5 July 2024, Lisbon, Portugal
At the IMISCOE 2024 conference in Lisbon, we organised a dedicated panel focused entirely on the AVRAI project. The session also welcomed contributions from other European scholars, addressing key issues related to refugee vulnerability across Europe.
Panel: "Assessing the vulnerability of migrants, asylum-seekers, and refugees in high-income countries” Chair: Mendola D., Cela E. Discussant: Busetta A.
Vulnerability is a characteristic “automatically” associated with refugees and migrants. However, its definition is often unclear and highly context-specific. Sources of vulnerability can be of different natures: inherent (i.e., due to personal characteristics), situational (i.e., depending on the context) and pathogenic (i.e., driven by policies and fed by prejudice or abuse in interpersonal relationships, and by social domination). Even though vulnerability is a multidimensional and multilayered concept, the complexity of the relationships among its various dimensions has generally been underrated in both scholarly writings and humanitarian practices and is mainly accounted as economic or health vulnerability.
Sources of vulnerability might differ according to the different life stages of migrants and refugees, increasing the importance of intersectionality in analyzing its different domains. In this panel, we aim to discuss these different sources of vulnerability among migrants and refugees in high-income countries and offer theoretical reflections. Papers in this panel provide a focus on different high-income countries (i.e., Italy, Portugal, Germany and the U.S.) and apply different methodological approaches (both qualitative and quantitative, as well as cross-sectional and longitudinal). Furthermore, the panel includes both a theoretical contribution that explores the complexity of the notion of vulnerability and its operationalization and a policy-oriented paper focusing on the role of migration policies on such vulnerability.
"Concurrency of risks in shaping vulnerability of migrants and refugees” Mendola D.
Abstract: Vulnerability is a characteristic “automatically” associated with refugees and migrants. However, its definition is often unclear and highly context-specific. Even though vulnerability is a multidimensional concept, the complexity of the relationships among its various dimensions has generally been underrated in both scholarly writings and humanitarian practices so vulnerability is often inflected as only economic or health vulnerability. Sources of vulnerability can be of various natures: inherent, situational and pathogenic. These are often all represented in the debate on vulnerability but are rarely quantitatively assessed or interconnected.
Theories of the intersectionality of disadvantages have recently started blowing in the migration studies field, giving the chance for a different approach to vulnerability assessment. They assume an interplay among sources of vulnerability and a cumulative (i.e., not linear) effect on it. Such an approach could be useful in evaluating the adequateness and efficacy of interventions designed to ameliorate the conditions of refugees and migrants and reduce their vulnerability. This contribution discusses:
a) the need to define what “vulnerability” is when referring to migrants and refugees in high-income countries;
b) the issue of the correlations among items that are usually selected to assess the degree of vulnerability; and
c) the intersectionality of the risks of vulnerability, thus highlighting some opportunities given by the intersectional approach in the assessment of vulnerability. Finally, a review of results from the scientific literature will help in describing the practical consequences of ignoring the interrelations among vulnerability risks.
“Exploring Strategies to Overcome Vulnerabilities: A Contemporary Look at Portuguese Immigrants and Descendants in the USA” Tavares L. P. , Botelho Azevedo A.
Abstract: Using data of the American Community Survey (ACS) for the 2006–2020 period, we divide the Portuguese in the USA into four different population groups cross-referencing information on citizenship, place of birth, language spoken at home other than English, and ancestry. We then compare these groups with a group composed of the rest of the US population, to analyse how each of these groups fare in (relative) terms of educational attainment and labour earnings. This allows us to have a glimpse on the strategies used by the Portuguese immigrants or with Portuguese descent to overcome the vulnerabilities and difficulties traditionally faced by migrants in the host countries. Human capital, and in particular education, is an important mechanism of the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic (dis)advantages.
Historically, the educational level of the Portuguese immigrants was very low. However, despite of their lower education level, the average income of Portuguese immigrants is higher than that of other US residents. We identify two reasons for this: Portuguese immigrants are at a later stage of their working life (where incomes are typically higher); and more Portuguese-speaking descendants are self-employed than non-Portuguese speakers or other US residents. For the most recent period we also find that the percentage of Portuguese immigrants with higher education is catching up. Interestingly, the gap is widening between Portuguese descendants who speak Portuguese and both other US residents and those who do not speak Portuguese
"The decline of immigrant and refugee health during the life course” Loi S., Busetta A., Piereth A.-K.
Abstract: The healthy immigrant effect posits that immigrants are typically healthier than the native populations in the receiving countries. This advantage is a long-lasting effect of positive immigrant selection. However, the positive selection may not hold true for refugees. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, and focusing on the population aged 18-80, we study physical and mental health trajectories of refugees, and compare them with those of natives, first- and second-generation immigrants. We find that refugees do not benefit from the health selection at younger ages, and display levels of physical health that are significantly lower than those of natives, and those of first- and second-generation immigrants during their whole life course. We also observe that the levels of mental health among refugees are consistently and significantly lower compared to first- and second-generation immigrants, and the decline in mental health at older ages is more pronounced.
"Health and wellbeing of older asylum seekers and refugees in Italy” Cela E., Barbiano di Belgiojoso E.
Abstract: Population ageing is one of the most distinguishing features of the demographic trends in the last decades and one of the main challenges of western countries; migration is the second major phenomenon shaping population structure and challenging a wide range of policies. If ageing implies changes and adaptations, migration, also, is often a stressful life event that brings both constraints and opportunities. Their intersection might become a double source of vulnerability especially for individuals from developing countries. If we add to this intersection the fragile condition of being asylum seeker or refugee (AS&R), then we introduce a further layer of vulnerability. This paper focuses on ageing refugees and asylum seekers (50-plus) in Italy. This group has received little attention from research and policy agenda, and they are often also overlooked by practitioners in the design and implementation of humanitarian programs. This lack of attention is even more true for Italy where, in general, research on older migrants is still very scarce. Using in-depth interviews with middle-aged and older AS&R coming from different countries, we focus on pre-and-post-migration conditions and experiences and access to health and social care services, in order to unpack past and present factors that shape health and wellbeing in later life. We also aim at stimulating the academic and policy debate on the necessity to develop concrete policies that promote better access to services for AS&R.
“The governance and political debates on asylum seekers and refugees: An analysis of the paradoxes of the Italian case” Ince-Beqo G., De Tona C., Samuk S.
Abstract:Due to its geographical position, Italy is one of the central arrival countries in the EU for asylum seekers trying to enter Europe. In the post-pandemic period and under the new government led by the right-wing party Fratelli d’Italia, asylum seekers-flows have increased in size and severity of outcomes. According to the most recent UNCHR data, sea arrivals in the current year (Jan-Oct 2023) have increased by 87%, with over 137,000 new arrivals and an estimated 2,500 missing at sea. Replicating the 2019 Salvini Law and its already failed measures, the new government’s approach has implemented harsher measures against migrants in general, which have not only proved ineffective but have also caused the exacerbation of exclusionary politics and the vulnerability of asylum seekers, particularly in determining their legal status and accessing services. Relying on desk-based research on the recent political discussion and asylum policy, in this paper, we examine current trends in asylum seekers and refugee flows in Italy. We look at the shift of flows from Libya to Tunisia and the inability of the reception system to manage the flows. We also analyze the political response that has strengthened the securitization of border management, and the expulsion and detention laws. The analysis shows that the polarization of political debates and the restrictive measures have heightened the protracted precariousness and vulnerability of the asylum seekers who have reached Italy over the last years.
Link: The 2024 IMISCOE Annual Conference programme is now available! - IMISCOE
