Home
Categories
EXPLORE
True Crime
Comedy
Society & Culture
Business
Sports
TV & Film
Technology
About Us
Contact Us
Copyright
© 2024 PodJoint
00:00 / 00:00
Sign in

or

Don't have an account?
Sign up
Forgot password
https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts221/v4/ef/ab/3b/efab3bd0-93f5-6ab6-31bd-72a5f752db37/mza_1246186614337948885.png/600x600bb.jpg
The Migration Oxford Podcast
Oxford University
28 episodes
1 month ago
Community, refugees, and urban life: what’s cycling got to do with it? We explore refugee women’s experiences in London through the ESRC Open City initiative and a participatory film with The Bike Project. In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we explore how mobility, belonging, and everyday urban life intersect in London, and how newcomers reshape the city through movement. Our focus is a participatory, arts-based collaboration with The Bike Project, an NGO that provides refugees with free bicycles. At its core, the initiative asks how movement - both physical and social - can create pathways to belonging, access, and agency for those newly arrived. The Bike Project’s work is simple yet transformative: bicycles enable refugees to travel independently, connect with services, and build confidence navigating London. But beyond practical utility, cycling becomes an embodied way of claiming space, of becoming visible in the city, and of weaving new rhythms into urban life. Our discussion explores this duality - bikes as both tools of mobility and symbols of presence in urban spaces that are at once open and exclusionary. We welcome Dr Eda Yazici, Senior Researcher at the University of Bristol, and Professor Michael Keith, Director of the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) and the PEAK Urban project. Together, they reflect on how collaborative, arts-based approaches can reveal the lived realities of migration and the permeability of the city itself. The project invited refugee women connected with The Bike Project to co-produce short and long-form films documenting their experiences of arrival and adaptation. These films move beyond representation to highlight how everyday mobilities shape inclusion, resilience, and visibility in the city. Our conversation situates these narratives within wider debates about mobility at multiple scales. From the global journeys of displacement to the intimate routes traced through neighbourhoods and cycle lanes, mobility both enables and constrains urban life. Arts-based collaborations, as this project demonstrates, can shed new light on how these scales intersect and how cities might be reimagined as more open and welcoming. Listeners can view the films co-created through this initiative online at Cycling Visibilities. Together with the discussion, they offer a powerful insight into the experiences of refugee women cycling through London - making themselves visible, claiming urban space, and reshaping the city in the process.
Show more...
Education
RSS
All content for The Migration Oxford Podcast is the property of Oxford University and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Community, refugees, and urban life: what’s cycling got to do with it? We explore refugee women’s experiences in London through the ESRC Open City initiative and a participatory film with The Bike Project. In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we explore how mobility, belonging, and everyday urban life intersect in London, and how newcomers reshape the city through movement. Our focus is a participatory, arts-based collaboration with The Bike Project, an NGO that provides refugees with free bicycles. At its core, the initiative asks how movement - both physical and social - can create pathways to belonging, access, and agency for those newly arrived. The Bike Project’s work is simple yet transformative: bicycles enable refugees to travel independently, connect with services, and build confidence navigating London. But beyond practical utility, cycling becomes an embodied way of claiming space, of becoming visible in the city, and of weaving new rhythms into urban life. Our discussion explores this duality - bikes as both tools of mobility and symbols of presence in urban spaces that are at once open and exclusionary. We welcome Dr Eda Yazici, Senior Researcher at the University of Bristol, and Professor Michael Keith, Director of the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) and the PEAK Urban project. Together, they reflect on how collaborative, arts-based approaches can reveal the lived realities of migration and the permeability of the city itself. The project invited refugee women connected with The Bike Project to co-produce short and long-form films documenting their experiences of arrival and adaptation. These films move beyond representation to highlight how everyday mobilities shape inclusion, resilience, and visibility in the city. Our conversation situates these narratives within wider debates about mobility at multiple scales. From the global journeys of displacement to the intimate routes traced through neighbourhoods and cycle lanes, mobility both enables and constrains urban life. Arts-based collaborations, as this project demonstrates, can shed new light on how these scales intersect and how cities might be reimagined as more open and welcoming. Listeners can view the films co-created through this initiative online at Cycling Visibilities. Together with the discussion, they offer a powerful insight into the experiences of refugee women cycling through London - making themselves visible, claiming urban space, and reshaping the city in the process.
