Blog

The blog is an open forum that encourages contributors and readers from all disciplines and affiliations to present and analyse ideas in an accessible format. All blogs represent the authors views. Please see our submission guidelines.

Blog entries:

Book Review Behrouz Boochani (2018): “No Friend but the Mountains: The true story of an illegally imprisoned refugee,” translated by Omid Tofighian

By Beja Protner Imagine a community of four hundred people, neglected in a boiling hot filthy cage, still traumatised by the terrifying sound of waves ringing in their ears and the rotting boat fixed before their eyes . ––– Behrouz Boochani, (126) Behrouz Boochani’s No Friend but the Mountains...

Andromachi Tseloni on crime victimisation surveys and a new data linking project with the Ministry of Justice, UK

By Ashley Mehra Professor Andromachi Tseloni is the Academic Lead for the Ministry of Justice’s Data First programme. Data First is an ADR UK-funded initiative to link data from across the family, civil, and criminal courts to better understand use of the justice system. The following is an...

The Covid-19 Shock: Effects on the Migrant Labour Force and Remittances (Nov 12, 2020)

By: Dr. Zsoka Koczan and Dr. Alexander Plekhanov While everyone faces a risk of infection, the economic shock associated with Covid-19 has been far from even, hitting the most vulnerable hardest. Small businesses, especially in the retail and services sectors, have borne the brunt of the crisis (...

The Conflictual Theory of Law: Towards a More Inclusive Understanding of Rights (September 30, 2020)

By: Julius M. Rogenhofer This post introduces an article recently published in Contemporary Pragmatism titled “The Conflictual Theory of Law: A Pragmatist Conception of Laws as Social Institutions”. The full text can be read open-access here: https://brill.com/view/journals/copr/17/2-3/article-...

The Importance of Humanising Refugees (September 14, 2020)

By: Alexander Huang-Menders The Barretal Refugee Camp, Tijuana, Mexico. December, 2018. A displaced family in the Barretal Refugee Campin Tijuana, Mexico. December, 2018. (Photo from The Power of Faces) A young man poses for a portrait outside the Vial Refugee Camp in Chios, Greece. July 2018. A...

The Brides for Survival: Tracking the Invisible Pandemic of Early Marriages in India (September 7, 2020)

By: Reetika Revathy Subramanian At first, they were suggestions, and then, they became official public directives: ‘wash your hands, keep your distance, and stay indoors’. These apparently simple actions that were meant to stem the threat posed by the COVID-19 virus and ensure complete safety...

Making Home Away: A New Digital Archive of Testimonies of Migration, Displacement and Resettlement (August 11, 2020)

By: Dr. Helen Underhill For many people around the world, recent months have seen an unprecedented redefinition our relationship with our homes, with millions spending time confined to whatever spaces we call home in a mass effort to slow the spread of Covid-19. Through this experience, ‘Home’ has...

“Stay at Home?” How Syrian Refugees Face a Crisis of Shelter in Jordan (July 25, 2020)

By: Cevdet Acu I came to Amman/Jordan on 8 March 2020, only three days before the World Health Organization ( WHO ) characterized the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a pandemic. I had travelled to Jordan to conduct interviews with Syrian refugees in order to gain a better understanding of their...

A Critical Analysis of the Migration Ban Lifecycle for Women Domestic Workers in the Indo-Pacific Region (June 30, 2020)

By Dr Sophie Henderson, Dr Richa Shivakoti, & Dr Matt Withers In January 2020, the Philippine government issued a total ban on the migration of domestic workers to Kuwait following the death of Filipina domestic worker Jeanelyn Villavende the previous month. Villavende was allegedly physically...

Digital Livelihoods: The Promises and Perils of Remote Work for Refugees (June 30, 2020)

By: Dr. Philip Rushworth On Friday, 12 June, we hosted a panel of researchers and practitioners at The Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement at Cambridge University t o discuss remote work for refugees . This guest post covers some of the key themes from our discussion. You can watch the...

The Impact of Covid-19 on Migrants and Migration in the Gulf States (June 1, 2020)

By : Dr Georgia Cole It is fitting that the Centre for Global Human Movement’s first Global Conversation on Covid-19 began with a discussion on the virus’ impact on migrants in the Gulf States . As Froilan Malit, Jr. outlined at the start of his talk, all but two states within the Gulf Cooperation...

COVID-19 and State of Preparedness for the Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh (June 1, 2020)

By: Dr Mohammad Tarikul Islam Since the 1970s large numbers of the Rohingya, an ethnic minority group from Myanmar has crossed into neighboring Bangladesh fleeing persecution. Bangladesh now hosts around one million Rohingya refugees , many living in makeshift camps in the area of Cox’s Bazar...

Borders, Politics, and Pandemics: The Risks of Technosolutionism in the Time of COVID-19 (May 22, 2020)

By: Dr. Petra Molnar As the ‘Feared Outsiders’, refugees, immigrants, and people on the move have long been linked with bringing disease and illness across borders. During periods of immigration in 20th century America , for instance, immigrants were continuously stigmatized as carriers of germs...

COVID-19 Impact on Zoonotic Disease Risk Solutions in Displaced Populations (May 12, 2020)

By: Dorien Braam While walking through the mud among the improvised tented shelters of an informal camp housing Syrian refugees in Jordan, I was approached by a desperate mother and her young disabled son. Amina [1] showed me a hand-written prescription of the medication she needed but had been...

How Humanitarian Blockchain Can Deliver Fair Labor to Global Supply Chains (April 30, 2020)

By: Ashley Mehra , Dr John G. Dale This article is part of our ongoing series on Technology and Human Rights . Blockchain technology in global supply chains has proven most useful as a tool for storing and keeping records of information or facilitating payments with increased efficiency. The use of...

“For now, we are still circling”: Stories of Displacement from Eritrea (April 26, 2020)

By : Dr. Georgia Cole Monday 27 th January started in typical fashion for a day of data collection in Kampala, Uganda. I was there to interview Eritreans who had travelled to Uganda from the Gulf States, where they had spent anywhere between a few months and several decades working in cities such...

Designs for a Refugee Shelter Rooftop: Architectural Summer School (March 30, 2020)

By : Toby Parsloe In August 2019 I undertook what was the most challenging and fulfilling project of my academic career to date. Through the generous support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, I organised a collaborative architectural summer school for students at the University of...

Submission Guidelines

Submission Guidelines Submissions should focus, broadly, on the theme of movement, migration and mobility. We are eager to consider pieces that approach the topic from a wide variety of perspectives. We will consider work in a range of styles and genres, from essays and journalism to visual art and...