The Scope of Reception Policies and Practices in Turkey: Housing
The Scope of Reception Policies and Practices in Turkey: Housing

by Prof. Ayhan Kaya | Bilgi University

The definition and scope of ‘reception’ in Turkish legislation includes various material conditions including housing, food and clothing provided in kind, or as financial allowances or in vouchers, or a combination of the three, and a daily allowance. Reception also covers matters of education, basic health care and accommodation which ought to be provided during the period of reception. Similar to the EU legislation, the time frame of ‘reception’ is not clearly defined in the Turkish legislation. However, there is an implicit definition: reception starts as soon as the border of a given state has been crossed and an application for international protection has been made. It ends either with the “effective expulsion”, “repatriation”, “forced/assisted return” of unsuccessful applicants or with the acceptance of their request for protection which, in the terminology of RESPOND, makes them subject to ‘integration’.

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PRESS RELEASE : Asylum law in Germany: fragmented, confusing and full of holes
PRESS RELEASE : Asylum law in Germany: fragmented, confusing and full of holes

by University of Göttingen

The research report “Refugee Protection in Germany” by the EU project “Multilevel Governance of Migration (RESPOND)” paints a gloomy picture of the human rights protection for asylum seekers in Germany. Among other things, the authors speak of a “differential exclusion” of ever larger groups from German asylum law on the basis of more or less arbitrary criteria. Although the basic right to asylum in Germany is officially unaffected, the authors argue that the many legal exceptions and hurdles lead to the fact that the protection standards of the Geneva Convention on Refugees and the European Charter of Human Rights are becoming less and less applicable in Germany. Professor Sabine Hess from the University of Göttingen led the research in Germany.

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When emancipatory integration does not work
When emancipatory integration does not work

GUEST POST

by Sara Forcella | University of Rome

Following the closure of ports to migrants’ rescue ships and the reduction of search and rescue sea operations last summer, the number of migrants disembarking on the Italian coasts has sharply dropped. In 2019, only 11.471 migrants have reached Italy crossing the Mediterranean in a boat, a very small number compared to 2018 (23.253) and 2017 (118.935). However, despite the decrease in sea arrivals, migrants within the reception system are still many (91.424). Over the past year and a half, policies that regulate migrants’ reception have also undergone major changes.

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Turkish Migration Stories Then and Now: Connecting the German-Turkish and Syrian-Turkish Experience
Turkish Migration Stories Then and Now: Connecting the German-Turkish and Syrian-Turkish Experience

by Susan Beth Rottmann, Özyeğin University

While researching Syrian migration between Turkey and Europe for RESPOND, it has rapidly become clear to me that the questions of how to host and integrate Syrians, which Turkey is now confronting, must be understood within the broader context of Turkish citizens’ understanding of their European-ness, which I explore in detail in my new book, In Pursuit of Belonging: Forging an Ethical Life in European-Turkish Spaces (2019).

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Wisdom From The Method Pub
Wisdom From The Method Pub

by Susan Rottmann, Özyeğin University | Soner Önder Barthoma, Uppsala University

During our recent conference (17-19 October 2019, Cambridge), we organized the first ever "Method Pub" a social activity and joint discussion on the topic of "Research Methods for Migration Studies." Taking inspiration from the fact that Crick and Watson announced their discovery of the DNA double helix at a Cambridge pub, the event was held at a local pub on the second evening of the conference. It was open to all conference attendees regardless of background and experience and involved four small group discussions on some of the most pressing methodological issues or challenges that migration researchers face.

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