Show more...
Education
Episodes (20/28)
The Migration Oxford Podcast
Pedal Power: Open City and The Bike Project
Community, refugees, and urban life: what’s cycling got to do with it? We explore refugee women’s experiences in London through the ESRC Open City initiative and a participatory film with The Bike Project. In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we explore how mobility, belonging, and everyday urban life intersect in London, and how newcomers reshape the city through movement. Our focus is a participatory, arts-based collaboration with The Bike Project, an NGO that provides refugees with free bicycles. At its core, the initiative asks how movement - both physical and social - can create pathways to belonging, access, and agency for those newly arrived. The Bike Project’s work is simple yet transformative: bicycles enable refugees to travel independently, connect with services, and build confidence navigating London. But beyond practical utility, cycling becomes an embodied way of claiming space, of becoming visible in the city, and of weaving new rhythms into urban life. Our discussion explores this duality - bikes as both tools of mobility and symbols of presence in urban spaces that are at once open and exclusionary. We welcome Dr Eda Yazici, Senior Researcher at the University of Bristol, and Professor Michael Keith, Director of the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) and the PEAK Urban project. Together, they reflect on how collaborative, arts-based approaches can reveal the lived realities of migration and the permeability of the city itself. The project invited refugee women connected with The Bike Project to co-produce short and long-form films documenting their experiences of arrival and adaptation. These films move beyond representation to highlight how everyday mobilities shape inclusion, resilience, and visibility in the city. Our conversation situates these narratives within wider debates about mobility at multiple scales. From the global journeys of displacement to the intimate routes traced through neighbourhoods and cycle lanes, mobility both enables and constrains urban life. Arts-based collaborations, as this project demonstrates, can shed new light on how these scales intersect and how cities might be reimagined as more open and welcoming. Listeners can view the films co-created through this initiative online at Cycling Visibilities. Together with the discussion, they offer a powerful insight into the experiences of refugee women cycling through London - making themselves visible, claiming urban space, and reshaping the city in the process.
Show more...
1 month ago
39 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Bitter Carrots: A Restrictive Migration Agenda
Who is the anti-migration agenda actually serving, and what are the alternatives? We welcome experts from the six-year-long MIGNEX project, which gathered a range of perspectives to explore questions of migration and global development. Over recent decades, there has been a growing emphasis towards stopping migration to the EU. Policy tools that focus on return and readmission aim to control migration flows from non-EU countries while development aid in countries of origin is oriented towards preventing migration. Although early days, the aftermath of the European Parliament and UK elections suggest much of the same is yet to come; one case in point being the UK’s announcement to increase aid spending with the aim of reducing migration at source. But what are the (unintended) impacts of a narrow focus on the restriction of migration, on the EU, its member states, and countries of origin? And what implications does this have for migrants themselves? How does this focus impact other policy agendas or, for instance, the ability to fill EU skills and labour shortages? And ultimately, are these ambitions even realistic? Is the assumption that migration can be prevented reflected in the evidence? In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we welcome experts Jessica Hagen-Zanker, Senior Research Fellow and Head Migration and Displacement Hub at the Overseas Development Institute; Leander Kandilige, Associate Professor of Migration Studies at the Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana; and Carlos Vargas Silva, Professor of Migration Studies at COMPAS and a Fellow of Kellogg College, University of Oxford. Together they draw on six years of research conducted with the MIGNEX project which gathered data on the migration-development nexus from across 25 local areas in 10 countries. Now concluded, MIGNEX gathered a range of perspectives to interrogate questions of migration and global development, ultimately asking who is the anti-migration agenda actually working for and what are the alternatives?
