Negative attitudes towards out-groups have been of academic interest for many years — and even more so with the increased levels of migration to European countries in recent years. Building on insights from intergroup contact theory, this paper seeks to extend our knowledge of the association between contact and negative attitudes toward immigrants among youth in Sweden. Multiple regression analysis and fixed effects models are used to analyze a large, high-quality dataset on Swedish adolescents based on representative survey information, complemented with extensive registry data and official statistics. Our objective is to measure contact on different levels in order to better understand the importance of these different contact variables’ associations with negative attitudes. The results of the analysis indicate that high-quality contact in the form of friendship is associated with a reduction in negative attitudes among Swedish adolescents, even after controlling for background variables. Superficial forms of contact — measured on the school level — are, on the other hand, associated with an increase in negative attitudes.

The FOCUS project is undertaking a range of research and piloting tasks which aim to improve understanding of dynamic integration and to assist the implementation of effective practices. As part of this work a detailed programme of qualitative research has been undertaken in four countries. This report presents the country-specific findings of this research, which will be further consolidated in a cross-site analysis to be completed in the coming months. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were held with members of the receiving communities and with members of the arriving communities in a total of 10 site in four countries which have different experiences of migration from Syria in recent years (Sweden, Germany, Jordan, Croatia). 

When Nordic Migration Research (NMR) was launched in 2008, there was total agreement among the founding members that one of the primary objectives of the organization was to establish a high-quality, interdisciplinary Nordic journal for research on international migration and migration-related issues in an international and transnational setting. Accordingly, the NMR statutes define the aim of the Nordic Journal for Migration Research (NJMR) as "devoted to publishing high-quality, peer -reviewed research in different aspects of international migration and ethnic relations, such as integration, ethnicity/race, culture, religion, marginalization, citizenship, nationalism, discrimination and racism". The statutes further specify that the NJMR aims to develop into "a forum for both applied and theoretical research, seeking to attract high-quality, original contributions from both Nordic and non-Nordic countries", and that an important part of its mission and raison d'etre would be to focus particularly, although not exclusively, on the areas mentioned above with respect to their relevance to and impact on "the Nordic countries in a global perspective" (Hedetoft & Sicakkan 2011: 1).

As a country of high migration, Sweden presents an interesting case for the study of belongingness. For the children of migrants, ethnic and national identification, as well as ascriptive identity, can pose challenges to feelings of belongingness, which is an essential element for positive mental health. In this article, survey data were collected from 626 Swedes whose parents were born in the following countries: Somalia, Poland, Vietnam, and Turkey. The results show that Poles significantly felt they received more reflective appraisals of ascription than any other group. However, despite not feeling as if they were being ascribed as Swedish, most group members (regardless of ethnic origin) had high feelings of belongingness to Sweden. Overall, individuals who felt that being Swedish was important for their identity indicated the highest feelings of belongingness. Further, individuals across groups showed a positive correlation between their national identification and ethnic identification, indicating a feeling of membership to both. These results mirror previous research in Sweden where individuals' ethnic and national identities were positively correlated. The ability to inhabit multiple identities as a member of different groups is the choice of an individual within a pluralistic society. Multiple memberships between groups need not be contradictory but rather an expression of different spheres of inhabitance.

This open access book brings novel perspectives to the scholarship on transnational migration. The book stresses the complexity of migration trajectories and proposes multi-sited field studies to capture this complexity. Its constituent chapters offer examples of onward migration spanning all major world regions. The contents exemplify a range of interdisciplinary approaches, including both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The result is an impressive remapping and reconceptualisation of global migration and mobility, of interest to students and policy-makers alike. 

This introductory chapter sets the scene for the book. It defines onward migration as a migration trajectory that involves extended stays in two or more destination countries and distinguishes it from competing and overlapping terms like stepwise and transit migration. Onward migration is a growing phenomenon within overall global migration dynamics, although statistics to document the scale and trends of this type of migration are scarce. The main aim of the chapter is to examine how onward migration and transnationalism are connected. This is achieved both by reference to a range of existing literature and by citing evidence from the succeeding chapters in the volume. We demonstrate both how transnationalism can shape onward migration and, the reverse, how different onward migration trajectories may result in different forms of transnationalism. In this latter context, we identify inter-generational, split, widening and re-routed transnationalism, again drawing on examples both from the book and from the wider literature. The final section of the chapter consists of a methodological discussion on the practicalities of researching onward migration and multi-sited transnationalism, in which the technique of multi-sited ethnography is discussed, critiqued and modified.

