{"id":57724,"date":"2019-06-24T15:23:27","date_gmt":"2019-06-24T19:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=57724"},"modified":"2025-10-18T16:26:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T20:26:53","slug":"global-migration-gathering","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/global-migration-gathering\/","title":{"rendered":"Carleton Plugs into Global Migration Gathering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Carleton Plugs into Global Migration Gathering\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

From June 24 to 28, the largest annual international gathering of experts in the fields of migration, integration and diversity will convene in the National Capital Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Metropolis Conference<\/a>, which draws attendees from academia, government and civil society, is part of a global effort to help people who move from one country to another, either voluntarily or out of necessity, successfully settle into their new lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only is the secretariat of the conference\u2019s parent organization based at Carleton, there will also be a significant Carleton contribution to the conference, including workshops with faculty members including Martin Geiger<\/a>, Amrita Hari<\/a> and James Milner<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCarleton and Canada have a tremendous opportunity to help bring research about migration and refugee issues into the conversation with policy-makers and practitioners,\u201d says Milner, a Political Science professor and project director of the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network<\/a> (LERRN), a seven-year project to ensure that refugee research, policy and practice are shaped by a more inclusive, equitable and informed collective engagement of civil society.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cFor our government, at this time, this conference is huge,\u201d says Milner.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cAmongst western democracies, Canada is a leader on integration and diversity, which still have broad support here. It will be a prominent issue in the upcoming election, because although there\u2019s pressure to recognize the benefits of migration and the role it plays in the economy, that needs to be balanced with domestic public opinion and rigorous and reliable public institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s this meeting place,\u201d he adds, \u201cthat\u2019s the focus of Metropolis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Exploring Global Migration and its Effects on Societies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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The Metropolis Project<\/a> \u2014 a network of experts and practitioners from academic institutions and governmental and non-governmental organizations with an interest in international migration and its effects on societies \u2014 was established by Citizenship and Immigration Canada in 1996.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Launched as a partnership between 20 Canadian universities whose research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the project grew to include collaborators in more than 70 countries, with the federal government agreeing to transfer the Metropolis secretariat to Carleton in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a nice coincidence that Carleton was looking to expand in these areas just as the secretariat was looking for a new home,\u201d says Metropolis Project Executive Head Howard Duncan<\/a>, noting that the university\u2019s Migration and Diaspora Studies<\/a> initiative was getting started around then too. \u201cMetropolis was never really a government organization. We are a network that works to build bridges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe idea is to use evidence to advance and improve government policies,\u201d continues Duncan, who has an office on campus. \u201cThe idea is to make the world a better place by helping government develop more rational \u2014 and more humane \u2014 immigration policies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coming to Ottawa-Gatineau soon? #IntlMetropolis2019<\/a> features more than 170 workshops for conference participants to choose from! Find the topics that interest you: https:\/\/t.co\/c4DvJ8BCQe<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/sZQoU6L5e7<\/a><\/p>