Show more...
4 months ago
29 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Robo-dogs and The Rise of Crimmigration
In a world obsessed with AI, what are robo-dogs and how are they deployed at border control? With the rise of “crimmigration” across the world, the lines between migration management and criminal law are becoming blurred. The rise of "crimmigration" on a global scale is seeing the lines between migration management and criminal law being blurred, often in an effort to exercise surveillance of people on the move. What does this mean for people at the border? Can border technologies be used for good? In a world obsessed with artificial intelligence, why have private sector interests and the growing border industrial complex set the stage for new innovations? Looking at the UK and North America, we examine new legislation and how they can fail to address the high-risk impacts of using technologies for border security and national security purposes to assist in detecting, identifying, apprehending, and removing individuals who are entering illegally. We examine how AI used at the border intersects with racism, xenophobia, and nationalism, and question if the COVID-19 pandemic has normalised widespread surveillance through data collection and movement tracking. In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we welcome Petra Molnar, Harvard Faculty Associate, lawyer, anthropologist, and author of the forthcoming book The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence; and Dr Peter Walsh, Senior Researcher at The Migration Observatory and the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford. We explore how border technologies impact every aspect of migration – from robo-dogs and DNA collection, to algorithms and iris recognition – to reveal the human issues beyond the digital frontier.
Show more...
4 months ago
34 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Mapping Missionary Work: Migrant Youth and Religious Movements in Northeast India
What does migration have to do with missionary work? We explore how Baptist and Presbyterian missionary work as socioreligious institutions have impacted and influenced mobility in Northeast India, both pre- and post-colonialism. What does migration have to do with missionary work? How do socioreligious collective institutions (Baptist and Presbyterian missionary work) and indigenous religious cosmologies impinge on the youth of Northeast India? As they leave home and embark on arduous journeys in search of employment and education in different parts of India, we discuss how migration is experienced not just as a singular or individual experience but also as a relational experience as identities of young migrant students are mediated by community-based organisations which represent and look out for them in Delhi. What role does religio-cultural groups play in supporting migrant youth? How do relationships and friendships amongst young individuals emerge within collective spaces? In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we question how the term ‘migrant’ gets recast in light of changing sociopolitical dynamics in Northeast India. Examining contested land claims, histories of militarization and entangled ethnic and clan relationalities, we explore the impact of missionary interventions and the struggles for citizenship in the context of Mizoram, Nagaland, and Assam. We welcome experts Dr. Zarzosanga Pachuau, Government Serchhip College, Mizoram; Dr. Tiatemsu Longkumer, Anthropology Department of the Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan; and Shivangi Kaushik, PhD candidate at Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Colonial and post-independence cartographic redrawing of the region continues to mediate movements of communities and individuals both within the Northeast and beyond. As individuals who have lived their lives in the region, they seek to connect mobilisations of identities back home and the entangled histories and movements that can be drawn from Mizoram, Nagaland and Assam.
Show more...
