Turkish Migrants�� Organizations in Germany and Their Role in the Flow of Remittances to Turkey

Various studies, including ?stergaard-Nielsen (New York & London: Routledge, 2003), Pries and Sezgin (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag f??r Sozialwissenschaften, 2010), Thr?nhardt and Wei? (Freiburg: Lambertus, 2005), and Yurdakul (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2009) have examined the aims, activities, functions, and structures of migrant organizations in Germany. Among others, Daume et al. 2007, Kausch (Nr. 28: 21?C25 (http://www.service-eine-welt.de/images/text_material-1049.img). Accessed 23 October 2009, 2007), and Schmelz (Eschborn: GTZ, 2007) illustrated that some migrant organizations aim at supporting the development of their countries of origin. These organizations invest in infrastructure and agriculture, facilitate funding for development projects, provide post-disaster humanitarian aid, and offer social and financial assistance to their counterparts and to certain religious and/or political movements. A research gap, however, persists concerning the role of Turkish migrants?? organizations (TMOs) in the flow of remittances to Turkey. Particularly, it is not clear how organizational characteristics of TMOs influence their potential in attracting and transferring remittances. Combining approaches from organizational sociology and migration research, this paper intends to generate empirically founded knowledge about TMOs in Germany, while highlighting their need to legitimate themselves in multiple organizational fields. This paper illustrates that the potential of TMOs in attracting and transferring remittances depend on multiple factors such as the demographic characteristics of the Turkish migrants, Turkish and German governmental policies, and the organizational characteristics of TMOs. It also shows that the role of TMOs in the flow of remittances is limited as: (1) Turkish migrants?? social and economic resources are restricted, (2) TMOs?? competency in mobilizing migrants, fundraising, project development, and management has not been fully developed, and (3) Turkish and German governments do not actively cooperate with TMOs in transferring remittances.     

The Impact of Migration and Remittances on Household Welfare: Evidence from Vietnam

This paper examines the pattern and the impact of migration and remittances on household welfare in Vietnam using fixed-effects regressions and panel data from Vietnam Household Living Standard Surveys 2010 and 2012. Overall, the effect of migration as well as remittances on employment of remaining members of home households is small. People in households with migration and remittances tend to work less than people in other households. The effect of migration on household welfare happens mainly through remittances. If migrants do not send remittances to their home households, there are no effects of migration on welfare of home households. Remittances, especially international remittances, help receiving households increase per capita income and per capita expenditure and reduce poverty.     

VIOLENCE AND MORALITY: The Concession of Loss in A Ghanaian Fishing Village

When African migrants disappear on the Mediterranean going to Europe they often leave no trace—except for the occasional bodies that wash ashore on the beaches of southern Europe. In this essay, the urgent social and existential ramifications of migrant fatalities on the sea are explored. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in a small Ghanaian fishing village on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, it is discussed how the bereaved struggle to make sense of these deaths to high‐risk migration—how they struggle to deal with devastating loss while retaining a sense of moral order.     

Transnationalism among African immigrants in North America: The case of Ghanaians in Canada

This paper explores the types and strength of transnational ties between Ghanaian immigrants in Canada and their country of origin. The study finds that Ghanaians maintain various types of ties to Ghana including communication by telephone, repeat migration, cultural activities, and investments, especially in home ownership. The desire for home ownership in Ghana is related to the immigrants' intentions to return there permanently in the future. The immigrants also maintain collective ties to the homeland through a network of ethnic associations in Canada. These associations provide financial support for local economic development in Ghana. They also provide an organizational structure through which the immigrants seek to address their political needs in Ghana.     

The Roman Catholic Church of Norway and migration challenges

Ever since its re-establishment in Norway in 1843, the Roman Catholic Church has grown steadily. On 1 January 2017, the church had a total membership of approximately 150,000. The reason for the latest, and certainly largest, wave of Catholic migrants to settle in Norway is labour migration resulting from the eastward expansion of the EU in 2004, when Poland and Lithuania joined. About half the Catholic population of Norway originates from these two countries. This article focuses on the following research question: How does the Roman Catholic Church in Norway, represented by sisters in religious communities, priests and ecclesiastical employees, respond to the large influx of Catholic migrants to Norway? The study is based on a qualitative survey consisting of semi-structured interviews with 10 informants, all religious sisters, priests or ecclesiastical employees. Although some informants admit that the strong growth resulting from migration has posed problems, such as tendencies to form ‘parallel congregations’ based on ethnic origin, most expressed a positive view of this influx of migrants and of the future of the Catholic Church in Norway.     

