iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Helena Wray

samuel @quilombo.eurosky.social · 01/08/2026

Migration expert, sociologist Hein de Hass, about the Ceuta border (from LinkedIn):

The unintended consequences of border controls: Until 1991 Moroccans (and many other Africans) could freely move back and forth between Spain and Morocco - in a largely circular movement. Then visas were introduced, and ever since we have regularly seen such scenes: when you restrict migration people tend to jump on the opportunity once it presents itself, now and then prompting unintended, but entirely predictable border surges.

And despite 35 (!) years of political rhetoric and political grandstanding on ‘closing borders’ and ‘combating smuggling’, it didn’t stop migration, with particular pressing labour shortages (and the large scale toleration of undocumented workers doing unattractive jobs) continuing to attract prospective labour migrants (most of these migrants are neither victims nor refugees - their migration is mainly opportunity driven) from North and West Africa to Spain and other EU countries.

Fences and restrictions increased incentives for migrants to stay (following the principles of Migration Law 101: the more difficult it is to come, the more migrants stay), interrupting circulation and encouraging permanent settlement - contributing to the increase of the resident Moroccan origin population in Spain from about 50,000 in 1991 to an estimated 1.2 million now (a 24-fold increase).

There is a striking parallel here with the way how, since 1986, increased US border enforcement unintendedly helped to transform a largely circular flow of Mexican workers going back and forth to California and Texas into an 11-million-strong population of permanently settled families living all across the United States.

This does not imply that immigration restrictions don’t work. The point is more that they reduce mobility in either directions by discouraging both entry and return. Which effect dominates depends on the context. In mature migration systems with strong networks (as in these cases) tighter controls can paradoxically increase net migration (immigration minus emigration) when migrants are pushed into permanent settlement, which generally triggers even more migration through family reunion.

NB To prevent a widespread misunderstanding: the vast majority of African migrants to Europe (in How Migration Really Works I estimated around 9 out of 10) migrate legally. Illegal border crossings receive enormous media and political attention, but they are not representative of African migration to Europe as a whole - and much undocumented stay is caused by legal migrants and visitors overstaying their visas - which not even the most perfectly sealed-off wall or fence can stop.

https://lnkd.in/eAJJK46T

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Reposted by Helena Wray

University of Exeter Law School @uniexeterlawschool.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

What happens now, after Brexit, when an EU citizen and a UK citizen fall in love? Hear some of the stories and experiences in a special podcast series, part of an @ukri.org funded project. @helenaw.bsky.social sites.exeter.ac.uk/lawbulletin/...

sites.exeter.ac.uk

Love, Borders, Brexit Podcast - Personal stories of Post-Brexit Couples

Hear the series on all major podcast platforms

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Helena Wray @helenaw.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

Very proud of these podcasts which came out of the Brexit Couples project. Available online and wherever....

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Reposted by Helena Wray

Brexit Couples Project @brexitcouples.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Call for Papers Alert: We're organising an academic workshop on the Legal World of Family Migration. This call aims to begin a discussion of the characteristics and dynamics of this legal world and the use of law and legality in family migration. brexitcouples.ac.uk/call-for-pap...

brexitcouples.ac.uk

Call for Papers: The Legal World of Family Migration – UK-EU Couples After Brexit

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Reposted by Helena Wray

London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 21/02/2025

‘Refugees will often have shown great courage, fortitude and ingenuity in the face of the obstacles placed in their way. Showing such virtues in order to escape oppression is not normally seen as evidence of bad character, rather the contrary.’ Christopher Bertram: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/fe...

lrb.co.uk

Christopher Bertram | Bad Character

There is a troubling disconnect between the deterrent rationale and the mechanism that will be used to deny citizenship...

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Helena Wray @helenaw.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

This should be a national scandal. Families are ripped apart because the UK partner is a care worker, a teaching assistant, a PhD student, or has caring responsibilities

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Reposted by Helena Wray

Natalie Sedacca @nataliesedacca.bsky.social · 09/12/2023

‘The UK already has the second-most restrictive family immigration regime in Europe, if not the world’ even before the new staggering increase, with a devastating impact on families since the threshold was raised in 2012 - Katherine Charsley & @helenaw.bsky.social theconversation.com/just-the-ric...

theconversation.com

'Just the rich can do it': our research shows how immigration income requirements devastate families

The new proposals will be devastating to any British citizen who falls in love with a foreign partner.

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