5 months ago
34 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Immigration Policy in Transatlantic Perspectives
Geopolitics, irregular movement, the rise of the far-right: these are just some of the buzzwords populating your morning news headlines. But where is the relationship between Europe and the U.S. heading? What are the implications for immigration policy? In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast we host a timely discussion on the shifting political landscapes in Germany and the United States, as both nations grapple with pre- and post-election changes that are reshaping approaches to immigration policy. Germany’s Hesse and Bavaria provincial elections in 2023 have seen significant gains for the political party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), expanding far-right influences beyond their traditional stronghold in eastern Germany. We explore how this surge has prompted mainstream parties to reconsider their stance on immigration, with the Green Party, currently a coalition partner in the national government, also signalling a potential shift towards stricter policies. As Germany continues to grapple with its immigration policies, what does this mean for the federal elections of February 2025 and beyond? If tighter border controls and expedited deportation processes are implemented across Germany, what might this mean in real time? Looking to the United States, the recent presidential election of Donald Trump has thrown the future of U.S. global leadership into doubt, with questions of immigration policy at the helm of his administration. We discuss the implications of Trump's return for U.S. immigration policy, labour shortages and migratory routes. How is this affecting international agreements? What are the broader effects on EU-wide policies and transatlantic relations, especially between Germany and the U.S.? We welcome Tarik Abou-Chadi, Professor of European Politics at the Department of Politics and International Relations and Nuffield College; and Naika Foroutan, Professor at the Institute for Social Sciences (ISW) at Humboldt Universität, Berlin, and Director of Germany’s Federal Center of Migration research (DeZIM) to this episode. Guided by our experts, the conversation explores potential future scenarios for immigration policy in both countries, considering the gravitational pull towards right-wing politics in 2025. This episode was pitched by Dr Gokce Yurdakul and is supported by the Berlin University Alliance's Oxford-Berlin Research exchange between The Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford and the Berlin Institute for Migration and Integration Research (BIM). Note: This episode was recorded on January 21 2025, and reflects the policies and political landscape as they stood at that time.
Show more...
7 months ago
32 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Migration Sounds (Transcript)
What does migration sound like? Migration Sounds features 120 sounds of migration across 51 countries from Argentina to Australia, with personal stories from diaspora communities and people who have migrated all over the world. Note: The sound at the beginning may seem like static, but it's intentional - don’t adjust your headphones! In this special episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast marking the end of our 2024 series, we turn the microphone to Migration Sounds. A partnership between global sound project Cities and Memory and the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford, Migration Sounds is the world’s first collection of the sounds of human migration. Migration Sounds features 120 sounds and stories of migration across 51 countries from Argentina to Australia, with personal stories from diaspora communities and people who have migrated all over the world. Every recording within the project’s digital library tells a story about the experience of migration - but Migration Sounds didn’t stop there. Each sound has been reimagined by an artist to create a brand-new composition that responds creatively to the original, offering a different perspective to each compelling story. How did the project begin? Where has it taken us? We welcome Stuart Fowkes, a sound artist and field recordist from Oxford and the founder of Cities and Memory and Rob McNeil, Deputy Director of The Migration Observatory based at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS). Hosted by Delphine Boagey, Communications Officer (COMPAS), the trio team discuss the efforts of curating this audio-based project in anticipation of the project’s 3-day pop-up installation amplified in the Pitt Rivers Museum and the roundtable panel event held during the installation. We consider the project situated in wider research, teaching and communications of the University and city of Oxford, and invite listeners to question what migration sounds mean to them. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
Show more...
8 months ago

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Migration Sounds
What does migration sound like? Migration Sounds features 120 sounds of migration across 51 countries from Argentina to Australia, with personal stories from diaspora communities and people who have migrated all over the world. Note: The sound at the beginning may seem like static, but it's intentional - don’t adjust your headphones! In this special episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast marking the end of our 2024 series, we turn the microphone to Migration Sounds. A partnership between global sound project Cities and Memory and the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford, Migration Sounds is the world’s first collection of the sounds of human migration. Migration Sounds features 120 sounds and stories of migration across 51 countries from Argentina to Australia, with personal stories from diaspora communities and people who have migrated all over the world. Every recording within the project’s digital library tells a story about the experience of migration - but Migration Sounds didn’t stop there. Each sound has been reimagined by an artist to create a brand-new composition that responds creatively to the original, offering a different perspective to each compelling story. How did the project begin? Where has it taken us? We welcome Stuart Fowkes, a sound artist and field recordist from Oxford and the founder of Cities and Memory and Rob McNeil, Deputy Director of The Migration Observatory based at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS). Hosted by Delphine Boagey, Communications Officer (COMPAS), the trio team discuss the efforts of curating this audio-based project in anticipation of the project’s 3-day pop-up installation amplified in the Pitt Rivers Museum and the roundtable panel event held during the installation. We consider the project situated in wider research, teaching and communications of the University and city of Oxford, and invite listeners to question what migration sounds mean to them. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
Show more...