Twice Migrants in Canada: Who Are They and How Do They Perform Economically?

Immigrants known as “twice migrants” are those who arrive in Canada via an intermediate country, that is, not directly from their country of birth. With a focus on large contemporary immigrant groups in Canada—South Asians, Chinese and Filipinos in particular—this study develops socio-economic profiles of twice migrants and assesses their economic performance in comparison to that of direct migrants. The study uses custom tables of multiple national level datasets as well as qualitative interviews with a selected group of twice-migrant families to arrive at its findings. The results show that relative to direct migrants, twice migrants were older, more likely to speak a Canadian official language, slightly more educated and more skilled. These human capital characteristics did not however fully translate into economic success. Political and economic situations both in the country of birth and the country of last place of residence affect the flow of twice migration. Lack of job opportunities in Canada forced many twice migrant families to split between two countries.     

Exposure to Remittances: Theoretical and Empirical Implications for Gender

Exposure to remittance, or the benefits of remittances, is a new concept introduced to the scholarship of migration studies, and within this broad concept there are also important gender dimensions. Women constitute around half of the total international migration flow in today’s world; however, the amount of the remittance that they are exposed to is considerably lower than that of males. This paper argues that although females remit a higher proportion of their income than men, they enjoy less ‘exposure to remittance’ than men. One hundred one respondents (remitters and receivers) were interviewed using an open and closed ended questionnaire from seven selected countries in Asia. Conceptualization of ‘exposure to remittance’ has been made with empirical support. The level of exposure depends on a respective country’s social and cultural milieu. Females in Bangladesh (P?<?0.004) are significantly less exposed to remittances than those of the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand.     

Imams in Flanders: A Research Note

This paper presents the results of an exploratory, mixed-method study on imams in Flanders. The research question was mainly who are they?, in an attempt to draw the first picture of their socio-demographic background, ethnicity, functions, and expectations with respect to their position in Flanders, or in Belgium more broadly speaking. The first three sections give context information about Muslims, Islam, and mosques in Belgium and Flanders. In the next sections, the research design and the results are presented. This presentation focuses on four issues: imams as immigrants; their tasks and workload; their job situation and attitude towards official recognition and payment; and finally their ambiguous attitudes towards government initiatives. We give also some reflections in dialogue with research on imams in other Western European countries. The conclusion discusses the challenges for imams and the government to become real partners within the further integration process of the Muslim community in Flanders and Belgium.     

Involuntary Return Migration and Reintegration. The Case of Ghanaian Migrant Workers from Libya

This paper presents findings from a study that investigated the experiences of the returning Ghanaian migrants from Libya during the Arab Spring of 2011. The study used qualitative methods to explore involuntary return and reintegration of migrants in a south–south migration framework. Information from semi-structured interviews of migrants from selected communities in Ghana in addition to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) were used. The objective of the study was to find out the major difficulties returnees faced in reintegrating into their societies of origin as a result of their hasty departure and to assert the factors that may influence reintegration. The study finds that the combination factors including of high levels of family dependence on returnees, weak governance and the absence of reintegration policies may foster re-emigration.     

