Migration — Publications

KNOMAD: Youth Migration & Development: A New Lens For Critical Times

January 2024

Supported by World Bank and its TWG on youth & migration co-chaired by OECD & UNDP; Samuel Hall's paper with KNOMAD, “Youth Migration & Development: A New Lens for Critical Times”, aims to empirically validate conclusions in KOMADs scoping paper produced in 2022.

With case studies from Columbia, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, Senegal, Thailand and Tunisia, the study employed innovative qualitative research methods, filling crucial research gaps and re-conceptualising ‘youth’ and ‘migration’ through the perspectives of the young people.

Through this study, we aimed to better understand how youth migrant integration behaviour differs across age cohorts, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and countries of origin and between migrants and non-migrants.

Download here

Read our scoping paper from 2022 here

Samuel HallFebruary 1, 2024youth migration, Migration, displacement, Case study, Youth development

Equal Partnerships: African Intermediary Cities as Actors and Partners in Urban Migration Governance. City Report: Garissa- Kenya

November 2023

The Equal Partnerships project led by Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg, Research on Migration, Displacement, and Integration (MFI), United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS) and Samuel Hall with support from Robert Bosch Stiftung explores the opportunities and challenges of collaborative, urban migration governance in African intermediary cities.

As part of this project, Samuel Hall developed a city report exploring urban migration governance in Garissa, Kenya. Home to approximately 500,000 inhabitants, Garissa is a major economic hub. It holds significance in urban migration and displacement, especially in relation to regional conflicts, economic dynamics, climate change, and environmental decline.

We conducted a stakeholder mapping exercise to take stock of actors addressing migration and displacement . Further, to explore partnerships and cooperation gaps and opportunities, we conducted participatory field research with the county of Garissa and organised a local workshop in June 2022 and February 2023. Our research found that multiple actors cooperate on migration and displacement-related issues.

This report presents the outcomes of the stakeholder mapping, identifies opportunities and challenges of cooperative action on migration, and concludes with concrete policy recommendations for strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships to address migration in the urban context.

Read the city report here

Find other city reports developed as part of this project here.

Read our policy paper here.

East & Southern AfricaSamuel HallNovember 16, 2023Equal Partnerships, report, Migration, displacement, Kenya, Urban

UNICEF Innocenti - As They Move: Child and Youth Experiences of Migration, Displacement and Return in Afghanistan

October 2023

What has happened to the thousands of children who fled Afghanistan since the fall of Kabul 2021, and what awaits those forced to return? At Samuel Hall, we have been documenting post-return outcomes for 14 years. This latest collaboration with UNICEF Innocenti seeks to amplify the voices of Afghan children who recount difficult journeys, hardship, and neglect as well as resilience.

Thousands of Afghan children have been forced to return to Afghanistan to a situation either similar to or worse than the one they left. One 17-year-old boy we spoke to said, “To me, coming back to Afghanistan means struggling with life and living a poor life because there are no employment opportunities and a proper governance system to support you.”

Samuel Hall led the data collection at one of the most challenging times in the country’s history - after the fall of Kabul - and a team of scholars authored the final report. Our combined efforts underscore the urgent need for child-sensitive interventions and a call to uphold the rights of Afghan child migrants, first and foremost as children who need access to safer pathways both in and out of Afghanistan. No child, no adult, should be forced to return to Afghanistan at this time. UNHCR has made clear that those who do not wish to return to Afghanistan should not be forced to return.

Download Full Report Here

Samuel HallOctober 9, 2023As They Move, Child Migration, Reintergration, Afghanistan, Migration

IOM: Returning to Debt - Examining the Effects of Indebtedness on Reintegration Outcomes

February 2023

Samuel Hall in partnership with EU- IOM Knowledge Management Hub and the University of Sussex funded by the European Union conducted a study that builds on previous research on debt and reintegration by analysing migrant returnees’ and their households’ experiences with debt in five countries - Bangladesh, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ghana, and Iraq.

Our findings show that debt impacts all aspects of the migration cycle and experience and can take diverse forms. Debt and indebtedness are common in migrants’ and returnees’ lives and are not inherently negative for reintegration, but specific debt characteristics can be. There is a need to advocate to reduce costs of migration while also making structural legal changes to ease the burden of indebtedness on migrants.

Download Executive Summary Here

Download Full Report Here

Listen to the ‘Returnees' indebtedness: Addressing barriers to sustainable reintegration’ episode on the Exploring Migrant Reintegration Podcast

Samuel HallFebruary 6, 2023DEBT, Reintegration, EU-IOM, University of Sussex, Bangladesh, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ghana, Iraq, Migration

IOM: Health and Reintegration - Returning to Space but not to Time: A Life Course Approach to Migrants’ Health, Continuity of Care and Impact on Reintegration Outcomes

January 2023

Samuel Hall in partnership with EU- IOM Knowledge Management Hub and the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa funded by the European Union conducted a study to explore the links between health needs, access to care and sustainable reintegration of returnees. The study followed a mixed methods approach, conducted between March and July 2022, in six selected countries (Brazil, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Georgia, Pakistan and Senegal).

There is an urgent need to build a continuum of care across different stages of the migration cycle while also funding gender specific initiatives on return and reintegration. The full report provides an analysis of the health needs of returnees and its impact on reintegration outcomes and further recommendations based on the mixed methods study.

Download Executive Summary Here

Download Full Report Here

Listen to the ‘Approaching health for returnees with an "integrated care" model’ episode on the Exploring Migrant Reintegration Podcast

Samuel HallJanuary 20, 2023Migration, Brazil, Ethiopia, The gambia, Georgia, Pakistan, Senegal, Health, Reintegration

MIGNEX: Migration & Development Dynamics in Shahrake Jabrael, Afghanistan

September 2022

Samuel Hall interviewed youth in Shahrake Jabrael, Afghanistan as part of our research with MIGNEX [Aligning Migration Management and the Migration–Development Nexus]; a collaborative research effort to tackle the challenges of global migration with a long-term vision for better outcomes.

This case study brief co-authored by Samuel Hall team explores 'Migration & Development Dynamics in Shahrake Jabrael, Afghanistan’ where education and women’s civic engagement were a source of pride but with limited state and international support there stands an imminent risk to lives ahead of the fall of Kabul. Due to the long standing discrimination and poverty, many hoped to leave.

Read here

Samuel HallOctober 19, 2022Afghanistan, Migration, Global Migration

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