8 months ago
34 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
NRPF and the UK Welfare System
Over 2.6 million people are locked out of the welfare state in the UK and now subject to ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF), an immigration policy restricting access to social security. How can local government respond? How can local government improve the safety net for vulnerable people locked out of the welfare system due to their immigration status? The number of people locked out of the welfare state in the UK has risen to 2.6 million people now subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) policy, an immigration policy restricting access to social security. Local government have been described as providing a "parallel welfare system" (Price & Spencer, 2015) and a "basic safety net of support" (UK Minister for Legal Migration & the Border, 2024) for vulnerable people facing destitution, regardless of their immigration status. However recent research highlights the limitations of this parallel safety net which fails to meet the rising demand and the needs of vulnerable people as local authorities find themselves operating on overstretched social care budgets and without any dedicated funding from central government to cover this provision. Despite repeated calls from the third sector, local government and cross-party parliamentarians to review the NRPF policy for vulnerable people and families, none of the major political parties appear to call for a reform of the policy. If local government are expected to play a vital role in supporting destitute vulnerable people, what needs to change to ensure local authorities provide better support? How can authorities address wider strategic priorities such as ending rough sleeping, improving public health and tackling local inequalities? In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we welcome Rupinder Parhar, Head of Equalities at the Greater London Authority, Ann, a community researcher and a member of COMPAS' Experts by Experience Advisory Board and Lucy Leon, a researcher at the Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity at COMPAS. Together, we explore the needs and characteristics of this vulnerable population locked out of the welfare system, the variations in support provided by local government across the UK and what needs to change to ensure vulnerable people facing destitution are provided with support, regardless of their immigration status. Guests: Rupinder Parhar, Ann, Lucy Leon Hosts: Rob McNeil and Jacqui Broadhead Producer and Communications: Delphine Boagey
Show more...
8 months ago
32 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Gendered Aspects of Ukraine’s Displacement Crisis
With war comes displacement. The full-scale invasion of Ukraine has forced millions to flee homes and rebuild elsewhere. What role does a women's agency play in navigating the complexities of displacement and building resilience? With the full-scale invasion of Ukraine disastrously continuing into 2025, what has become of the many millions forced to flee their homes and rebuild? Often as centralised figures of the home and family units in traditional Ukrainian households, many women are affected in ways that take on a gendered lens. What are some common strategies they employ to cope with their displacement and rebuild their lives? This episode is being released to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. What role does a women's agency play in navigating the complexities of displacement and building resilience? We explore the concept of 'twice displacement' and the intersection of gender and migration studies. Drawing on Dr Dvornichenko’s research findings, we discuss the outcomes of a quantitative survey among 1000 displaced Ukrainian women and 60 in-depth interviews conducted with displaced Ukrainian women. How do the experiences of internally displaced women in Ukraine differ from those who have been externally displaced? What are the common patterns and trends in return or to stay intentions among internally and externally displaced Ukrainians? In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we welcome Dr Daryna Dvornichenko, research fellow at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford and a displaced Ukrainian and mother of a teenaged daughter; Tania Orlova, Founder and Business Director of 2BWell, a digital initiative designed to address the escalating mental health crisis affecting millions of Ukrainians due to war and displacement, and a displaced Ukrainian now based in the UK. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
Show more...