Tackling Germany’s Demographic Skills Shortage: Permanent Settlement Intentions of the Recent Wave of Labour Migrants from Non-European Countries

Confronted with structural demographic challenges, during the last decade European countries have adopted new labour migration policies. The sustainability of these policies largely depends on the intentions of migrants to stay in their country of destination for the long term or even permanently. Despite a growing dependence on skilled labour migrants, very little information exists about the dynamics of this new wave of migration and existing research findings with their focus on earlier migrant generations are hardly applicable today. The article comparatively tests major theoretical approaches accounting for permanent settlement intentions of Germany’s most recent labour migrants from non-European countries on the basis of a new administrative dataset. Although the recent wave of labour migrants is on average a privileged group with regard to their human capital, fundamentally different mechanisms are shaping their future migration intentions. In contrast to neo-classical expectations, a first path highlights economic factors that determine temporary stays of a creative class benefiting from opportunities of an increasingly international labour market. Instead, socio-cultural and institutional factors are the decisive determinants of a second path leading towards permanent settlement intentions. Three main factors—language skills, the family context and the legal framework—make migrants stay in Germany, providing important implications for adjusting and strengthening labour migration policies in Europe.     

Do First- and Second-Generation Migrants Stay Longer in Social Assistance Than Natives in Belgium?

In many European countries, migrants are overrepresented in social assistance. In Belgium, at least 70% of social assistance beneficiaries are first- or second-generation migrants, as natives are often eligible for a social insurance benefit. Lower exit rates among migrants relative to natives could raise concern about the labour market inclusion of beneficiaries, as well as the financial sustainability and solidarity basis of the welfare state. This paper analyses whether migrants remain longer in social assistance than natives and whether migrants vary in their timing of exit by migration-history characteristics. We use longitudinal data from the social assistance administration linked to other administrative sources, including detailed information about migration histories of migrants. Using event history analysis, we track the exits from social assistance for 22,620 beneficiaries in the period June 2005–December 2009. We find that migrants have substantially longer median durations than natives. Controlling for socio-demographic characteristics, benefit and work histories, we find that most migrant groups have (slightly) lower exit rates than natives. Asylum seekers stay substantially longer in social assistance whereas migrants with longer durations of residence have shorter benefit periods than recent migrants. Second-generation migrants do not stay longer in social assistance than natives.     

Stress, locus of control, and psychological status in black South African migrants

The aim of this study was to investigate the specific impact of a major migration-related stressor on the psychological functioning of Black South African migrants who had been coerced to migrate from their indigenous residence to an area designated by the South African government. Scales measuring stress, locus of control, and psychological status were administered to a sample of 50 involuntary farm migrants, 50 "voluntary" farm migrants, 50 "black spot" migrants, and 50 non-migrants. Subjects were male and female adults aged between 35 and 45 years. Results indicated that migrants perceived more stress and were more psychologically distressed than nonmigrants. This distress was particularly associated with the stressor lose home. Farm migrants perceived more external control than black spot and nonmigrant groups.     

Mapping the state of the field of social psychology in Africa and patterns of collaboration between African and international social psychologists

Patterns of collaboration in social psychology from 2000 to 2010 were mapped to analyse the position of African authors in the international co‐authorship network using bibliographic records from the Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge. There are very few social psychologists working in Africa, with the majority of these located in South Africa. Indeed, some small European countries boast more social psychologists than the entire continent of Africa. African authors published less than their non‐African collaborators, but had comparable status on joint publications. Co‐authorship relationships between African researchers from different African countries were generally mediated by partners from other continents, and direct collaboration between non‐compatriot African authors was very rare. The small size, and extremely sparse connection of the African co‐authorship network, is likely to be an obstacle both in the development of social psychology as a universally relevant discipline and in the penetration of social psychological knowledge in Africa.     

Psychological Dimensions of Unemployment: A Gender Comparison Between Belgian and South African Unemployed

This study sought to compare South African and Belgian unemployed in their subjective experience of unemployment, committed towards employment and job search behaviour. We also considered gender differences regarding the psychological dimensions of unemployment between Belgium and South Africa. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Unemployed people were sampled from the Potchefstroom area in South Africa (N = 381) and the Brussels area in Belgium (N = 305). The Experiences of Unemployment Questionnaire was administered. While no significant gender differences were found in South Africa, significant differences were found for all three psychological dimensions of unemployment in the Belgian sample. South African intervention programmes should be developed in order to cope with long-lasting unemployment, social isolation and further financial deprivation.     

