SPIMEC: Sanctuary Policies for Irregular Migrants in European Cities
Lead Research Organisation:
Queen Mary University of London
Department Name: Politics
Abstract
In times of closed borders and restrictive immigration laws, many European cities have enacted "sanctuary policies" (SPs) to support the growing number of residents with irregular migration status. Through SPs, local governments disrupt the monopoly of nationstates over immigration and citizenship, challenging conventional understandings of governance in liberal democracies.
The core question of Sanctuary Policies for Irregular Migrants in European Cities (SPIMEC) is to explain the varieties, drivers, and impacts of SPs in Europe. Bridging insights from multiple disciplines, SPIMEC theorises that local governments are situated at the crossroad of political mobilisation from the bottom up and institutional restrictions from the top down. These different, often contradictory forces shape the opportunities and constraints for SPs.
SPIMEC relies on a threefold comparative research design, analysing SPs across (1) national contexts (in North-West, South, and Central-East Europe); (2) local contexts (in terms of city politics and society), and (3) over time (looking at the "refugee crisis", Brexit, and COVID-19 as potential turning points for policy change).
A quantitative Large-N study compares Europe's 95 largest cities, drawing on existing datasets and secondary literature. Next, a quali-quantitative Small-N study zooms in on four city-cases based on original fieldwork data. SPIMEC aims to make a timely, urgent, and path-breaking contribution to migration studies. It will produce unique empirical data on European SPs to provide the information cities need to promote migrant integration, as well as new theoretical insights on urban politics and multi-level governance more broadly. Addressing this gap is of utmost importance from a substantive point of view.
SPIMEC shall provide policy recommendations to stakeholders supporting irregular migrants, whose condition of exclusion and invisibility is more relevant than ever amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The core question of Sanctuary Policies for Irregular Migrants in European Cities (SPIMEC) is to explain the varieties, drivers, and impacts of SPs in Europe. Bridging insights from multiple disciplines, SPIMEC theorises that local governments are situated at the crossroad of political mobilisation from the bottom up and institutional restrictions from the top down. These different, often contradictory forces shape the opportunities and constraints for SPs.
SPIMEC relies on a threefold comparative research design, analysing SPs across (1) national contexts (in North-West, South, and Central-East Europe); (2) local contexts (in terms of city politics and society), and (3) over time (looking at the "refugee crisis", Brexit, and COVID-19 as potential turning points for policy change).
A quantitative Large-N study compares Europe's 95 largest cities, drawing on existing datasets and secondary literature. Next, a quali-quantitative Small-N study zooms in on four city-cases based on original fieldwork data. SPIMEC aims to make a timely, urgent, and path-breaking contribution to migration studies. It will produce unique empirical data on European SPs to provide the information cities need to promote migrant integration, as well as new theoretical insights on urban politics and multi-level governance more broadly. Addressing this gap is of utmost importance from a substantive point of view.
SPIMEC shall provide policy recommendations to stakeholders supporting irregular migrants, whose condition of exclusion and invisibility is more relevant than ever amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Publications
Bazurli R
(2023)
Explaining variation in city sanctuary policies: insights from American and European cities
in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
| Description | SPIMEC is an ongoing project and data collection is still underway. So far, Raffaele Bazurli has conducted 22 interviews with key stakeholders based in Italy, the UK, or active at the European level more broadly. In addition, he has extensively analysed local newspaper reports, government files, and secondary literature on sanctuary policymaking in the four cities under study. Additional interviews will be conducted over the next months in The Netherlands and Spain. To explain the varieties, drivers, and impacts of sanctuary policies in European cities, preliminary findings highlight the relevance of both city-specific contextual factors and the supra-local context in which different cities are embedded. |
| Exploitation Route | These preliminary findings from this project will be useful for municipal governments across Europe who wish to support and help integrate newcomers to their local area. Findings will also be useful to non-governmental organizations who provide support and advocacy to new migrants in European cities. Academically, the preliminary findings demonstrate the potential of this project to make a ground-breaking contribution to studies of multi-level governance of migration and social movement studies. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy |
| Description | Affiliation to the project "Urban Sanctuary, Migrant Solidarity and Hospitality in Global Perspective" (Toronto Metropolitan University) |
| Organisation | Ryerson University |
