A group of ISS researchers contributed their insights to the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security’s State of the Art conference that annually brings together researchers, policy-makers and other professionals in the field of migration.
Karin Astrid Siegmann, Nanneke Winters, Sreerekha Sathi and Dominique Jolivet organized the panel ‘Migrant work and the crisis of social reproduction in the Netherlands’. Much of the labour that is needed to ensure social reproduction – understood as the processes that sustain and reproduce life, society and the economy - is provided by heterogenous groups of migrants. This concerns essential sectors such as care, addressed in Sreerekha Sathi’s presentation on ‘Robotization, digitalization, and labor stratification in European care homes: care workers’ experiences from the Netherlands’, logistics, covered in Nanneke Winters’ contribution on ‘Migrant truck drivers as essential workers in Dutch logistics’, and agriculture, that Karin Astrid Siegmann’s addressed in ‘Catering for the needs of migrants who feed the Netherlands: exploring alternative frames’.
Dominique Jolivet’s research complemented this with a cross-sectoral perspective on policy discourses around ‘’Problems’ and ‘solutions’ around migrant workers’ health in the Netherlands’. The subsequent discussion paid attention to the fact that, paradoxically, migrants often enable Dutch society to address the social reproduction challenges it faces at the expense of their own reproductive needs. Besides, participants highlighted the important contributions of undocumented migrant workers to solving the crisis of social reproduction in the Netherlands.
Simona Vezzoli co-organized a separate panel on ‘Scenarios for the future: scenario-thinking and EU-Africa migration in 2045’. Her own presentation was based on the recent report on ‘Migration between Europe and Africa in 2045: How decision making will shape future migration’ that she co-authored with Ayla Bonfiglio. The presentation explored questions like: What may migration between Europe and Africa look like in 20 years? What kind of migration governance will be suitable for those forms of migration? And, more urgently, what may be good policy initiatives to promote today and in the coming years in light of the possible changes in migration?
In addition, Zeynep Kaşlı presented her research in the session “Return as a process: Syrian refugees and the return question”. Her presentation was based on her ongoing research on ‘Removal Infrastructures for Syrians in Turkey’ that she has conducted together with Zeynep Ceren Eren Benlisoy, Mariam Altaema and Musa Kurt. Her intervention focused on the persisting concerns around coerced return of Syrians after the regime change in Syria, lack of oversight of international community on this matter. Furthermore, attention was drawn to the fact that Turkey’s informal economy and the temporary protection status are still seen as better than returning to Syria for many. The discussion stressed the importance of having a Syria- centred approach to policy discussions, a holistic approach on rebuilding and reconstruction of Syria, with a focus not on one-way return but rather mobility-oriented interventions that would allow Syrians abroad to contribute to the reconstruction process.