Linguistic Assimilation of First-Generation Jewish South African Immigrants in Israel

We contribute to scholarship on the linguistic assimilation of migrants by focusing on the special case of Jewish South African migrants in Israel. English as an international language is widely used in the Israeli society, so immigrants whose mother tongue is English are a very interesting case because they might experience much less social pressure to improve their Hebrew skills than other immigrant groups who speak other languages. The study reveals that, although most first-generation immigrants participated in state-sponsored Hebrew classes and reported relatively moderate levels of language proficiency, it has not become their primary language. Hebrew proficiency proved conditional on age at arrival and rise sharply with tenure in the country and exposure to Hebrew (at origin or at destination). Hebrew proficiency is higher for migrants with more extensive contacts with Israelis and with higher education. Positive synergism emerged between language acquisition and reasons for migrating and attachment to the country.     

Patterns of Social Integration of Western European Migrants

This paper investigates whether there are different social integration patterns of intra-European adult migrants who moved between 1974 and 2003 from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain to one of the other four countries. These patterns are derived by means of latent class analysis based on information on the ethnic origin of both partners and friends. The data were collected by telephone interviews in the ??European Internal Movers?? Social Survey?? in 2004. Approximately 250 interviews were conducted with migrants from each of the 20 combinations of country of origin and country of residence (N?=?4.902). In addition to two patterns of nationalized integration, where partner and friends come predominantly either from the country of residence or the country of origin, two de-nationalized integration patterns were found which are characterized by mixed friendship networks (co-nationals, nationals of the country of residence, and third countries). As a country of residence, Britain provides the most fertile ground for a de-nationalization of friend and partnerships for incoming migrants; the opposite is true for Italy. German and British migrants tend to nationalize integration patterns, that is, they either socialize with their co-nationals or with nationals of their country of residence.     

Between Hospitality and Hostility

Migration has been a global phenomenon since the beginning of humankind. But despite its ordinariness, migration is a complex issue. The arrival of refugees in another country might have significant social, economic, political, cultural, and religious repercussions for both the migrants and the host societies. In 2015, many refugees, mainly from the Middle East and the North African region, fled to Europe. Migration has become a subject of research in social sciences and, recently, in social ethics and theology. An ethical dilemma arises around the refugee crisis and the relationships between the host countries and guest communities: What is the relevance of the ethics of hospitality in a climate of political radicalization and hostility toward the “other”? This paper studies social ethical perspectives of hospitality and hostility toward refugees in the context of Sweden.     

Exclusion and Discrimination: Zimbabwean Migrant Children and South African Schools

Post-2005 migration movements from Zimbabwe to South Africa have included a growing number of children. These children face considerable difficulties in accessing the South African educational system. School attendance rates are significantly lower amongst migrant than South African children. This paper is based on recent interviews with Zimbabwean parents and guardians in Cape Town and Johannesburg and shows the levels and types of discrimination they and their children face as well as their powerlessness to effect change. The exclusion of migrant children from education contravenes South Africa’s international human rights obligations as well as its own Bill of Rights and Department of Education directives. The Department of Home Affairs, however, makes schools sites for the enforcement of the draconian provisions of the 2002 Immigration Act. School authorities therefore operate with conflicting mandates. The evidence suggests that most prefer to side with the Department of Home Affairs and make their schools unwelcoming spaces for Zimbabwean children.     

Pan‐African Women's Voices across Borders

This article is structured from the epistemological vantage point of framing theological education within the context of Pan‐African women's experiences of migration, where theological education is defined in the widest sense of creating knowledge, ethos, and practices from within different versions of Christian tradition, as opposed to transmitting a static corpus of knowledge. It begins by examining the deconstructive potential of Pan‐African female migrants, particularly with regard to gendered patterns and projections of theological education. It then describes and analyzes the impact of Pan‐African female migrants on the project of contextual theological education as an act of birthing and bringing to life the dimensions of seeing and interpreting the one life‐giving story through the lenses of the lamenting, celebrating, and transforming stories of many. The article concludes by presenting Pan‐African female migration as an opportunity to revisit theological education as a creative, ecumenical, and intercultural enterprise, seeing the empirical location of Pan‐African female migrants as a paradigmatic lens for revisiting theological education as intercultural enterprise, and not (exclusively) as a contextual – and hence exceptional – historic experience.