We checked 8 migration studies journals on Friday, August 29, 2025 using the Crossref API. For the period August 22 to August 28, we retrieved 19 new paper(s) in 7 journal(s).

Comparative Migration Studies

Moral migration and transnationalism: Russian anti-war resistance after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine
Oula Kadhum
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This paper examines the role of morality in migration and transnationalism, focussing on the case of Russian anti-war migration and activism against the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s regime. Drawing on moral philosophy and psychology, I argue that Russian departure and activism can be conceptualised as moral migration and transnationalism, defined as “decisions, reasoning, judgements and acts of resistance motivated by obligatory concerns for others’ welfare, rights, fairness and justice”. Applying this to Russian anti-war activism abroad, the paper underlines how the act of migration can be conceptualised as a form of moral protest, especially for citizens from authoritarian states and autocratic regimes. It also emphasises the role of morality in transnational mobilisation choices and causes activists take up, as well as the moral dilemmas and controversies these present for anti-war communities and movements. By foregrounding the significance of morality, this study seeks to redress its neglect in migration and transnationalism scholarship and underscores the importance of moral theory in the analysis of international politics. Additionally, the paper introduces a new case study of anti-war activism and mobilisation among Russia’s emergent anti-war migrant communities in London, Madrid, and Tbilisi, thereby illuminating a critical yet under-researched dimension of the geopolitics of Russian opposition movements.
Who leaves and who returns? IDPs and returnees after the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Konstantin Ash
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What factors are associated with internal displacement and return after a sudden foreign invasion? The literature on conflict-driven displacement has primarily focused on how civil wars affect external migration, identifying social networks and exposure to violence as the primary reasons for displacement. A rapid invasion by a foreign power may paint a different picture. At the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, millions fled to other parts of Ukraine or abroad. As Ukraine recaptured territory and the front lines stabilized, many returned. This study assesses the demographics of IDPs and returnees through a survey conducted in Ukraine in May and June 2022. IDPs were more educated and less likely to take the survey in Russian. Respondents who had more favorable attitudes about the incumbent president and held anti-democratic views were more likely to return after displacement. IDPs who left and then returned were more likely to be younger and more educated than respondents who never left. The findings suggest the effects of income, networks, violence, education, language, and political opinion on both displacement and return during rapid international invasions are somewhat similar to civil conflicts, but are also more complex than previously thought.

Ethnic and Racial Studies

Navigating simultaneous racisms: intersecting experiences of in/visibility and antiracist strategies among Turkey-originated communities in Germany
Rosa Burç, Zeynep YanaƟmayan, Ramona Rischke, Cihan Sinanoğlu, Esra Yula
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Correction
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Making sanctuary cities. Migration, citizenship, and urban governance
Lisa Marie Borrelli
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Ethnic quotas and political representation in Colombia: wedged open or revolving doors?
René Rejón, Christina Ewig
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International Migration

Through the Lens of Perception: Unpacking Subjectivity in Brazil's Refugee Status Determination
Flavia Rodrigues de Castro
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Credibility assessment is critical in refugee status determination processes both in Brazil and around the world. The unusual circumstances of asylum, often marked by a lack of documentation or material evidence, emphasise the importance of applicants' narratives. As a result, determining who qualifies as a refugee is based on validating the truthfulness of these claims. This article analyses, via qualitative research and interviews, how Brazil's decision‐making framework does not eradicate subjectivity but redistributes it, culminating in a collective subjectivity that affects asylum outcomes. This study contests the notion that credibility assessment is solely a matter of technical expertise and exposes subjectivity as an intrinsic element of asylum cases, even within democratic systems.
The European Union's Governmentality of Climate‐Induced Migration: A Need for Reconceptualisation
Özge Bozkaya
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Climate change has been irreversibly increasing its impact on human migration. This issue calls for an inclusive protection framework worldwide. In this context, one could expect the European Union (EU), a leading actor in global climate governance, to pioneer a more holistic conceptual framework for climate migration. However, the EU's rationality tends to portray a different picture in policymaking. This study conducts a content analysis of 62 selected legal and other acts between 2009 and 2024 to evaluate the EU's governmentality of climate migration. The use of climate change and migration‐related concepts, both separately and interrelatedly, is analysed using MAXQDA through both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The research theoretically benefits from Michel Foucault's governmentality perspective. It finds that the conceptualisation and human rights‐based approach (HRBA) of the EU to climate‐induced migration are notably limited in the documents. The EU's governmentality of climate‐induced migration reveals itself as slow‐moving policymaking.

