This essay critically examines the role of deep mapping in representing migration experiences, focusing on how contemporary humanitarian frameworks engage with and reproduce the method’s historical entanglements with imperial and colonial power. The analysis centers on Migrants on the Move, a digital visual archive that combines geospatial data with narrative storytelling to trace irregular migration routes in Libya and Mali. To interrogate this case, I draw on Nicholas Mirzoeff’s concept of “Visuality 2,” which describes the shift from traditional forms of visual control to technologically mediated systems of knowledge production. Extending this framework, I introduce the notion of the “humanitarian complex,” a concept that captures the paradox in which data-driven migration projects operate. They embody this material paradox by facilitating humanitarian aid while enabling surveillance and control, reinforcing power structures, revealing power’s inescapable, co-opting influence, and limited possibilities for truly resistant alternatives. The study finds a central tension in Migrants on the Move: while narrative elements foreground migrant voices and humanize experiences, the overarching reliance on aggregate data and risk-based framings tends to abstract migration into cognitive maps of systemic peril rather than sites of lived subjectivity. This abstraction risks transforming migrants into epistemic objects within humanitarian infrastructures, with their agency diminished by the very practices intended to amplify it. The essay concludes that visual archives of migration are not neutral records but active platforms shaping public perception and policy. By examining the intersections of visuality, humanitarianism, and critical cartography, the article underscores the ethical and political stakes of representing migration and presents more equitable narrative approaches to human mobility.

Abstract This paper explores the profiles, motivations, and methods of human traffickers incarcerated in Romania, based on 20 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2018 at Jilava Prison. The study addresses the research question: "How do traffickers rationalize their involvement in human trafficking?" By developing typologies of traffickers and analyzing mechanisms of justification and motivation, the research highlights both the external socio-economic contexts and individual personal characteristics in which traffickers operate. It places these findings in the broader context of labor market imbalances and irregular migration routes that create favorable conditions for trafficking. This paper challenges simplistic portrayals of traffickers as a homogeneous group. These insights are useful not only in academic debates but also have important policy implications. This paper calls for further research and a stronger connection between migration, labor exploitation, and human trafficking.

Abstract Currently, German schools are attended by third- and even fourth-generation descendants of Turkish-origin workers who arrived as guests in the 1960s. The experiences of Turkish-origin families can provide valuable insights into Germany’s success in integrating families with migration biographies into the education system and supporting them across generations. This study compares the effectiveness of the German education system in involving and empowering first and second-generation Turkish-origin parents in educational matters, aiming to guide future research and improvements. The study involved 11 parents and six teachers. The interview results showed that first-generation parents were less involved in education processes due to language barriers, felt isolated because of cultural differences, and perceived that teachers and the education system were not sufficiently inclusive in the past. In contrast, the second generation was able to foster closer relationships with the school and participate more actively in education through teacher and parent organisations. Although immigrant parents today have overcome language barriers, they still require support in pedagogical matters. It is recommended that school administrations, teachers, and civil society organisations carry out empowering activities for parents.

Abstract This paper examines the role of morality in migration and transnationalism, focussing on the case of Russian anti-war migration and activism against the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s regime. Drawing on moral philosophy and psychology, I argue that Russian departure and activism can be conceptualised as moral migration and transnationalism, defined as “decisions, reasoning, judgements and acts of resistance motivated by obligatory concerns for others’ welfare, rights, fairness and justice”. Applying this to Russian anti-war activism abroad, the paper underlines how the act of migration can be conceptualised as a form of moral protest, especially for citizens from authoritarian states and autocratic regimes. It also emphasises the role of morality in transnational mobilisation choices and causes activists take up, as well as the moral dilemmas and controversies these present for anti-war communities and movements. By foregrounding the significance of morality, this study seeks to redress its neglect in migration and transnationalism scholarship and underscores the importance of moral theory in the analysis of international politics. Additionally, the paper introduces a new case study of anti-war activism and mobilisation among Russia’s emergent anti-war migrant communities in London, Madrid, and Tbilisi, thereby illuminating a critical yet under-researched dimension of the geopolitics of Russian opposition movements.

Abstract Despite the Sustainable Development Goal target 10.7.2, which aims to facilitate orderly, safe, regular, and responsible migration through implementing planned and well-managed migration policies at various government levels, this remains understudied at the local level. Using an institutional liberalism lens, this paper analyses migrant integration into municipal development planning in the city of uMhlathuze, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Following a qualitative case study approach, 20 municipal officials were interviewed, and municipal documents were reviewed to collect data analysed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that despite the increasing number of migrants in the municipality, migration is not integrated into municipal development planning. The exclusion of international migrants from municipal planning aggravates the service delivery backlog and underscores inefficiencies in municipal planning. This study enhances knowledge and informs policy for South African policymakers and development stakeholders while elucidating how municipalities address international migration issues.