Discussions about and interest in small businesses are important for our public debates when it comes to internationalization of trade and economics and the number of immigrant companies, i.e. companies run by people with a foreign background.To start and run a business, access to resources is a central starting point. Human capital is required, for instance, individual resources in the form of knowledge, experience, drive and ideas. Thus, it can be problematic for immigrants to establish a company in Sweden due to language difficulties, obstacles to obtaining credit and a poor social network. The networks can also act as a kind of informal business incubator or business support for immigrant entrepreneurs. In many cases, immigrants are succeeding in establishing their businesses thanks to the great help of their family, relatives and friends. This thesis focuses on examining immigrants' position in the labor market and the driving forces behind the choice to start their own businesses. I have conducted four qualitative interviews with selected respondents to construct a theory of how immigrants experience the way into the labor market and as self-employed. The results that I have presented present the immigrants' driving forces to start their own as an ambition with also a necessity for independence.

The aim of this study was to explore how the Roma’s fit into the colorblind ideology in Sweden. Roma’s have been stigmatized and victims of severe abuses by the state as they were classified as an inferior race. Sweden has replaced the word race with ethnicity however, these do not directly have the same meaning. The term race is classified as taboo in Sweden making it hard to address issues regarding racial discrimination. Through my analysis I have discovered that colorblindness is integrated in all aspects of society. Institutions have used colorblind arguments which have diminished the institutional discrimination of the Roma’s. The colorblind ideology has hindered Roma inclusion meaning that their progress has been slowed down. They are still exposed in several sectors including labor market, housing market and the educational system. This thesis contributes to more knowledge regarding the relationship between Roma’s and colorblindness in Sweden. The subject has not been addressed before and the thesis opens up a new area of study. 

Social media messages often provide insights into offline behaviors. Although hate speech proliferates rapidly across social media platforms, it is rarely recognized as a cybercrime, even when it may be linked to offline hate crimes that typically involve physical violence. This paper aims to anticipate violent acts by analyzing online hate speech (hatred, toxicity, and sentiment) and comparing it to offline hate crime. The dataset for this preregistered study included social media posts from X (previously called Twitter) and Facebook and internal police records of hate crimes reported in Spain between 2016 and 2018. After conducting preliminary data analysis to check the moderate temporal correlation, we used time series analysis to develop computational models (VAR, GLMNet, and XGBTree) to predict four time periods of these rare events on a daily and weekly basis. Forty-eight models were run to forecast two types of offline hate crimes, those against migrants and those against the LGBT community. The best model for migrant crime achieved an R2 of 64%, while that for LGBT crime reached 53%. According to the best ML models, the weekly aggregations outperformed the daily aggregations, the national models outperformed those geolocated in Madrid, and those about migration were more effective than those about LGBT people. Moreover, toxic language outperformed hatred and sentiment analysis, Facebook posts were better predictors than tweets, and in most cases, speech temporally preceded crime. Although we do not make any claims about causation, we conclude that online inflammatory language could be a leading indicator for detecting potential hate crimes acts and that these models can have practical applications for preventing these crimes.

In contemporary Swedish culture eating out has become a more common habit amongst people of different social groups. However, the restaurants where people choose to dine can be viewed as indicators of class affiliation. The aim of this study is twofold. Primarily it is to analyze how these class differences are displayed in the restaurant’s most prominent graphic design element, the menu. Through a visual analysis of four menus from restaurants located in Malmö, parameters such as informativity, food type and price range are measured against the presence of photographic food images. My results show that where the price increases, the frequency of actual photographic food images goes down. Secondly, and by using Pierre Bourdieu's theory of different forms of capital, the study aims to investigate the function of these photographic elements (and the lack thereof) on the chosen menus. The study ends with a conclusion that restaurants that do not use food photographs perform a kind of symbolic violence against customers of lower social classes.

