Migration & Integration
Introduction
This is a major area of research for SHUSU, the significance of which has only grown in recent years, with implications at local, national, and global levels.
Migration and Integration are often closely linked in research and are politically and academically contested topics. While migration might be thought of as an event and integration a process, both may be considered to be evolving concepts related to belonging, identity and citizenship.
Over the last decade, SHUSU researchers have undertaken studies into areas of critical policy relevance. These have looked at the experiences of specific groups of migrants including asylum seekers, refugees, and EU migrants as well as key contemporary issues such as Brexit and access to welfare.
Our focus has often been on examining the approaches adopted within local areas to manage migration and integration initiatives. As well as community-based work we have also been involved in shaping policy at local and national level.
Our work in this area is grounded in strong relationships with local authorities and voluntary and community organisations. We have an international outlook and seek to develop new ways of transferring knowledge and practice between partners across the Global North and Global South.
SHUSU has an international outlook and is always seeking to develop new partnerships, knowledge transfer opportunities, capacity building and policy input.
Recent Publications
- Refugee Integration Yorkshire & Humber 2018-20 (2020),
- Destination integration: third country nationals in the North of England, Integration Up North (IUN) (2015)
Work with Roma
Recent Publications
- “so this is not a game” – Brexit as a ‘situation of uncommon precarity’ for migrants of Roma heritage in the UK, International Journal of Roma Studies (2021)
- We contributed to the Report on a Joint All Party Parliamentary Group roundtable event (2018)
Projects with Roma Communities
- Roma in South Yorkshire: mapping services and local priorities
- Supporting Roma Voice
- Migrant Roma in the United Kingdom: Population size and experiences of local authorities and partners
- Roma Health
- Roma MATRIX (Mutual Action Targeting Racism Intolerance and Xenophobia)
- Roma SOURCE
Projects with Migrants
Connecting with Welfare
Our research on migrants and migration is not always ‘standalone.’ It can often be one aspect of a larger project of which SHUSU researchers are part. For example, in 2016, Professor Lisa Scullion and Dr Katy Jones considered the impact of conditionality on the welfare rights of EU migrants in the UK (First Wave Findings: Migrants and Conditionality – 2016) as part of an was part of the internationally significant ESRC funded project ‘Welfare Conditionality’, which involved several UK universities.
Similarly, Professor Lisa Scullion, Philip Martin, Cormac Lawler, Andrea Gibbons were co-authors of the recent report ‘Non-take-up of benefits at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic’ (2021), produced by the ‘Welfare at a (Social) Distance’project. This nationally important research (also funded by the ESRC) included migrants as a key demographic within the study sample.
As this demonstrates, there is considerable overlap between different areas of SHUSU’s work such as Work and Welfare. This is because it is important not to consider migration in isolation but to understand how major policy developments impact on different groups and how migration status can affect access, opportunity and outcome, key aspects of integration.
SHUSU has an international outlook and is always seeking to develop new partnerships, knowledge transfer opportunities, capacity building and policy input.