Thread by @OxfordMSS

After a lunch break, we are back with our third panel, on "Barriers to Belonging". First, we have Isra Hussain @Fulbright_AUT on labour market integration of refugees in the 1990s. #OMSSConference19

Hussain: When Bosnian refugees arrived in Austria, they were given temporary protected status. The govt needed a way to handle this large population. There emerged rapid employment integration; but also underemployment #OMSSConference19

Hussain: What is the goal of labour market integration? 'Quick' integration or longer-term integration professions that match their qualifications? These are questions that we need to be asking when we do this kind of research. #OMSSConference19

Hussain: One of the most significant barriers is that of language – German language is a requirement for many employers, even if not formally. Access to documents is also difficult as a result of language and other barriers. #OMSSConference19

Hussain: There is increasingly civil society involvement in service enhancement for refugees. But this is underfunded and mainly concentrated in metropolitan areas. #OMSSConference19

Hussain: Though the federal govt is currently conservative, it recognizes the need for labour. 30,000 refugees are currently unemployed in Austria. Thus, the govt has held job fairs to promote labour market integration. Recommends language support etc. #OMSSConference19

Hussain: But caution should be taken: there is a need to understand the objective of labour market integration – short-term integration or long-term matching up of people with professions that match their qualifications, which is crucial to people's dignity. #OMSSConference19

Next we have Elena Valbusa and @marijswinkels presenting on their project "Incluusion" at Utrecht University, a program to promote access to higher education for refugees that began in 2016. #OMSSConference19

Valbusa: Initial barriers included lack of financial support & no official recognition – at the same time, there was high demand on the part of students. Over the past 3 years, the program has rapidly expanded, not just within the Netherlands but beyond #OMSSConference19

Swinkels: There is a need to look beyond numbers of students that are now included in programmes – it is more difficult to create inclusion than to create diversity in a university. Need to center experiences of students. #OMSSConference19

Finally, @AytenAlibaba is speaking about the Turkish Cypriot community in London and their different linguistic understandings of home. Many interviewees identified London – "not beyond the [London] bridge", "North London", "South London" as their home #OMSSConference19

Alibaba: Language is a signifier of belonging for some, for example speaking English being associated with calling London home; language is also a way of retaining a national identity, for example, language as a sign of Cypriotness. #OMSSConference19

Alibaba: Language is linked to heritage, identity & belonging, as well as superiority & status. E.g. Knowing English or not knowing Turkish may be status symbols. Different interviewees used their language abilities to communicate different politics #OMSSConference19

Our chair @williamlallen @COMPAS_oxford seeing common theme of history: important to focus on 'integration from day 1' but also 'integration from day minus 1' – migration always happens in a specific context, whether that is labour, linguistics, or education #OMSSConference19

Allen: Also need to consider whether state interventions are helping all residents, not just migrants or refugees, and take a broader approach to ideas about cohesiveness and labour integration, which may help to tackle public feelings of unfairness/resentment #OMSSConference19

Allen: All the papers were focused very much on the idea of 'the local'. Is there something about cities urban environments that makes integration more possible? We should think about this when discussing. #OMSSConference19

Allen: All the papers talk about different features of 'integration' - integration is a complex, 'multidimensional' concept, whether language, labour outcomes/employment, or social. Accounting for all of these perspectives allows rounded understanding. #OMSSConference19