International Migration Review

Book Review: Everyday Activists GetrichC. M., 2025. Everyday Activists: Undocumented Immigrants’ Quest for Justice and Well-Being. New York: New York University Press. 285 Pages, $89.00.
Jasmin Lilian Diab
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Book Review: In Our Interest KustovAlexander. 2025. In Our Interest: How Democracies Can Make Immigration Popular. New York: Columbia University Press. 344 pp. Paperback $32.00.
Ann Jiang
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Solidaritas et Mercatus: Discursive Constructions and Contested Social Representations of Cross-Border “Facilitators” in Irregular Migration
Fabio I. M. Poppi
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This study examines the emerging social representations of actors described as “cross-border facilitators” within irregular migration networks along the Balkan Route. Unlike figures commonly framed as human smugglers, these actors are portrayed by migrants as offering selective assistance outside a purely commercial logic, often with minimal or no financial compensation. Drawing on qualitative interviews with migrants and individuals who interact with such facilitators, the research explores how their roles, motivations, and vulnerabilities are discursively constructed. The findings suggest that these “facilitators” symbolically disrupt the dominant migration economy by challenging profit-driven models of smuggling, provoking narrative contestation, reputational attacks, and heightened legal scrutiny. Using the concepts of anchoring and objectification from social representations theory, the analysis reveals how facilitators are framed in contrast to smugglers, highlighting themes of moral positioning, trust, and selective solidarity. Rather than reflecting fixed categories, these distinctions emerge from the stories told by migrants navigating complex moral and economic landscapes. The study contributes to broader debates on irregular migration, criminalization, and the contested meanings of border-crossing assistance.

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

Making ‘Best interest’ visible: the role of frontline staff in the care of unaccompanied children
Benjamin J. Roth, John Doering-White, Breanne Grace, Jessica H. Darrow, Aimee Herring, Stefan Liew
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Brokered bureaucracy: commodified integration in arrival spaces in Istanbul
Marhabo Saparova, Kristen Biehl
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Gendered individualisation among never-married Chinese skilled-labour women in Singapore
Anni Ni
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How do minorities decide what is racist? Dealing with unease through interpretations and strategic action
Marjan Nadim, Julia Orupabo
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Towards pluriversality: ‘reading’ migrant youth resilience
Jane Ku, Gabrielle Mundaka Riquelme, Jayashree Mohanty, Wansoo Park, Riham Al-Saadi
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The mark of a criminal record in US immigration bond hearings
Lorena Avila, David Ibañez
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Journal of Refugee Studies

Magic bullet or questionable remedy? Discussing the use of Meta advertising to recruit hard-to-reach migrants for surveys
Steffen Pötzschke, Howard Ramos
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As the world sees an increase in global migration, it is paramount to collect real-time data on migrants to facilitate their settlement in new countries. A major obstacle to capturing such information is that many migrants, such as refugees, are “hard-to-reach.” Traditional sampling methods often miss small and mobile populations and for this reason new methods are needed. Survey recruitment through Meta advertisements is one such approach. By means of an auto-ethnographic discussion, we offer practical insights into different methodological considerations that researchers must contemplate when using advertisements on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms to sample refugees as hard-to-reach populations. Our exchange focuses on recruitment and response rate issues, ethical considerations, the validity of data shared, and the opaqueness of how ad targeting algorithms work. This is followed by some concluding observations.

Population Space and Place

Diplomat and International Worker Mobilities: A Family Lens on Power Dynamics
Aija Lulle
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This article applies a family lens to power relations experienced by families of diplomats and international workers during frequent relocations. The life‐making practices of families are crucial for intergenerational well‐being as well as these workers' international assignments. The familial power dynamics unfold across spaces and temporalities at various scales and reveal the work invested in creating the international and diplomatic ‘façade’. Drawing on research carried out in 2022–2023 with diplomats, representatives of international organisations and their family members from Latvia, this article examines four domains within which power dynamics operate: couple relationships; relationships with children; extended and non‐kin relationships; and ‘doing family’ in broader diplomatic and international communities. Applying a family lens to such highly skilled mobilities extends critical discussions on skills and power in diplomacy and international relations – often perceived as male‐dominated areas of work – and illuminates how familial relationships are contingent on making these mobilities possible over space, time, and generations. Furthermore, the focus on family sheds a new light on pertinent issues, such as the relationship between (trans)nationalism and family and the production of social and cultural capital across spaces.