Research Milena Belloni

Abstract

The outsourcing of visa processing is a relatively recent industry that has been able to expand significantly in the space of just over twenty years. In Europe, private visa processing companies (VPCs) have come to play a key role in the management of migration, due to their ability to respond to the need of national governments to expedite the processing of high numbers of visa applications. VPCs mostly take care of providing applicants with information on the visa process, scheduling appointments with customers in their visa application centres (VACs), reviewing the documentation, digitising application data and sending it to consulates. VPCs are usually not tasked with approving or rejecting visa applications, which remains a responsibility of national governments. Despite the importance of this established industry, relatively little is known about how it affects migration to Europe. This project therefore aims to explore the industry of visa processing by looking at the interactions between states and VPCs and at how migrants in situations of vulnerability navigate the visa process. In particular, this research will focus on refugees from Afghanistan and their challenges with the process of family reunification to Belgium. In this way, it wants to shed light on how these new private actors are changing the migration landscape for vulnerable categories of migrants and how this affects their migration trajectories and experiences.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Belloni Milena
• Co-promoter: Verschraegen Gert
• Fellow: Penna Giovanni

Research team(s)

• Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

In large European cities, young people with a migration background are now the majority. Classical theories of assimilation predict that the engagement of the second generation with their 'homeland' would reduce compared to first generation migrants. However, current research points to a different direction. As 'digital natives', migrant-background youth cultivate socio-cultural connections with the country of 'origin' online and travel 'home' regularly. These visits do not diminish over the generations and have a significant impact on how youth are faring in their countries of residence in terms of their education and well-being. Scholars have studied digital connections with and physical mobilities to the 'homeland' separately thus far, concealing how they might shape each other. This project investigates the fundamental role of digital media in the changing character of young people's transnational engagements and mobilities by focusing on the specific case of mobile youth of Ghanaian background in Germany. Combining multi-sited ethnography with creative collaborative methods, this study will provide an innovative framework to understand 1) how digital media change the ways in which migrant-background youth relate to the 'homeland' compared to other generations (both older and previous movers); 2) how digital connections and physical mobilities between countries are interconnected and feed into each other; 3) how a sustained transnational life across generations benefits youth in the country of residence.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Belloni Milena
• Co-promoter: Costa Elisabetta
• Fellow: Anschütz Sarah

Research team(s)

• Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The Migration and Global Mobility Network aims to produce cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research on a wide range of themes, such as global mobility and governance, migration and health, migration and education, migration-related diversity and the city. Building on the expertise of different research groups of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the collaborations with local, national and international partners, the UA network represents a point of reference for migration and mobility scholars and provides an important source for knowledge-based policies. The network strives for engagement with civil society and institutions at local, national and international levels.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Belloni Milena
• Fellow: Belloni Milena

Research team(s)

• Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The project investigates the effect of visa outsourcing policies on refugee families and their family reunification process. It explores the visa outsourcing policies and practices of implementation of two or more European countries (e.g. Belgium and Italy). The PhD candidate will conduct comparative policy analysis and multi-sited ethnographic research in visa centres and consular offices in transit countries. Innovatively, the researcher will conduct ethnographic research both with visa officers and with different members of refugee families living between Europe and transit countries.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Belloni Milena
• Fellow: Penna Giovanni

Research team(s)

• Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Refugee policies in the Global South have increasingly become the focus of international interest. However, there is little understanding about how these policies are shaped and managed in these Southern countries. This doctoral project aims to understand how national refugee policies are the outcome of political negotiations between different levels, and what implementation effects this has. Taking the national refugee policy as a vantage point, this project aims to understand the entire policy process of refugee policies at the global, national and local: In what way do these different levels influence each other, and what is the effect on the national and local refugee policy? Thus, this project aims to understand how refugee policies emerge, are negotiated and implemented. This novel approach has not been taken before, and will be done by using a case study: Uganda's refugee policy. The country is seen as a 'success story' in refugee governance: it is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees flagship country for its key-policy, which was implemented in 2017. This project aims to conduct multi-sited field research at different levels: at the global level (New York and Geneva), the national level (Kampala) and the local level (two Ugandan refugee settlements). This will result in a ground-breaking research that provides more insights in the ways in which these different levels impact both on each other, and ultimately, on the quality of refugee policies itself.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Titeca Kristof
• Co-promoter: Belloni Milena
• Fellow: Derrix Roos

Research team(s)

• Development processes, actors and policies

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project aims to untangle return decision-making strategies of South Sudanese transnational families, in the aftermath of the South Sudanese civil war (2013-2018). Through a multi-sited ethnography with members of South Sudanese families, we will create insights into the precise dynamics within transnational family networks and more specifically, into their decision-making processes during the period in between the conflict and post-conflict stage. We will do so through a combination of multiple qualitative research methods, including auto-ethnography, in-depth interviews, observations and life history interviews. Combining the insights generated at our three research sites, namely in the northern Ugandan refugee settlements, Kampala and Juba, we will pave the way for a better understanding of the nature and working of refugees' transnational family networks; and how their configurations evolve and adapt to changing conditions. In doing so, the study will add critical contributions to the literature on return migration, migration decision-making and transnational families.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: De Herdt Tom
• Co-promoter: Belloni Milena
• Fellow: Vancluysen Sarah

Research team(s)

• Development processes, actors and policies

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Most European states allow refugees to access a facilitated procedure to reunify with their family members. Many studies, however, high-light how issues of timing, documentation and economic resources often make family reunions extremely difficult, if not impossible. If much has been written on the obstacles faced migrants in this regard, little is known about the specific case of refugees. Through a multi-sited ethnographic study with refugees and their families, this project aims to reconstruct the complexity of power-relations, social expectations and structural impediments that impact on refugees' right to family life.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Verschraegen Gert
• Fellow: Belloni Milena

Research team(s)

Project type(s)

• Research Project