‘I am without destiny.’ These are the words used by a number of Afghan migrants in Istanbul to sum up their lives to me in interviews over the past couple of years. The physical violence that many left behind at home in Afghanistan and the dangers they faced as they were being smuggled into Türkiye have been replaced by a threat less imminent but no less scary: the uncertainty at the root of their fragile existence in their new host country…
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The creation of the current Canadian return policy is linked to the establishment of a common North American security perimeter with the United States following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. To deflect accusations that Canada represented a potential haven for terrorists and safeguard the free flow of capital, goods, and people with the US, the Canadian immigration and asylum policies were closely aligned with those of the US and integrated in a broader antiterrorist…
Read More![Nomination of “Remigration” as Un-word ["Unwort" in German] of the year by a Panel of German linguists: A reflection of German politics of return?](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/646340fe2c490f3029b95d8c/18cf209a-bc8e-4343-8847-99298600de13/GAPs+Guest+Blog2_01022024_img1.png)
Since 1991, there has been an annual ritual in Germany: Around mid-January, a self-constituted jury, currently consisting of four linguists and one journalist, announces the “un-word” of the previous year, drawing from a pool of suggestions sent in by the public. An “un-word” can be…
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