This special issue situates the mass displacement of Ukrainians following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 within the broader shift from temporary protection as an exceptional crisis response to a durable feature of forced migration governance. Focusing on Germany and the USA—two major destinations in Europe and North America with longstanding Ukrainian diasporas—the contributions collectively demonstrate that, although displaced Ukrainians received preferential admission under temporary protection regimes in both countries, their prospects for long-term settlement and integration remain determined by uncertainty as both a legal condition and lived experience. The articles examine how displaced Ukrainians navigate temporary protection regimes, welfare institutions, labor markets, private sponsorship arrangements, and transnational family obligations while drawing on diaspora networks, community organizations, and digital infrastructures. In doing so, they highlight the agency of displaced Ukrainians in shaping their own migration and integration trajectories despite the constraints imposed by conditions of prolonged temporariness.
Unaccompanied foreign minors (UAMs) in Italy occupy a precarious and racialised social position, often framed through logics of control and emergency rather than rights, protection and inclusion. Within a reception system characterised by institutional constraints, legal uncertainty and ethnoracial hierarchies, their educational and biographical trajectories are frequently shaped by limited opportunities and standardised interventions. Drawing on a broader qualitative study based on 52 interviews with UAMs across Italy, this article focuses on three biographical cases to explore how young migrants navigate and respond to such constraints. Adopting the concept of bounded agency, the analysis shows that agency does not emerge in opposition to structural limitations but through their negotiation. The three cases illustrate different configurations of agency, including adaptation, strategic compliance, distancing and resistance, as minors seek to pursue educational aspirations, secure recognition and maintain control over their trajectories. By foregrounding young people’s own perspectives, the article challenges deficit-oriented representations of UAMs and contributes to debates on migration, youth transitions and agency by highlighting the situated and relational character of action under conditions of constraint.
This study examines how pre-departure dependants shape remigration intentions of international returnee migrants in the context of Ethiopia by using the 2021 Labor Force and Migration Survey (LFMS). While much of the existing literature focuses on the role of various socio-economic factors on remigration intentions, evidence on pre-departure dependants defined as dependants left behind by returnee migrants during their initial migration journey remains limited. As such, by extending the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Theory of Social Capital, this study contributes to the existing line of literature by answering the following research question: Do pre-departure dependants influence remigration intentions, and how does economic reintegration mediate their relationship? The main results robustly confirm the significant and positive association between having pre-departure dependants and remigration intentions. Conversely, economic reintegration does not substantially mediate the influence of pre-departure dependants on remigration intentions, nor is it significantly associated with remigration intentions. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis reveals that males are more inclined to take family responsibilities than females. The findings suggest the need of family-based reintegration programs, such as family counselling, reducing family-related responsibilities of returnees, and moving beyond employment-based economic reintegration efforts.
Given that population ageing and international migration of young people are issues of global geriatric concern, this study focused on the phenomenon among University of Ghana students with emigration aspirations. Objectives of the study were to explore perspectives of university students on potential challenges to caregiving for ageing parents if they emigrate and strategies that could ensure care for older adults in their absence. A qualitative research design was utilised, and convenience and purposive sampling methods were used to recruit participants. This consisted of 32 social work students at the University of Ghana. Data were collected through in-depth individual interviews and focus group discussions and analysed thematically. Findings indicated that potential challenges to providing care for older adults due to emigration include physical absence and emotional distance and dependence on external caregivers with associated issues of trust. Additionally, emotional conflict and gendered dilemmas as well as communication-related barriers and concerns about health of ageing parents shaped participants’ views on perceived challenges to caregiving. Nevertheless, participants suggested strategies including the use of professional caregivers, remittances, digital communication, and maintaining connections through visits for continuity of care. It is concluded that international migration of young people could strain intergenerational care and widen gaps in care for older adults. Thus, it would be useful for stakeholders to invest in the adult social care sector through measures including establishment of formal training for geriatric caregivers and policies that promote collaboration between families and professional caregivers for a sustainable provision of care for older adults.
Migrant women face a heightened risk of violence at every stage of the migration journey, yet recent evidence on its forms, determinants, and consequences remains fragmented. This study is aimed at investigating migrant women’s exposure to violence across the migration continuum, pursuing four objectives: to identify its forms; its associated risk and protective factors; women’s experiences of and responses to it; and its physical, mental and social consequences. A scoping review following PRISMA guidelines was conducted between February and March 2024, searching for the PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases. From a total of 445 articles retrieved, 32 articles were selected, including quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods studies published between 2019 and 2024. Findings showed that women face pervasive violence across all migration stages, including torture, physical and sexual abuse, camp-based atrocities, and intimate partner violence. Despite facing such violence, fear of arrest and stigmatization makes them underreport and become “tolerant” to the abuse, leading to severe mental health, physical health, and social consequences. Studies have reported a series of risk factors, like prior violence, irregular migration routes, disability, poverty, service barriers and patriarchal norms; while traveling with children, higher education, known male accompaniment, economic independence and robust legal/NGO supports were found as protective factors. Survival strategies such as acceptance and reliance on informal networks may afford short-term protection, but they risk normalizing abuse deepening women’s vulnerability. The lasting impacts of violence on women’s health highlight a public health concern that governments should address, developing prevention strategies uniting legal reform, tailored health services, community empowerment, and ongoing research.