9 months ago
36 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Asymmetrical Sympathies: the Global North’s Response to Protection Seekers
Why are some countries across the Global North more open and accepting towards refugees than others? How can asymmetrical sympathies and differential treatments be better understood? We search for answers with an expert panel. The welcoming response of European countries towards Ukrainian refugees from 2022 onwards has been marked by its strength and rapidity. This recent example recalls other moments of openness from past decades: the Western response to Kosovar refugees in 1999, or the response of some countries – including Germany and Canada – to Syrian refugees in 2015. Such responses are striking as they occurred simultaneously with restrictive policies enforced against other groups of protection seekers. How can we understand moments of openness towards refugees in countries of the Global North? Why do these responses favor some groups and not others? How can we understand asymmetrical sympathies and differential treatment in the response to various groups of protection seekers? In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast we explore these questions and more, in an effort to challenge the global responses to refugee crises and ask how we can make those responses more inclusive. We welcome Isabelle Lemay, PhD candidate in International Development at the University of Oxford; and Professor Bridget Anderson, Director of Migration Mobilities Bristol, and Professor at the School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol (and former colleague at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) here at the University of Oxford) to this conversation. We discuss Isabelle’s recent work on the response of Germany to the 2015-2016 refugee crisis, and highlight key representations and perceptions of refugees that have been (re)produced by the media and the public. For further readings on the concept of deservingness, please see Holmes and Castaneda (2016), at https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.12259; for further reading on relatedness and implicatedness, please see Gibney (1999), at https://wayback.archive-it.org/2500/20231024042051/https:/www.fmreview.org/kosovo/gibney Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
Show more...
1 year ago
28 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Global Migration Data: Making Sense of the Numbers
Why does official data tell us so little about migration? Why do some migration statistics seem to clash? How can we shape this “age of migration data” for better? We welcome co-authors of Improving Migration Data for People and the Planet to this latest episode. The global number of international migrants is estimated at 281 million, but surprisingly little is known about the people that make up this figure. Who they are, why and how they decided to migrate, what needs they have and what the impact of their migration is on communities of origin and destination remains to be determined. Quality data is needed to analyse and manage migration flows effectively, but availability of statistics around the world is very limited. Today issues of migration data collection and analysis are more complex than ever before. While calls for better migration data among the international community have gained momentum in recent years, recommended standards are still not consistently applied. How migration is measured varies hugely between countries and governments. Estimates on a global scale are often contested or retracted (the World Bank recently put forward a 184 million estimate to contest the UN’s estimate of 281 million international migrants). Despite more data being collected than ever before, there are many challenges that this brings, including significant risks if there are insufficient safeguards to protect migrants. And it’s not always clear that having more information brings benefits… In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast we ask the big questions on global migration data: why do official statistics tell us so little about migration? Why do some migration statistics seem to clash? How can migration data be sustainably and inclusively improved? How can we shape this “age of migration data” for better? Our discussion includes findings from the recent publication Improving Migration Data for People and the Planet (Routledge, London), which contributes to the global discussion about how best to improve the collection, analysis and use of data on international migration whilst protecting the rights and respecting those involved. We welcome Elisa Mosler Vidal, PhD candidate at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) here at the University of Oxford; and Frank Laczko, former Head of GMDAC and UN migration specialist who now works independently, 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/
Show more...
1 year ago
31 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Intersecting Crises: Housing and Forced Migration in Oxford
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/
Show more...
1 year ago
29 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Diaspora Communities: Powerful Partners Driving Change
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/
Show more...
1 year ago
25 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Artivism and Migration
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/
Show more...
1 year ago
28 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Municipal IDs and Local Citizenship
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/
Show more...
1 year ago
27 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Emptiness, War and Migration
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?
Show more...
2 years ago
29 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Automating Immigration in the Digital Age
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
Show more...
2 years ago
26 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
The Aftermath of Forced Return
With the help of our panel, we discuss forced return migration and the different power dynamics at play. What are the difficulties of forced returnees to home countries and what are the differences between the wealth and influence of certain states? In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we are discussing forced return migration with a specific focus on returns from the US to Mexico or to Latin America. With the help of our panel, we will discuss the different power dynamics at play and the difference between the wealth and influence of certain states. Along with the difficulties of forced return to home countries and inaccessibility of identity documents. We are joined by Guadalupe Chavez, DPhil candidate in the department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford; Professor Matthew Gibney, professor of Politics and Forced Migration at the University of Oxford and the Director of the Refugee Studies Centre; and Maggie Loredo, a returnee from the US to Mexico and the Executive Director of Otros Dreams en Acción, a non-profit organisation based in Mexico City, which provides services to returnees. Guests: Guadalupe Chavez, Prof Matthew Gibney, Maggie Loredo Hosts: Rob McNeil and Jacqui Broadhead Producer: Sophie Smith Communications and Coordination: Delphine Boagey Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
Show more...
