Immigration & Integration ⁄ Open Migration

Interim measures ordered for 148 homeless asylum-seekers in Belgium in a single day. Rule 39 applications on behalf of at least 700 more are on their way. How will the Belgian state respond?

December 12, 2022 - Fabi Fugazza

Unacceptable asylum and reception conditions in Belgium have left thousands of people on the streets of Europe’s capital. In this article author Fabi Fugazza explains how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) applied an interim measure requiring the Belgian authorities to provide accommodation.

The criminalisation of foreigners in the media

September 21, 2022 - Oiza Q. Obasuyi

The type of narrative adopted by mainstream news sources when it comes to migration often tends to criminalise migrants. This way of telling the facts has a real impact on audiences who in turn can adopt hostile behaviour towards immigrants. Researchers from the University of Leuven, as part of the HumMingbird project, analysed these issues. Oiza Q. Obasuyi reports.

How the Rule 39 Initiative saved the lives of migrants held on the edges of conflict in Ukraine

August 25, 2022 - Open Migration

Despite the ongoing conflict, migrants have been detained in Ukrainian detention centres at the frontline, as bombs kept falling close to the buildings. Thanks to the Rule 39 Initiative, CILD managed to protect their lives by involving the European Court of Human Rights and obtaining their relocation. The action ensured that eventually some of them were also able to flee the country.

Tracking hate speech in Europe. A new study shows how tweets reflect public opinion on immigration

June 9, 2022 - Oiza Q. Obasuyi

Hate speech constitutes one of the most serious threats to coexistence in the European Union. Based on this premise, researchers from the University of Salamanca - Carlos Arcila-Calderòn, Patricia Sànchez-Holgado, Cristina Quintana-Moreno, Javier-J. Amores and David Blanco-Herrero - have shown that the presence of xenophobic messages on social media can be used to predict public opinion and citizen attitudes of social acceptance towards immigrants in Europe. We spoke about it with David Blanco-Herrero.

Ukraine: the war told via the stories of those fleeing conflict

April 24, 2022 - Andrea Oleandri

Two months after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, we have decided to collect all the reports made so far in an e-book. Here are the stories of those who have decided to escape from violence, those who have not decided yet, and those who would like to do so but suffer discrimination. We want to offer a broad picture of what is happening, what the war means, and the reasons that in Ukraine, as in other parts of the world, push people to run from their home countries. We also reflect on how much the “willingness to welcome” counts. Our aim is to attentively follow the facts today and build a shared memory for tomorrow that helps us avoid mistakes made in the past.

The LGBTI+ community in Ukraine is in the grips of war

April 20, 2022 - Manuela Macario

Martial laws prevent any male person from leaving Ukraine (if they are Ukrainian by nationality). It matters little to officials, in times of war, if it is not biological sex that determines gender identity. We present an in-depth study by Manuela Macario, head of work and marginality in the Arcigay national secretariat.

The Romanian model: grassroots hospitality for Ukrainian refugees

April 20, 2022 - Eleonora Camilli

On the border between Romania and Ukraine, a policy based on regular routes of entry, visa liberalisation and widespread reception is making it possible to avoid the occurrence of a "migration crisis" at the borders of the Union. A report by Eleonora Camilli