This study investigates the interactions of forced migrants with state actors in transit countries at critical decision nodal points (DNPs) along their journey—defined as turning points where migrants make decisions about resuming mobility or altering the course of their journey. Granted official legal power by the state, transit state actors operate on the ground in various ways using their power. Nevertheless, their roles in the decision-making as experienced by forced migrants have been studied very little. We examine the journey narratives of forced migrants originating from Eritrea and Sudan. We quantitatively identify and analyze spaces of mobility, immobility and DNPs, within their trajectories. The findings demonstrate that state actors in transit countries can serve as integral and concrete journey components that shape migration outcomes. The study concludes by presenting two insights into (i) the directionality of influence (enabling versus halting journey plans) and (ii) the encounter space (direct-official spaces versus indirect spaces).

This article examines the complexities of integrating young adult migrants from non-EU countries into European contexts, advocating for a shift toward inclusive, locally informed, and reciprocal integration processes. It critiques state-centric, assimilationist frameworks that emphasize an imagined national identity and Western norms of youth transitions, neglecting local nuances and diverse migrant experiences. Through findings from a European Delphi study engaging 114 stakeholders from seven European countries, including migrant youth organisations, also represented by stakeholders with a migration background, the study highlights the need for a dynamic, process-oriented approach to integration. This approach prioritizes mutual adjustments between migrants and host communities, emphasizing flexibility, responsiveness, and local relevance. The study underscores the role of local actors and contexts in shaping integration policies, contrasting inclusivity at the local level with exclusionary national frameworks. Stakeholders emphasized the harmful impact of state-imposed policies and the importance of youth groups and migrant organizations as active contributors to policy development. The research proposes tailored solutions to address vulnerabilities and calls for long-term, multi-level governance that values the lived experiences of young migrants. Utilizing a two-stage Delphi methodology, the study facilitated anonymous stakeholder dialogue across seven European countries, yielding consensus on key integration challenges and innovative policy recommendations. By integrating diverse perspectives and recognizing young migrants as co-creators of their futures, this article advances debates on migration and integration, advocating for policies that are equitable, inclusive, and grounded in local realities.

The economic, political and social situation in Venezuela has forced millions of its citizens to leave their country (Mazuera-Arias et al., Sociodemographic Profiles and the Causesof Regular Venezuelan Emigration. International Migration, https://doi.org/10.1111/IMIG.12693 (2020)). Over the past eight years, we have witnessed an unprecedented exodus of this nature. In June 2024, there were 7.7 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees worldwide, of which 1.5 million have settled in Peru. Lima, the city hosting the majority of Venezuelans in Peru (R4V 2022), seems to be the final destination on their migration trajectory. Despite challenges and barriers related to the complex legal status landscape, the city fulfils aspirations and needs that drove Venezuelans to leave their country. Most importantly, Lima allows them to fulfil economic needs that are sufficient to survive and support those left behind. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the principal challenges confronted by forced migrants from Venezuela on the labor market of Lima (Peru), the adaptation and coping strategies they employ to overcome them and how this situation influences their decisions on further (im)mobility. The results are based on a mixed-method approach with the use of quantitative and qualitative research methods. The quantitative methods employed include questionnaire interviews with Venezuelans in Lima and their Peruvian neighbors, while the qualitative methods comprise in-depth interviews with Venezuelans in Lima, their Peruvian neighbors, and experts in Peru, as well as observation during study visits to the research area.

This paper critically examines Germany’s 2024 citizenship reform, designed to promote integration and pluralism through legal and societal transformations. We argue that the prevailing migration discourse in Germany reinforces a one-dimensional political framework, reducing migrants to single-issue subjects—either threats or victims, economic assets or social burdens. This approach to migration falls short of capturing Germany’s evolving socio-political landscape and its changing actors, including queer, feminist, and anti-racist migrant initiatives and cross-generational and multi-ethnic migrant organizations. Adopting an intersectional and postmigrant framework, we explore the dual narrative of increasing structural integration and simultaneously decreasing affective belonging. Here, we are interested in exploring the overlapping contexts of migration and racism in Germany with a perspective that accounts for the experiences of noncitizen migrants, citizen migrants, and nonmigrant racialized citizens. We center our work on the figure of the migrant, not to oversimplify the legal, social, and categorical complexities of this term, but rather to address the social and political conditions of exclusion and marginalization that intersect with race, belonging, and access to rights in Germany. This approach calls for a shift in policy discourse, one that recognizes the intricate interplay of factors shaping migration debates and embraces a postmigrant perspective, viewing migration as a dynamic, multilinear process that drives broader societal transformation.

Internet search data may reveal people’s intentions to migrate, as aspiring migrants tend to use online search engines to explore migration opportunities. However, unlike official migration statistics, search data may only reflect the behavior of a self-selected subset of the population, raising concerns about its generalizability. This article integrates traditional survey data - Gallup World Poll (GWP) - with Google Trends, search engine market share, and internet adoption rate to examine the extent to which search trends of migration-related topics can serve as proxies for migration intentions. The results reveal that, on a global scale, passport-related search queries strongly correlate with individuals’ intentions to migrate. However, at the country level, particularly in the global south, migration intentions are more accurately predicted by the adoption rates of Google search rather than search topics per se. These findings underscore the importance of detecting and correcting user selection biases when leveraging digital trace data for migration research, ensuring robust and representative insights into the spatial-temporal patterns of human mobility.