\u2014 IRCC (@CitImmCanada) June 21, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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One of the primary goals of the Metropolis Project and its annual conference is to apply lessons from Canada\u2019s experiences to other countries struggling with migration issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has been difficult over the years to get people from developing nations on board,\u201d says Duncan.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cBut our ambition all along has been to make the lives of migrants better, and to help receiving countries \u2014 not just well-equipped places like Canada \u2014 integrate people. If migration is managed properly, it can be a benefit both to the host country and the country of origin.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Metropolis was originally focused mostly on migrants to cities, but that has shifted to include refugees \u2014 \u201ca response to what\u2019s happening in the world right now,\u201d says Duncan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although there is what Duncan calls a \u201cperennial discussion\u201d about how to derive value from academic research, and a history of distrust between policy-makers and academics, \u201cthe only way for these two groups to work together is to actually meet one another on a regular basis and realize that they share a vision of the world. The biggest hurdle is trust, and Metropolis has helped to build trust quite effectively.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, the presence of NGO representatives and others who work on the front lines with migrants and refugees, plus participation from countries around the world, has sparked eye-opening international perspectives that have stimulated new ways of thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Applying the Global Compact on Refugees at a National Level<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Milner, one of the architects of Carleton\u2019s Migration and Diaspora Studies initiative, which now involves more than 30 faculty, will be part of a Metropolis workshop on the Global Compact on Refugees<\/a> (GCR) and how multi-sectoral partnerships can make it easier to apply the agreement at a national level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Affirmed by United Nations General Assembly in December 2018, the GCR is \u201ca framework for more predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing, recognizing that a sustainable solution to refugee situations cannot be achieved without international co-operation,\u201d says the UN. \u201cIt provides a blueprint for governments, international organizations and other stakeholders to ensure that host communities get the support they need and that refugees can lead productive lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developed in parallel with the UN\u2019s Global Compact for Migration<\/a>, the GCR evolved from challenges in Europe that intensified in 2015, explains Milner, when countries were overwhelmed by the surge of refugees fleeing Africa and the Middle East across the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With 85 per cent of refugees remaining in the global south, often stuck in \u201ctemporary\u201d camps for decades, there was increasing international awareness that we need to go beyond humanitarian responses that address basic needs, he says, and come up with \u201cdurable solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it has only been in place for a few months, there are already signs the GCR is having a positive impact, says Milner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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James Milner and Simran Singh at Care Canada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In Ethiopia, for example, steps have been taken to make it easier for refugees to work in sectors such as agriculture and light manufacturing that produce goods for export.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Kenya, one of the countries where the LERRN project is active, there is growing acceptance of refugees and locals working and living side by side and contributing to the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in Tanzania, another LERRN country, the government rebuffed international pressure to take a loan to help it host refugees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one approach will work well in every country,\u201d says Milner. \u201cOne of the roles of academic research is to help come up with solutions that are effective in specific places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is what happens at Metropolis in a unique way,\u201d he continues. \u201cWe bring evidence and analytical tools and show policy-makers how to use them. We also do knowledge transfer. Policy-makers and practitioners might not read an 8,000-word journal article, but they\u2019ll read a four-page policy brief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is an unprecedented opportunity. Having Metropolis in Ottawa, not only the workshops but also the conversations that take place on the margins, will allow us to demonstrate what Carleton can do \u2014 and how what we do can be used to inform and improve policy and practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Permanent Resident Status: Difficult to Gain, Easy to Lose<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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Carleton Prof. Amrita Hari, from the university\u2019s Pauline Jewett Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies<\/a>, is speaking at a Metropolis session on permanent resident status for highly skilled foreign workers in Canada, and how some immigrant groups are better poised to attain permanent residency than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is an abundance of scholarship and documented evidence of the racist and sexist tendencies of migration policy which set limits on who is admitted into and who can stay in Canada,\u201d says Hari. \u201cThese structuring effects result in women being relegated to literal, symbolic and cultural processes of reproducing society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an example, she cities the Live-In Caregiver Program and the fraught path to permanent status that it provides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMoreover, Canada\u2019s over-reliance on temporary migration inevitably maintains a white settler identity whereby racialized migrants and refugees are at an increased risk of abuse and exploitation and often subject to misguided public, media and policy discourses,\u201d adds Hari, \u201cwhich can label them as burdens, illegals and criminals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Amrita Hari<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPermanent resident status remains contingent on perceived utility to Canadian economy and society. This achievement is becoming difficult to gain but easy to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Justin Trudeau\u2019s Liberal government introduced an ambitious plan for reform, changing the name of Citizenship and Immigration Canada to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and promoting a \u201cwelcome refugees\u201d campaign, \u201cwhat remains unchanged is the injustice inherent in Canada\u2019s over-reliance on temporary migration and \u2018conditionality\u2019 of status to fill its economic and societal needs,\u201d says Hari.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cPrecarity exposes select migrants to limited social benefits and statutory entitlements, job insecurity, low wages and high risks of ill health. Furthermore, short-term or temporary residents are denied access to public settlement services and related social rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

At gatherings such as Metropolis, the political process behind immigration, refugee and citizenship policies is the main focus \u201cinvolving governmental and non-governmental actors operating at multiple scales and across jurisdictional divides,\u201d says Hari. \u201cAs a researcher, I am always in search of platforms that recognize this intricate design and aspire to bring together scholars, policy-makers and non-governmental actors to work together and push for reform with effective representation and direct participation of migrants themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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