Bevelander observes that economic and structural changes in the European economy have led to a gradual increase in the low-skilled service sector, as well as an increased demand for educated workers in the production of high-tech content. The increase in the number of humanitarian migrants being received by European states, as well as the subsequent family reunion migration, has further weakened the economic integration of migrants in Europe. In addition to this, these migrants have to overcome a number of thresholds to be successful in the labor market. Policies addressing this problem have primarily focused on an individual migrant's shortcomings but have not addressed the structural barriers individual migrants face, which hamper their economic integration. Continuation of this state of affairs will both increase marginalization and segregation of immigrants and contribute to growing anti-immigrant sentiment, thus undermining the legitimacy of migration and welfare states. 

Labour market integration of immigrants, the extent to which and the pace with which immigrants reach (close) parity with natives regarding labour force participation, employment and earnings is a major public concern. Human capital theory suggest labour immigrants are positively selected and that the disadvantage at arrival are expected to diminish as they learn new valuable skills. However, a growing diaspora at destination and migration for non-economic reasons reduces the selection.

Empirical studies show the importance of accounting for differences between cohorts of migrants; early cohorts typically perform better than later ones. Another important thing to note is the large and highly persistent differences in integration between labour migrants, family re-union migrants and refugees. The two latter categories, which never catch up with the labour migrants have been increasing over time. Their difficulties to reach same levels are not well understood, however.

This thematic paper deals with integration policies concerning persons who aregranted international protection in EU Member States. It acknowledges that there are two general trends in integration policies - a civic turn and a local turn. The civic turn implies more integration requirements for migrants, decided upon by the state, that have an impact on the legal status of migrant newcomers. On the other hand, the local turn implies less national involvement with cities instead handling more of the integration policies, including funding and policy measures.

The paper then describes four different models for the integration of beneficiaries of international protection: a national government-led model, a project based/multilevel governance model, a laissez-faire model, and a NGO-led model.

This chapter describes current changes in migration flows and politics in Sweden, before presenting and discussing the reactions to these changes in civil society – the mobilization of both pro- and anti-migration sentiments – which reflect the polarized sentiments towards immigration in Swedish society.First, this report conveys information about migration flows to Sweden before, during and after the refugee reception crisis of 2015. In 2016 in particular, Sweden had a major intake of asylum seekers, which prompted new legislative measures to manage this. Second, we emphasize transformations in the party-political landscape before, during and after the refugee reception crisis of 2015. In this period there was also a rhetorical shift in mainstream politics, heralding an emphasis on security in order to protect the Swedish model. The mainstream-right bloc was also split in two. Third, we study the actions and reactions in response to these changes in civil society. The everyday experiences of problems with integration stand in contrast with international norms of solidarity. We conclude that the crisis enabled a window of opportunity for the mobilization of both pro- and anti-migration sentiments in civil society.

This chapter provides an overview of migration trends in the principal welfare states with a focus on (1) employment of migrants - as a key indicator of integration - and (2) the factors that affect labor market integration of immigrants in the host societies. We look next at (3) the fiscal impact of first-generation immigrants before (4) developing a comparison of labor market and social inclusion programs designed to enhance the integration of immigrants. Finally, (5) we explore four national models of migration management to illustrate the policy dilemmas that welfare states face, including the challenge of delivering public services to asylum seekers. We argue that there is not a single policy that encapsulates best practice for managing migration in welfare states, but that granting rights to immigrants up front is the key to integration and to long-term positive outcomes for the immigrants, the economy, and the welfare state.

We still know remarkably little about the voting behavior of immigrant populations, and in particular, the children of immigrants – who grow up in the same society as their contemporaries, but may be subject to different patterns of socialization. This article uses verified voting behavior in Swedish municipal elections to offer at least two new perspectives on these questions. First, we are able to separate out the impacts of family socialization, general societal socialization, and citizenship acquisition on electoral participation. Second, we are also able to add to our knowledge of the differences in political participation levels between different groups of foreign-background voters.

