanda Paz Alencar, Liberty Chee, Silindile Mlilo, Itzel Eguiluz, Samanwita Paul

Ep3(S5) Migration & Russia: Understanding the Broader Context and Impacts of the War in Ukraine

The Migration Podcast

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