The Migration Oxford Podcast Oxford University

How does housing relate to migration and asylum issues? Using the City of Oxford as a case study, we consider the affordability and accessibility of housing to newcomers and the impact this has on refugee and asylum seekers. In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we explore the ongoing housing affordability and accessibility crisis in the UK, using the City of Oxford as a case study. Oxford is the least affordable UK city for housing, with average house prices over 15 times the average annual salary (as of 2022). As with much of the UK, the increasing cost of housing combined with a significant shortfall in council housing, puts home ownership out of the reach for many people in Oxford and pushes them into a very competitive rental market. But what does this mean for newcomers to the City? How does this relate to migration and asylum issues?

Housing for asylum seekers in the UK is not controlled by or the responsibility of local councils. Instead it is controlled nationally by the Home Office and through a number of private providers who are tasked with finding accommodation, often in competition with the City Council or private landlords. With Oxford facing a crisis of affordable housing, how does this impact refugee and asylum seekers? How does the system for asylum and housing work in the UK? What has changed in recent times? We explore new government initiatives, such as the notorious Bibby Stockholm barge, and consider where policy might go next.

We welcome Tiger Hills, PhD candidate at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, and a co-founder of the Spatial Action Lab; Dr Hari Reed, Policy and Advocacy Coordinator at Asylum Welcome; and J, a volunteer at Asylum Welcome to this conversation.

Please note: We acknowledge that this is a fast-moving policy area. This episode was pre-recorded in August 2023 and some specific references to policy changes, such as the seven-day notice-to-quit period issued to asylum seekers in August 2023 by the Home Office that we discuss, has since been reversed back to the 28-day period (as of January 2024). Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

What makes diaspora communities unique? We learn about the roles of diasporas, contributions to development and humanitarian initiatives across the globe and unpack how people living in diaspora drive change in their communities. In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we unpack how diaspora communities are partners in development and humanitarian initiatives. In 2022 diaspora engagement was at the core of the discussions at global, regional and local levels. Through the Global Diaspora Summit and multiple-high level events, the role of diasporas across the humanitarian and development peace nexus is being further recognised and harnessed across the globe. But what is unique about diasporas? How do they contribute to development and humanitarianism?

How can governments and key partners create an ecosystem in which diasporas act as empowered actors? What is the best way to ensure a multi-stakeholder approach to diaspora engagement?

We welcome Dr Alan Gamlen, Professor of Migration Governance at Australian National University; Dr Larisa Lara, IOM, Transnational Communities and Digital Communications Officer at the International Organisation for Migration (IOM); and Dr Martin Russell, Founder of Global Diaspora Insights to this conversation. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

Intersections of art and activism are used as a tool to promote diversity, address human rights and make calls to action in contexts of migration. What is artivism and how can it support individuals to tell their own stories? In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we discuss the role of artivism as a tool to promote diversity in contexts of migration and displacement. In the current climate whereby political rights are being threatened, does artivism make a difference in supporting the cause of migrants and refugees rights? We look at what type of creative and art-based activities help migrants and refugees, and how community-based initiatives can support individuals to tell their own stories.

We welcome Salma Zulfiqar, artist and founder of ARTconnects; Natalia, expert-by-experience and ARTconnects assistant; and Ruth Nyabuto, Academic Manager for the Refugee-Led Research Hub housed between the University of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre and the British Institute in Nairobi. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

For irregular migrants, the inability to provide proof of identity affects nearly every aspect of life. We explore cities that have introduced municipal ID cards to enhance social integration and enable access to key services. For irregular migrants, the inability to provide proof of identity affects nearly every aspect of their lives. Municipal ID cards have been introduced by some cities to enhance these migrants’ social integration, bridge the ‘official identification gap’ and enable access to otherwise inaccessible services. In this episode, we will hear about the experiences of cities that have developed municipal IDs, the challenges they face in securing buy-in and the many benefits they bring to the lives of migrants.

We welcome Albert Gamarra, Assistant Deputy Commissioner of the IDNYC project based at the New York Department of Social Services; and Myriam Cherti, Senior Researcher at the Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity (GEM) and Principal Investigator for the C-MISE project, both hosted at COMPAS, University of Oxford. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

In the UK, migration debates tend to be about the idea of fullness – concepts of arrivals, overcrowding, competition for resources – but what about emptiness? We learn why it is such an important part of understanding migration. In the UK, migration debates tend to be about the idea of fullness but the concept of emptiness is underexplored. In the small towns of Armenia, people say “there is nothing here” stegh vochinch chka/ban chka [ստեղ ոչինչ չկա/ բան չկա] but this phrase does not describe actual nothingness. Vochinch chka/ban chka – and other descriptors related to “emptiness” found in the post-Soviet realm – refers to a loss of elements that constitute postsocialist towns and villages: people, schools, services, social networks, jobs, and the future (Dzenovska 2020). The largest conflict in postsocialist space, the Russo-Ukrainian war, sped up and generalized this tendency as whole cities are erased, millions of people are forced to leave their homes, and existential and temporal imaginaries of whole populations are mired in radical uncertainty. Why is emptiness such an important part of understanding migration as a discipline and human experience?

To explore this topic, we welcome Volodymyr Artiukh, COMPAS Postdoctoral Researcher, and Maria Gunko, COMPAS DPhil student in Migration Studies to share their research within field sites in Romania and in Armenia, as part of the EMPTINESS project (https://emptiness.eu/). The project studies the emptying cities, towns, and villages in Eastern Europe and Russia through the lens of “emptiness” as a concrete historical formation that has emerged in conditions when socialist modernity is gone and promises of capitalist modernity have failed. Is emptiness and nothingness produced by slow violence being filled (metaphorically speaking) by the fast violence of war? Does the arrival of entirely different populations amount to a place being revived, or reshaped? How do relationships to homes and communities left behind change throughout years of war?

What do advancements in AI mean for immigration? We discuss the current and emerging practices of new technologies in the field, and explore developments in the use of predictive analytics, automated risk assessment and profiling. In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we discuss the current and emerging practices of using new technologies in the field of immigration, focusing on how border control, immigration and asylum policies are being impacted by the use of new technologies especially in and around Europe. With the help of our panel, we explore recent developments in the use of predictive analytics, automated risk assessments and profiling in immigration, and their main ethical implications. We are joined by Derya Ozkul, Senior Research Fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford and member of the Migration Oxford network; and Caterina Rodelli, EU Policy Analyst at Access Now, a civil society organisation defending the digital rights of people and communities at risk. Derya is one of the project leads at the Algorithmic Fairness for Asylum Seekers (AFAR) project and her work explores the uses of new technologies in migration and asylum fields and their real-life impact on people on the move. Caterina’s work explores issues related to biometric surveillance, artificial intelligence, and, together with several other civil society organisations, she leads the #ProtectNotSurveil campaign.

Guests: Derya Ozkul and Caterina Rodelli
Hosts: Rob McNeil and Jacqui Broadhead
Producer: Delphine Boagey
Communications: Delphine Boagey