This article seeks to fill a research gap by analysing refugees’ voting behavior, using Sweden (known for high refugee immigration, relatively liberal enfranchisement rules, and comprehensive electoral data) as a case study. Relying on register data on turnout from Swedish municipal elections, the article sheds new light on how the political integration of refugees varies. We test theories of resocialization and examine the extent to which a refugee’s political integration is affected by the surrounding environment, focusing on the political culture of the areas surrounding their neighborhoods. The results show that two major factors strongly affect refugee turnout rates: the acquisition of citizenship, and the degree of diversity of nationality in the districts in which refugees live, based on different experiences of “bonding” and “bridging” with the surrounding environment.

Sweden, like many other European countries, has lower employment levels for the foreign-born compared to native-born Swedes. To some extent, this could be due to the country's relatively large intake of refugees. However, few studies have focused entirely on the employment integration of these refugees. In order to fill this gap, we use detailed longitudinal Swedish register data of three arrival cohorts (1998-2000). These data cover the employment of refugees from different countries of origin in Sweden in the first 12 years since their arrival. In line with related work and theoretical considerations and with respect to group characteristics, outmigration, and employment integration over time, we find differences between dissimilar groups of refugees. The findings concerning employment integration decrease to a small degree after rich regression adjustments. Moreover, maybe more surprisingly, we find a very similar result within the main groups of refugees from countries such as Bosnia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. Women from these groups, in particular, have similar or higher employment probabilities than Swedish-born women after between 5 and 8 years in the country. Overall, each group managed to catch up to a non-negligible, yet varying, degree compared to related empirical evidence from other countries. The role of contextual factors in the refugee sending and receiving countries is highlighted.

I Policy Briefen undersöker författarna effekterna och värdet av formella politiska rättigheter, såsom rösträtten. Författarna ställer frågan om huruvida möjligheten att rösta för utländska medborgare i kommunal- och landstingsval i Sverige påverkar individernas benägenhet att bli svenska medborgare.

I Policy Briefen analyseras svenska administrativa data som i kombination med institutionella förhållanden skapat en kvasi-slumpmässig fördelning av rösträtten, det vill säga variationen av invandrarnas invandringsdatum. Här undersöks nettoeffekten för tre grupper av invandrare. Detta utifrån levnadsstandarden i ursprungsländerna, som skiljer sig åt i hur de reagerar på möjligheten av att få delta i den demokratiska processen i Sverige.

Social work with displaced people has an extended background in the history of the profession. Yet, it has taken different forms and remits over time, parallel to the evolving legal and political definition of refugee themselves. Inside Europe, in particular, social work with forced migrants has gained new visibility and increasing complexity after the so-called refugee crisis. Aspects like people's limited visibility and eligibility towards formal welfare services, their uncertain legal status, their temporal “liminality” and their non-linear patterns of mobility have all major consequences for social work practice, research and education. In discussing them, we highlight the need to invest in students' (and practitioners') reflexivity, given both the complexity of building up trust-based relationships with forcibly displaced people, and the risk of cultivating essentialized, stigmatizing or nativist representations about them. In all of these respects, our introduction provides a conceptual basis for this Special Issue of EJSW, and for the broader debate in social work across Europe.

The goal of this thesis is to provide a deeper understanding of the controversial issues surrounding the offshore asylum policy by concentrating on the political debates and arguments that are for and against the policies' activation. This will be done by  following the structure of a Political Discourse but applying an Argumentation Analysis to the study. Furthermore, the thesis critically examines the application of liberal norms in the offshore policy of Denmark and the United Kingdom and explores the tensions that occur when liberal principles such as human rights, humanitarianism, and the rule of law overlap with the nation's concerns of immigration and border control. This will be done by analysing the historical changes, legal framework, and the implementation of the policy in Denmark and United Kingdom. Using a comparative case study approach, the thesis analyzes the Rwanda Asylum Plan in relation to similar offshore asylum policies implemented in other countries such as the Australian offshore processing policy. 