| Country | Canada |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Raffaele Bazurli was invited to become an affiliate of the project ""Urban Sanctuary, Migrant Solidarity and Hospitality in Global Perspective", led by Professor Harald Bauder at Toronto Metropolitan University. This is possibly the world's largest network focusing on the same topics of SPIMEC, i.e. sanctuary cities. Raffaele Bazurli contributed to this partnership by presenting his research during the International Conference on Public Policy (2023), hosted by Toronto Metropolitan University (see "Awards and Recognition" section). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Partner organisations, and especially Toronto Metropolitan University, have contributed to the partnership by increasing the visibility of affiliates' work (e.g. via their newsletter) and by covering the expenses related to the International Conference on Public Policy (e.g. conference fees). |
| Impact | - 6th International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP6), 27-29 June 2023, Toronto Metropolitan University, Panel "Comparative approaches to urban policy: Supporting the needs of precarious migrants" This collaboration is multi-disciplinary as it brings together experts from sociology, political science, geography, law, and anthropology. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Guest lecture in the module "Democracy and Multi-Level Governance" (University of Zurich) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Guest lecture on sanctuary cities in the module "Democracy and Multi-Level Governance," University of Zurich, Spring 2023, MA level |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Guest lecture in the module "Social Science Methodology" (University of Padua) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Guest lecture on sanctuary cities in the module "Social Science Methodology," University of Padua, Fall 2023, MA level |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Guest lecture in the module "Welfare States and New Social Risks" (Ca' Foscari University of Venice) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Guest lecture on sanctuary cities in the module "Welfare States and New Social Risks," Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Fall 2023, MA level |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Protezione Temporanea e Accoglienza dei Profughi Ucraini in Italia e in Spagna ("Temporary Protection and Reception of Ukrainian Forced Migrants in Italy and Spain") |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On 10 May 2023, the ISMU Foundation, in Milan, hosted Raffaele Bazurli as a speaker for the webinar "Protezione Temporanea e Accoglienza dei Profughi Ucraini in Italia e in Spagna" ('Temporary Protection and Reception of Ukrainian Forced Migrants in Italy and Spain'). During his speech, Raffaele Bazurli has discussed Barcelona's asylum policies before and after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7EUGNTZUCs |
| Description | Spheres of Sanctuary: Creating Safe Spaces for Irregular Migrants through Territorial, Social and Discursive Practices |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | On 23 November 2023, the Standing Group on Migration and Ethnicity of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) hosted Raffaele Bazurli as a speaker for the webinar "Spheres of Sanctuary: Creating Safe Spaces for Irregular Migrants through Territorial, Social and Discursive Practices". During his speech, Raffaele has presented his paper on American and European sanctuary cities, co-authored with Els de Graauw and published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies (see "Publication" section). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00HohiI3j84 |
| Description | The Rise of Sanctuary Cities During the European "Refugee Crisis" (entry in the "Europe Matters" blog, hosted by the Centre for European Research at Queen Mary University of London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This blog entry was an opportunity to raise awareness on "sanctuary cities" (i.e. SPIMEC's core topic) among the general public, students, media, and policymakers. Through a jargon-free language, it presents the key features of sanctuary initiatives across Europe and beyond. These contents build on the research carried out during SPIMEC's first months of activity as well on as an online event organised at QMUL in 2022, which brought together scholars, policymakers, and activists involved in sanctuary initiatives. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.qmul.ac.uk/cer/europemattersblog/items/the-rise-of-sanctuary-cities-during-the-european-... |
| Description | Two guest lectures in the module "Migration and International Public Policy" (Queen Mary University of London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Two guest lectures on sanctuary cities in the module "Migration and International Public Policy," Queen Mary University of London, Spring 2023, MA level |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Weekly seminars and one guest lecture in the module "Migration and the Politics of Belonging" (Queen Mary University of London) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Weekly seminars and one guest lecture in the module "Migration and the Politics of Belonging," Queen Mary University of London, Spring 2023, BA level |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |