Asylum | nccr – on the move https://nccr-onthemove.ch National Center of Competence in Research –<br /> The Migration-Mobility Nexus Mon, 02 Oct 2023 10:13:39 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Border Bureaucracies: A Literature Review of Discretion in Migration Control https://nccr-onthemove.ch/publications/border-bureaucracies-a-literature-review-of-discretion-in-migration-control/ Tue, 10 Jan 2023 09:49:52 +0000 https://nccr-onthemove.ch/?post_type=publications&p=17664 This literature review summarizes findings from 63 articles published between 2001 and 2020 that study discretion of frontline workers at migration control. The results demonstrate that discretionary practices in various migration control situations (e.g., border zones, migration agencies, courts, public welfare services, and detention centers) are widespread but share common patterns. Frontline workers’ racialized prejudices […]

The post Border Bureaucracies: A Literature Review of Discretion in Migration Control first appeared on nccr – on the move.

]]>

This literature review summarizes findings from 63 articles published between 2001 and 2020 that study discretion of frontline workers at migration control. The results demonstrate that discretionary practices in various migration control situations (e.g., border zones, migration agencies, courts, public welfare services, and detention centers) are widespread but share common patterns. Frontline workers’ racialized prejudices and perceptions of migrant deservingness were the most dominant patterns found in the data, although there were some disagreements about which were most influential. Discretion of frontline workers was described as foremost detrimental to migrants, as it amplified the migrants’ vulnerable situations, even if it occasionally could increase individual migrants’ room for agency and strategic maneuvering. Contrary to the assumption underpinning the control gap-thesis in immigration policy literature that governments’ capacity to control migration is hampered by the significant discretion at the frontlines, many studies in our sample describe how governments shape the discretionary practices of frontline workers through informal, subtle, and opaque governing strategies. These informal governing strategies enable central governments to deflect responsibility for discriminatory and inhumane policy outcomes.

The post Border Bureaucracies: A Literature Review of Discretion in Migration Control first appeared on nccr – on the move.

]]> The Global Spread of Safe Country Policies: Introducing the SACOP Dataset https://nccr-onthemove.ch/publications/the-global-spread-of-safe-country-policies-introducing-the-sacop-dataset/ Thu, 24 Feb 2022 08:01:55 +0000 https://nccr-onthemove.ch/?post_type=publications&p=15939 Safe Country Policies have been a central tool used by states to restrict access to asylum. Despite the salience of such policies for both host states and people seeking protection, we lack a coherent conceptualization of the different types of Safe Country Policies and systematic information on their adoption in all world regions. Aiming to […]

The post The Global Spread of Safe Country Policies: Introducing the SACOP Dataset first appeared on nccr – on the move.

]]> Safe Country Policies have been a central tool used by states to restrict access to asylum. Despite the salience of such policies for both host states and people seeking protection, we lack a coherent conceptualization of the different types of Safe Country Policies and systematic information on their adoption in all world regions. Aiming to fill these conceptual and empirical gaps, I introduce the Safe Country Policies Dataset (SACOP), which provides original information on the adoption and characteristics of Safe Country Policies in 195 states from 1951 until 2021. Drawing from this dataset, we learn that Safe Country Policies are not only widespread in the Global North but are increasingly being adopted by states in the Global South. The global spread of these policies does not only challenge the principle of responsibility-sharing in asylum governance, but it may also create new patterns of injustice between states in regions that host the bulk of displaced people.

The post The Global Spread of Safe Country Policies: Introducing the SACOP Dataset first appeared on nccr – on the move.

]]> Return Me – If You Can10th Anniversary of the Adoption of the EU Return Directive – A Success Story? https://nccr-onthemove.ch/publications/return-me-if-you-can10th-anniversary-of-the-adoption-of-the-eu-return-directive-a-success-story/ Tue, 29 May 2018 14:28:25 +0000 https://nccr-onthemove.ch/?post_type=publications&p=7655 The EU Return Directive will celebrate its 10th Anniversary in 2018. As part of the Schengen Acquis, this Directive is also binding for Switzerland. This Working Paper analyses whether the Directive has actually achieved its aim of setting up a “fair and transparent regime for returns”, by pointing out four major problems, also identified by […]

The post Return Me – If You Can
10th Anniversary of the Adoption of the EU Return Directive – A Success Story? first appeared on nccr – on the move.

]]> The EU Return Directive will celebrate its 10th Anniversary in 2018. As part of the Schengen Acquis, this Directive is also binding for Switzerland. This Working Paper analyses whether the Directive has actually achieved its aim of setting up a “fair and transparent regime for returns”, by pointing out four major problems, also identified by the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The post Return Me – If You Can
10th Anniversary of the Adoption of the EU Return Directive – A Success Story? first appeared on nccr – on the move.

]]> Language Roulette – The Effect of Random Placement on Refugees’ Labor Market Integration https://nccr-onthemove.ch/publications/language-roulette-the-effect-of-random-placement-on-refugees-labour-market-integration/ Fri, 06 Jan 2017 16:14:59 +0000 https://nccr-onthemove.ch/?post_type=publications&p=3390 Abstract The labour market integration of refugees represents a key challenge for policy makers and has emerged as one of the most divisive topics in public debate. European countries have been pressured to establish fair and transparent methods of placing asylum seekers among the European states and into different regions within their national borders. In […]

The post Language Roulette – The Effect of Random Placement on Refugees’ Labor Market Integration first appeared on nccr – on the move.

]]> Abstract

The labour market integration of refugees represents a key challenge for policy makers and has emerged as one of the most divisive topics in public debate. European countries have been pressured to establish fair and transparent methods of placing asylum seekers among the European states and into different regions within their national borders. In this paper, I highlight the unsurprising yet unintended consequences of following the most neutral placement mechanism: random assignment. The natural experiment of placing refugees randomly across different language regions in Switzerland results in substantially higher probabilities of finding employment when asylum seekers are placed in regions with a lingua franca that matches their individual language skills than when they are placed in regions speaking unfamiliar languages. Additionally, the findings suggest that language course participation can offset the reduced likelihood of employment in cases of a language mismatch. While random placement of refugees may be desirable for political reasons, it is detrimental to the economic integration process of these immigrants. Due to its strong subnational entities and clearly defined borders of language regions, Switzerland can function as a laboratory for European policy. This study also provides new empirical evidence for a positive and significant language proficiency effect.

The post Language Roulette – The Effect of Random Placement on Refugees’ Labor Market Integration first appeared on nccr – on the move.

]]>