As a result of the refugee reception crisis in 2015 the advocacy for increasing resettlement numbers in the overall refugee protection framework has gained momentum, as has research on resettlement to the EU. While the UNHCR purports resettlement as a durable solution for the international protection of refugees, resettlement programmes to the European Union are seen as a pillar of the external dimension of the EU’s asylum and migration policies and management. This paper presents and discusses the literature regarding the value transmissions taking place within these programmes. It reviews literature on the European resettlement process – ranging from the selection of refugees to be resettled, the information and training they receive prior to travelling to their new country of residence, their reception upon arrival, their placement and dispersal in the receiving state, as well as programs of private and community sponsorship. The literature shows that even if resettlement can be considered an external dimension of European migration policy, this process does not end at the border. Rather, resettlement entails particular forms of reception, placement and dispersal as well as integration practices that refugees are confronted with once they arrive in their resettlement country. These practices should thus be understood in the context of the resettlement regime as a whole.

In this paper we map out where and how values (here understood as ideas about how something should be) and norms (expectations or rules that are socially enforced) are transmitted within this regime. ‘Value transmission’ is here understood in a broad sense, taking into account the values that are directly transmitted through information and education programmes, as well as those informing practices and actors’ decisions. Identifying how norms and values figure in the resettlement regime aid us in further understanding decision making processes, policy making, and the on-the-ground work of practitioners that influence refugees’ lives. An important finding in this literature review is that vulnerability is a central notion in international refugee protection, and even more so in resettlement. Ideas and practices regarding vulnerability are, throughout the resettlement regime, in continuous tension with those of security, integration, and of refugees’ own agency. The literature review and our discussion serve as a point of departure for developing further investigations into the external dimension of value transmission, which in turn can add insights into the role of norms and values in the making and un-making of (external) boundaries/borders.

The paper starts from the observation that research on immigrants’ integration trajectories needs detailed information, both objective and attitudinal, and ideally longitudinal. This study uses the cases of Denmark and Sweden – whose registers produce detailed records about all natives’ and immigrants’ lives in their host countries – in order to, first, review existing research on immigrants and their integration and, second, discuss the way in which register data are used, their caveats and their potential. The study finds that, in Denmark and Sweden, registers provide systematic objective data which are fully available to researchers and have the potential to help in the collection of high-quality subjective data. However, the population registers have some traits which may impact on the representativeness of the samples. The authors argue that, if researchers are aware of the caveats, registers can be used to obtain representative samples of immigrants, and register data can be complemented with survey-based attitudinal data, thus opening up new research opportunities for testing propositions on integration theories.

Twenty-first century transformations have taken place within the framework ofglobalisation of the economy, the spread of information technology and global migrationresulting in increased cultural diversity in many societies. This qualitative studyinvestigated perspective transformation in 18 research students, from Australia, HongKong SAR, and Sweden, participating in an international online course by using Mezirow’stheory of perspective transformation and Kiely’s six forms of transformativechange (intellectual, moral, political, cultural, personal, and spiritual). The approach tolearning facilitated global networking and a commitment to support growth in thestudents’ research practice. Validating the link between research students’ learningexperiences and perspective transformation theory encourages educators to developfuture online educational materials to promote cognitive flexibility and reflexivity andincrease students’ cultural awareness to inform their research practices.

AbstractIn Sweden as well as internationally the teaching and research nexus has been described as the defining charac-teristics of higher education promoting generic skills such as information analysis and critical reflection. Vertically Integrated Projects has been proposed as one educational strategy where research and teaching are linked by in-viting students to take active part in actual research projects. The strategy is well aligned to Scholarship of teaching and learning enabling the transition from a teacher-centred accepted knowledge to a student-centred perspective where students are invited as producers of knowledge. The aim of the current study was to explore students’ experiences of participation in a research-based learning activity with academia and industrial partners, designed as a qualitative explorative study using focus group interviews. Findings describe not only factors students find motivating for learning, but also their experience of being part of professional life with its benefits and challenges.

This thesis investigates the role Turkey’s pursuit of regional power status plays in its narrative of Syrian mass migration from 2011 to 2014. By thematically analyzing 23 speeches given by Ahmet Davutoglu, the Foreign Minister at the time, this paper explores different themes that emerge both in Turkey’s approaches to Syrian migration and in their pursuit of regional power status. This study also aims to bridge the gap between migration studies and International Relations theories by using the theoretical concept of constructivism to help explain the approach Turkey has for its foreign policy. The main themes that emerge from Davutoglu’s speeches demonstrate the multilayered nature of both the Syrian migration crisis that altered the whole region and Turkey’s perceived rise to power. 

