Immigration - new material (83)
01 May 2006
Hinterland. Bavarian Refugee Council, Issues 0/2006 (pp 38) & 1/2006 (pp 62), EUR 6. The newsletter has changed its name and strategy: the editorial for the first issue of the relaunched journal promises to "cover various themes - in an anti-cyclical manner - that are currently put on the back shelf in Germany for all the self-pitying naval gazing exercises and loud immigration and security talk". Flight and migration are definitely "out" at the moment. This critical quarterly journal intends to counterbalance this tendency. The first two issues have certainly lived up to the expectations and its promise to go beyond "single-issue" politics. Personal stories of refugees, their deportation and their struggles against racism and social and economic destitution in Germany are accompanied by well-researched and informative articles on an array of themes related to flight and migration. A summary on Mike Davis' book on slums in today's global mega cities (Verso, 2006) reports about increasing urbanisation, impoverishment and polarisation of wealth. Other articles report on the situation in northern Senegal, country of origin of many African refugees who receive mass media attention in Europe (and quickly lose it again) when trying to reach the Canary islands, as well as police violence in Mexico and sexual torture in its prisons (issue 1/2006). The launch issue focuses on theAvdija family from Kosovo, who under the Dublin II regulation was deported to Slovenia on 1 July. All six family members are interviewed, their case history is presented and the bureaucratic insanity of the German deportation state and methods used by its authorities (lying about the deportation date, refusing to communicate with the family about the course of events, using violence during deportation) are uncovered (issue 0/2006). Available from abo@hinterland-magazin.de
The 'Mediterranean Solution': rescinding the rights of boat people, Liz Fekete. IRR European Race Bulletin No 56 (Summer) 2006, pp2-8. Article on the "south European front states", where border officials draw on Australia's "Pacific solution" to drive African migrants from their borders, by force if necessary. Available from the IRR, 2-6 Leeke Street, London WC1X 9HS
Rapporto 2005. Gli immigrati in Lombardia, Osservatorio Regionale per l'integrazione e la multietnicità, Fondazione ISMU, pp. 274, February 2006. Available from: Fondazione ISMU, Via Copernico 1, 20125 Milano. This report marks the fifth year of activity by the regional observatory on integration and multi-ethnicity in the northern Italian Lombardy region. Its seven chapters, which feature plenty of empirical data, focus on the presence of foreigners in Lombardy (special emphasis is placed on their role in the labour market), secondary schooling and professional training, employment and quotas, the training of public officials dealing with migrants, health issues, structures for reception and, finally, the forms of self-organisation adopted by migrants.
Undicesimo Rapporto sulle migrazioni 2005, Fondazione ISMU, Franco Angeli, pp.432, 2006. This eleventh report on migrations in Italy features a wealth of statistical data on the presence of migrants, in prisons (32.26%), on weddings, birth rates, regularisations, residence permits, etc. It is an in-depth study that ranges from an analysis of the general framework of immigration policy in Italy and the EU, to different aspects of integration into society in the host country (employment, health, schooling, housing, crime and the attitudes of Italians), and the international setting (including cooperation with Libya, border controls and the expansion of the EU and its effects on European identity).
Les caricatures françaises du droit d'asile ou la fin d'une "utopie divine", Vincent Geisser, Migrations Societé, CIEMI, vol. 18, n.104, March-April 2006, pp.3-16. This essay details the political and legislative keys to the dismantling of protection for refugees in France since