Tackling the UK’s migration challenges at the dawn of Brexit

How can UK universities recruit and retain EU talent when national policies are promoting uncertainty and seen as fostering hostility to immigrants? What are the best ways of integrating migrants with different skills and motivations into our labour market? These are just two examples of Essex research up for discussion at this week’s launch event for our new Centre for Migration Studies.

The launch on Wednesday 26 September will take the form of a workshop and art exhibition at our Colchester Campus and is designed to highlight the key issues surrounding migration and integration in the UK as we head into Brexit.

Those attending will have the chance to discuss the ever-changing flow of migration, what Brexit will mean for immigrants in the UK and British emigrants abroad, international human rights law and refugee entrepreneurialism.

Speaking ahead of the event, Dr Renee Luthra, Director of the Centre for Migration Studies, said: “With massive numbers of displaced people around the world, the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment on both sides of the Atlantic and the continued challenges of achieving societies that are both cohesive and diverse, it is critical to understand the causes, experiences, and consequences of international migration. 

“The Essex Centre for Migration Studies aims to develop, support and disseminate the work of migration scholars and postgraduates at Essex and beyond and to provide opportunities for academics to work together with groups related to refugees, immigrants and ethnic minorities in our local community. 

“We are delighted to be celebrating the achievements of the Centre so far at our upcoming event. In just one year of working we have brought together over 10 different groups working with refugees, immigrants and ethnic minorities in the East of England, to network on our Colchester Campus; we have organised our own international postgraduate conference together with the Sussex Centre for Migration Research and the Migration Research Network at the University of East Anglia and our two academic workshops have highlighted the most cutting edge research on forced migration, immigrant integration, and reactions to Brexit among immigrants and their families in the UK. 

“We are also looking forward to welcoming our first cohort of MA and MSc students in Migration Studies this term. This event is our first time collaborating with Art Exchange here on our Colchester campus, kicking off a series of migration related films and discussions which will run through October as well.” 

The event will conclude with a reception and art exhibition at our Art Exchange gallery of Caroline Walker’s painting series Home. For this series Caroline met and photographed five female asylum seekers living in temporary accommodation, before painting each in her studio.  

Also showing is Imran Perrretta’s short film 15 Days that focuses on the lives of asylum seekers in Calais after the Jungle was razed in 2016. 

The Centre for Migration Studies sits within our Department of Sociology and was established in 2017. 

The Centre’s members include key scholars in the field of migration. The members are Dr Carlos Gigoux Gramenga, Dr Neli Demireva, Dr Ayse Guveli, Professor Ewa Morawska,  Professor Yasemin Soysal and Selin Sivis. 

The Centre also collaborates with academics from the University of Cologne in Germany, Kobe University in Japan, the University of California Davis and Los Angeles, CIESAS in Mexico, and UNED in Spain.

The forthcoming event is sponsored by the Eastern Arc Research Consortium and the University of Essex.  

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