Monday Morning Meetings on Migration

Will Syrian refugees be better off in Turkey? European leaders are banking on it, but have little idea about the quality of protection Turkey offer Syrian nationals. Can Mutlu, currently based at Bilkent University, is one of the few researchers who has been studying Turkish refugee reception processes up close and on the ground. In this week’s podcast he tells us why some of the temporary protection measures – like offering work permits – have had limited effects, and explores whether there is a long term future for asylum seekers on Turkish soil.

May 30, 2016 – Stanford Mahati. Early this month, Elaine Chase told us how child migrants in Europe struggle to plan for their own future. In this week’s rejoinder, Stanford Mahati argues that we have underestimated the considerable capacity of child migrants to make their own migration plans and establish their own livelihoods in South Africa. He asks us to abandon the term ‘unaccompanied minors’ and instead begin to think about the ways we can assist ‘independent migrant children’ to realise their personal goals.

London has a new Mayor: Sadiq Khan. His Muslim and immigrant background have been front and centre in the social media celebrations of his election. At the same time, Khan has sought to play down his background, asserting that he is a mayor of a major capital city, not a religious leader. In this week's podcast - our first full recording in our new studio - we chat with John Bowen, author of ‘On British Islam: Religion, Law, and Everyday Practice in Shari'a Councils'. John tells us that there is indeed much to make of Khan's religious background: it reflects a tradition of making diversity a non-issue in the UK.

Antonis Vradis & Anna Papoutsi. After delivering her verdict on Pope Francis' move to rescue asylum seekers on Lesbos, Anja Karlsson Franck asked us to seek out a rejoinder from Antonis Vradis and Anna Papoutsi at the Transcapes project in Durham. This week, they seek to answer Anja's question about whether we can help refugees without exploiting them. They suggest that while high-level diplomatic moves by the Pope and others should be regarded with caution, the grassroots efforts to establish meaningful solidarity with migrants and refugees might indeed change the way Europeans see themselves and others.

Last week Anja Karlsson Franck spoke to us about Pope Francis’ decision to rescue 12 migrants who were stranded on the Greek Island of Lesbos. Anja argued that we might the Pope’s gesture as a problematic but still politically progressive act. In today’s recording Polly Pallister Wilkins joins forces with some of Anja’s remarks, but cautions us against making the Papacy a standard bearer of humanitarianism in the European migration crisis.

Large numbers of unaccompanied young migrants are seeking sanctuary in Europe. The plight of these migrants has been brought into focus by the conditions in Calais. The Guardian recently reported that over 150 unaccompanied children from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries are still stranded in Calais, and called on UK Home Office to provide safe passage to Britain to reunite them with their relatives. Things came to a head in the UK House of Lords last Tuesday, when the government narrowly defeated a cross-party motion to accept some 3000 child migrants from mainland Europe. In this week's podcast, Elaine Chase, a Senior Lecturer in Education, Health and International Development at the University College London asks what it is like for many of these migrants to navigate adolescence without much ability to plan for the future.

On April 16th, Pope Francis made a 'gesture' on the Greek Island of Lesbos. Francis, the unlikely darling of the liberal left, returned to the Vatican with 12 Muslim Syrian asylum seekers, planning to offer them sanctuary. Was the Pope setting an example for European governments to follow, or is he just exploiting asylum seekers for political purposes? Anja Karlsson Franck, Senior Lecturer at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, draws on her extensive fieldwork on the island of Lesbos to make the call.

Last month, Francois Bonnet gave us his thoughts on the Cologne attacks. He argued that Cologne was a major blow to the Feminist left in Europe and encouraged us to see the police response to the violence as an act of performing non-racism. In this week's podcast, Kendra Briken of the University of Strathclyde offers a feminist and anti-racist critique of Francois’ position.

The EU and Turkey deal are seeking to close the 'Balkan route' to Europe. On March 7 2016, Turkey offered to take back any migrants entering the EU from Turkey who didn’t qualify for protection. For every migrant Turkey receives, the EU has offered to resettle one Syrian refugee currently residing in Turkey. Franck Düvell argues that this seemingly simple and straightforward swap will face a litany of legal and logistical uncertainties.

After a series of large victories in the primaries, Donald Trump is being hailed as the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee. His election campaign has promised two major changes to immigration policy: build a wall on the US/Mexico border and increase efforts to deport unauthorised foreign residents. In this week's podcast, we ask Austin Kocher to forecast what the first 100 days of a Trump Presidency would mean for US migrants and politics more generally. He reveals just how far Trump's candidacy has already shifted the terms of debate.

On Saturday January 30th 2016, Frauke Petry, the leader of the Alternatives for Freedom party said that German police should use armed force if necessary to prevent illegal migrants from crossing the German border. In this podcast Polly Pallister-Wilkins chatted with our host Darshan Vigneswaran about what Petry's remarks tell us about the changing tone of Europe’s response to the migration crisis.

On New Years Eve 2016 German police received hundreds of complaints of crimes including sexual assaults and robberies occurring in the vicinity of the Cologne Central Railway station. Many blamed recently arrived asylum seekers for the attacks. In this week’s podcast Francois Bonnet of the CNRS, explains why we have struggled to balance our righteous indignation at the attacks with our fear of being labelled a ‘racist’.