INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION CONFERENCE

Profile picture for user Fernando Aguiar Submitted by Fernando Aguiar
Position: Senior Advisor on Conflict and EU Foreign Affairs
on Wed, 06/19/2019 - 11:12
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18-20 June

Bari, Italy


 

For the first time, the Brussels International Center participated on the International Migration Conference which took place in Bari, Italy, from 18-20 June. The conference provided a platform of great exchange where experts, researchers, think-tanks, practitioners and high-level policy makers working in the field of migration shared their knowledge and expertise. It was organised in thematic streams of parallel sessions focusing on migration, gender, diasporas, migration policies, labour migrations, refugees, and many other relevant themes that explored the impact of human mobility on sending, transit and receiving societies. Overall, the conference hosted about 150 parallel sessions, with above 800 researchers and several distinguished keynote speakers.

The BIC presented its research entitled ‘Gendered politics of migration management: Italian National Identity in the Structuring of “Others” ’. The paper, which will be published in the coming months, was a result of an intensive research process which explored the political dynamics of the Italian government in framing their political discourse on migration. This paper posited a theoretical framework for exploring the dynamics of gendered insecurities of the Italian states. The methodology used by our researches added a gender lens to analyse how state practices securitize and categorize migrants, how state insecurity is gendered and how this contributes to the development of security-oriented migration policies.

Throughout the sessions, experts were able to share the results of their research, while also highlighting recommendations for more cohesive policies on migration management. For example, Mr Martin Ruhs, Chair in Migration Studies and Deputy Director of the Migration Policy Centre (MPC) at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence, presented his paper that conducted a conjoint survey experiment to study the asylum and refugee policy preferences of citizens. It also explored how these preferences vary across individuals, in six different EU Member States, namely, Germany, Italy, Sweden, France, Hungary, and Poland.

After each session, the BIC participated contributing to the discussions and presenting the results of its own research. Participants left with an understanding of the need for a whole community and grassroots approach to addressing issues of migration management.