2 years ago
24 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Precarious Migrants
We often think of migration in binary terms of regular or irregular migration; legal or illegal, but often people move in between these states and are left in an insecure status. How does this precarity effect a migrant’s access to services in cities? In this episode we discuss precarious migrants and are joined by Dr Marie Mallet-Garcia, Researcher at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford, Shams Asadi, Human Rights Commissioner and head of the Human Rights Office of the City of Vienna and Wanjiku Ngotho-Mbugua, Acting Chief Executive at Bawso. With the help of our panel, we will look at three different cities Cardiff, Frankfurt and Vienna. Guests: Dr. Marie Mallet-Garcia, Shams Asadi, Wanjiku Ngotho-Mbugua Hosts: Rob McNeil and Jacqui Broadhead Producer: Sophie Smith Communications and Coordination: Delphine Boagey
Show more...
2 years ago
23 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Politics of Emigration
In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we are discussing the politics of emigration. All countries are countries of immigration and of emigration, yet the politics of emigration are often less obsessed over as attitudes toward immigration. We ask, what are the political effects of emigration on sending countries? How does understanding perceptions of emigration help us to elucidate the changing demographic dynamics including population decline, ‘brain drain’, aging populations? We discuss these topics with the help of Dr. Anna Kyriazi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Milan, Dr. Julia Rone, a postdoctoral researcher at the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge, and Madeleine Reeves, Professor in the Anthropology of Migration here at the University of Oxford. Guests: Dr. Anna Kyriazi, Dr. Julia Rone, Prof Madeleine Reeves Hosts: Rob McNeil and Jacqui Broadhead Producer: Sophie Smith Communications and Coordination: Delphine Boagey Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/
Show more...
2 years ago
22 minutes

The Migration Oxford Podcast
Community, refugees, and urban life: what’s cycling got to do with it? We explore refugee women’s experiences in London through the ESRC Open City initiative and a participatory film with The Bike Project. In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we explore how mobility, belonging, and everyday urban life intersect in London, and how newcomers reshape the city through movement. Our focus is a participatory, arts-based collaboration with The Bike Project, an NGO that provides refugees with free bicycles. At its core, the initiative asks how movement - both physical and social - can create pathways to belonging, access, and agency for those newly arrived. The Bike Project’s work is simple yet transformative: bicycles enable refugees to travel independently, connect with services, and build confidence navigating London. But beyond practical utility, cycling becomes an embodied way of claiming space, of becoming visible in the city, and of weaving new rhythms into urban life. Our discussion explores this duality - bikes as both tools of mobility and symbols of presence in urban spaces that are at once open and exclusionary. We welcome Dr Eda Yazici, Senior Researcher at the University of Bristol, and Professor Michael Keith, Director of the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) and the PEAK Urban project. Together, they reflect on how collaborative, arts-based approaches can reveal the lived realities of migration and the permeability of the city itself. The project invited refugee women connected with The Bike Project to co-produce short and long-form films documenting their experiences of arrival and adaptation. These films move beyond representation to highlight how everyday mobilities shape inclusion, resilience, and visibility in the city. Our conversation situates these narratives within wider debates about mobility at multiple scales. From the global journeys of displacement to the intimate routes traced through neighbourhoods and cycle lanes, mobility both enables and constrains urban life. Arts-based collaborations, as this project demonstrates, can shed new light on how these scales intersect and how cities might be reimagined as more open and welcoming. Listeners can view the films co-created through this initiative online at Cycling Visibilities. Together with the discussion, they offer a powerful insight into the experiences of refugee women cycling through London - making themselves visible, claiming urban space, and reshaping the city in the process.