Using a two-level randomized experiment, we find that job search assistance (JSA) reduces unemployment among the treated but also creates displacement effects. Analyses of mechanisms show that vacancy referrals from caseworkers to job seekers explain the positive effects for the treated by helping the job seekers apply to the most relevant jobs earlier. We also find that the overall assessment of JSA hinges on how the displacement effects hit the labor market and to what extent firms react by opening new vacancies. The displacement is larger in weak labor markets, and we find no displacement of resources.

This article investigates labour market segmentation of EU-13 workers in Sweden. Labour market segmentation is a driver of income differences between natives, EU-15 migrants and EU-13 migrants in many EU member states. There are, however, indications that labour market inequalities as a result of segmentation among EU-13 migrants is less pronounced in Sweden. Previous research, both quantitative and qualitative, has shown surprisingly low levels of labour market segmentation among the employed. The structural differences on the labour market has, instead, been between the employed and unemployed, with a large employment gap between natives and all migrant groups including EU-13 migrants. We address the functional integration in the labour market from a longitudinal perspective, using several quantitative indicators to measure the degree of labour market segmentation. Natives and other migrant groups (EU-15 and refugees) are used as reference groups. Our results shows a low but increasing labour market segmentation among the employed born in EU-13 countries. The dissimilarity between employed natives and EU-13 workers is increasing, especially among men. Men from EU-13 countries is the only category where the occupational position has deteriorated. From having a similar occupational position as EU-15 migrants in 2007, their position in the labour market in 2015 is more similar to the refugee group. This development is driven by a large increase of Polish construction workers on the Swedishlabour market.

Migration management policies in many states have marginalized significant numbers of individuals on the basis of their precarious residency status, negatively impacting their health. This article looks at how three European states with high levels of contagion - France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom - adapted their migration management policies to the changed circumstances during the Covid 19 pandemic in which there was new pressure for prioritizing population health over other concerns. The analysis compares globally-recognized 'best practices' for migrant health during the pandemic with policies adopted by France, Sweden, and the UK - selected as prominent migrant-hosting states and that experienced high rates of Covid-19. The article draws on supplementary evidence through interviews with civil society organizations working directly with migrants living on the margins of society - what are termed here 'marginalized migrants' (MMs). As the article concludes, the national policies often fell below international 'best practices' such that migration management was often prioritized over population health despite the crisis. The perspective developed in this paper is important for understanding where migration control policies have been prioritized over public health.

International guidance set forth recommendations to protect marginalized migrant populations during Covid-19 given the significant inequalities in terms of social and economic well-being reported in the literature. However, a cross-country study of three European countries with high rates of Covid-19 infections and deaths has shown that migrant well-being has significantly decreased since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Europe from March 2020 and that policy measures to help those marginalized populations have been insufficient. The conclusions on migrant well-being during Covid-19 draw on interviews with prominent civil society organizations in all three countries that work specifically on migrant health and welfare. All interviews were semi-structured and conducted between October and November 2020. The analysis mainly focuses on objective/material measures of well-being related to access to health care, information on prevention of infection, housing and exclusion by host population.

Across Europe, migrant children often have lower educational outcomes than non-migrant children. This is a trajectory that can begin early in the school career and have long-term implications and is due to a host of school and non-school factors. This chapter offers an overview of migrant children’s protection, support and education as well as a synopsis of some of the legislation that impacts young migrants and their integration into schools. To this end, it highlights two contrasting cases (those of Belgium and Poland) in order to better illustrate the fact that even in countries with very different histories of migration, approaches to integration and school systems, there are many common obstacles facing migrant children in schools. Available data on the training of teachers and support workers, migrant children’s access to and placement in schools and the structural space for children’s agency in schools is presented here in order to illustrate the difference between policy and the lived reality of migrant children’s integration into schools. The treatment of children in policy and programming that is summarised here shows the complicated position migrant children occupy in policy, society and education systems.

