MPI's Migration Information Source Newsletter

********************************************

July 15, 2021

********************************************

Feature
Can Diaspora Bonds Supercharge Development Investment?
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/diaspora-bonds-supercharge-development-investment
Countries across the globe have considered novel ways for diasporas to directly invest in national development by purchasing diaspora bonds. Israel has raised billions through its Israel Bonds over the last 70 years, and India has had some success with its diaspora bond efforts. But other countries have faced challenges, as this article explores.

Spotlight
Canadian Immigrants in the United States
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/canadian-immigrants-united-states-2021
The United States and Canada share the world's longest land border and similar cultures. But Canadians account for a tiny and shrinking share of all U.S. immigrants. Canadian immigrants tend to have higher educations and be older than other immigrant groups. This Spotlight explores the history and features of the Canadian immigrant population in the United States.


********************************************

EDITOR'S NOTE

A new front has opened in Europe's standoff with its neighbors over migration.

In recent weeks, Belarus seems to be encouraging migrants to pass through its territory to reach Lithuania, an EU Member State, as retaliation for European economic sanctions placed on Minsk for diverting an airplane to arrest an onboard dissident journalist in May. President Alexander Lukashenko has said his country is halting migration cooperation with the European Union and refusing to close its borders.

Lithuanian officials have claimed Belarus is flying in migrants and sending them to Lithuania.

"It seems like the Belarusian authorities now facilitate irregular migration possibly in retaliation to EU restrictive measures and as a response to the Lithuanian support for the civil society in Belarus," Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, said this week.

More than 1,500 illegal crossings of the Lithuania-Belarus border have been registered so far in 2021, a nearly 20-fold increase over the 81 crossings in all of 2020. Many of the migrants are Iraqi citizens, but there are also significant numbers from Syria, Iran, and Central and Western Africa.

In response, Lithuania has declared a state of emergency and started building a 340-mile (550-kilometer) barbed wire fence along the border.

While the particulars of this situation are unique, the general dynamics will ring familiar to followers of migration to the European Union. Just a few weeks ago, European officials accused Morocco of again using migrants' access to Spanish enclaves as leverage for larger political maneuvering. Last year, the major antagonist was Turkey, which opened its border to migrants heading to Greece and Bulgaria.

The recent moves by Belarus are a further sign that politicians at Europe's periphery believe migrants are a valuable cudgel to use against their neighbors--for leverage or punishment.

It also shows the challenges of the so-called Fortress Europe approach of externalizing borders. Once nearby countries realize that Europe is prepared to pay a major price to bottle up migrants, they may continue pushing to see just how high that price will go.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made these factors all the more acute. With economies harmed by months of lockdown, Europe would likely resist accommodating large numbers of asylum seekers and other migrants.

Caught in the middle are the migrants themselves, who have been called pawns in a larger dispute. New reception centers have been hastily constructed along the Lithuanian border to accommodate arrivals, but legal and medical staff have been overwhelmed. Whatever the result of the current tension between Lithuania and Belarus, migrants' individual stories are likely to fall victim to broader geopolitical gamesmanship.

Best regards,

Julian Hattem

Editor, Migration Information Source

[email protected]


********************************************

NEW FROM MPI

Solidarity in Isolation? Social Cohesion at a Time of Physical Distance
www.migrationpolicy.org/research/solidarity-isolation-social-cohesion
By Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan and Aliyyah Ahad


********************************************

HAVE YOU READ?

Cuban Immigrants in the United States
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/cuban-immigrants-united-states-2018

Mobilizing Diaspora Entrepreneurship for Development
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mobilizing-diaspora-entrepreneurship-development

Haiti's Painful Evolution from Promised Land to Migrant-Sending Nation
www.migrationpolicy.org/article/haiti-painful-evolution-promised-land-migrant-sending-nation


********************************************

MEDIA CORNER

In "Stranger Citizens: Migrant Influence and National Power in the Early American Republic," John McNelis O'Keefe traces how immigrants affected citizenship in the early years of the United States.
www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501756092/stranger-citizens/

Robert F. Barsky combs the stories of Odysseus, Moses, Alice in Wonderland, and others for insights on refugee law in "Clamouring for Legal Protection: What the Great Books Teach Us about People Fleeing from Persecution."
www.bloomsburyprofessional.com/uk/clamouring-for-legal-protection-9781509943159/

"Difficult Life in a Refugee Camp: Gender, Violence, and Coping in Uganda," by Ulrike Krause, builds on empirical research about gender-based violence.
www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/african-government-politics-and-policy/difficult-life-refugee-camp-gender-violence-and-coping-uganda

Jana Berg, Michael Grüttner, and Bernhard Streitwieser have compiled analysis of issues surrounding refugees' access to higher education in "Refugees in Higher Education: Questioning the Notion of Integration."
www.springer.com/gp/book/9783658333379

"Refugees in Canada: On the Loss of Social and Cultural Capital," by Thomas Ricento, reviews the experiences of refugees resettled by the Canadian government and makes the case for effectively integrating highly skilled migrants.
www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030764524


********************************************

***Join Our List***
If a friend has forwarded this email to you and you would like to continue receiving the Migration Information Source newsletter, you can subscribe here:
www.migrationpolicy.org/signup/source

***Sign Up for RSS Feed***
Subscribe to our RSS feed for news of the latest articles www.migrationpolicy.org/feeds/83/rss.xml

***Unsubscribe***
If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, you can unsubscribe here:
[link removed]

_______________________________________________________________

The Migration Information Source
A project of the Migration Policy Institute
1275 K Street NW, Suite 800
Washington, DC xxxxxx USA
tel: (001) 202-266-1940; fax: (001) 202-266-1900
email: [email protected]

Copyright © 2021 Migration Policy Institute. All rights reserved.