This thesis provides an analysis of how the Danish media represented the Syrian refugees between the years 2015-2022. This is achieved by doing comparative research by analyzing 27 different articles about the refugee groups from four major Danish newspapers. A Multimodal Discourse Analysis is applied, where the images and word phrasing of the articles are investigated to look for patterns in correlation with the theories. With a post-colonial perspective, the theoretical framework consists of the two theories of Orientalism and Deservingness. These theories are applied to discuss why the media discourse is as it is. It was found that the media representation has changed, and Syrian refugees are dehumanized and seen as an out-group, however, it does change for the better throughout the studied years.

Keywords: Syrian Refugees, Orientalism, Deservingness, Media Representation, Denmark

The first reception system for irregular migrants taking the Mediterranean route into the European Union (EU) is dictated almost solely by border control and security concerns. There is no recognition of the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as human rights monitors in first reception, and access is limited, controlled, and dependent on local authorities. Newly arriving migrants are at their most vulnerable during first reception. Traumatization and retraumatization brought by violations of human rights, or alternatively, care and welcome within the first reception system will pave the way for subsequent integration processes, by ensuring migrants’ well-being, decreasing hostility, diffidence and subjugation, and peaceful relations with European host communities. By critically assessing the current system, backed by the author’s long-term ethnographic fieldwork, this article explores the links between policy, practice, and mental health consequences for migrants. It shows that there are multiple risks of human rights violations of a vulnerable group of people. The article is critical of the absence of an official role for NGOs as human rights monitors arguing that NGOs have a unique role to play. The article suggests that the dignified conduction of first reception could have a positive influence on integration processes, and concludes that first reception should not be designed within a security framework but within a reception one.

The European Union’s external border regime in the Mediterranean is the classic ‘humanitarian border’. It is presented and performed as a humanitarian and caring enterprise, but conceals strong elements of exclusionary border control. Important actors in its daily social construction are territorial borderworkers who are tasked with the implementation of the laws and policies underpinning the humanitarian border. Their narratives are passionate and articulated using emotive language and expressions denoting an intensity of personal feelings, while the moral framing of the issues indicates a moral discomfort. Drawing on multi-sited and long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Lampedusa and Sicily, situated on the external Mediterranean border of the European Union, this article explores the key themes and form of the personal narratives of territorial borderworkers who discuss border processes and deliberate their own roles within it. Their narratives reveal insights about their worldview, and add empirical depth to our understanding of the humanitarian border and the enterprise of constructing it.

Hospitality and hospitality-laden language feature highly among people working in or around structures of first reception in Italy and Malta, two countries at the European Union’s (EU) external border. This is peculiar because hospitality rarely features at first reception, which forms part of the state’s border system. Characteristically, security issues are prioritized, and the first reception system is managed by the member state’s security agents, in collaboration with EU and international security agents. In practice, first reception refers to the processes of identification, registration, and classification that irregular migrants go through after having crossed the border without authorization and, often, without identification. Drawing on long-term and multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in Italy and Malta, this article examines some of the uses of hospitality language by a spectrum of territorial borderworkers operating with state, non-state, security, humanitarian, and activist entities in the two countries that are the object of this study. Discourse analysis yields interesting insights into how the use of the hospitality paradigm and hospitality terminology in first reception is less about hospitality practices and more about power. It proposes that the hospitality paradigm be conceptualized as a Laclauian empty signifier, and therefore, as a locus of power.

In the wake of increasing migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, non-governmental organizations took to the seas to conduct search and rescue operations in 2014. In 2016, this humanitarian fleet rescued 50,000 people in the Central Mediterranean Sea. In the meantime, local solidarity initiatives emerged across Europe, motivated by the arrival of many people in their cities and by deaths and border spectacles in the Mediterranean. Juxtaposing solidarity work in the Mediterranean Sea with solidarity work within the European Union's borders, we examine how the spaces they operate in shape the possibilities and limits of solidarity activism. Despite identifying important differences, we ultimately demonstrate how the solidarity work within Europe and in the Mediterranean Sea fold into each other in complex ways. Moreover, we show how across Europe, people engage in transgressive solidarity work that challenges EU border practices and concomitant categories to reimagine a more welcoming Europe.