In light of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in August 2021, this paper aims to analyze both the Bulgarian population’s attitudes toward newcomers and the capacity of the Republic of Bulgaria to manage mixed migration adequately. Toward this aim, a public perceptions survey was conducted in the cities of Harmanli and Sofia, where four out of five migrant registration and reception centers (RRCs) in Bulgaria are located. The authors argue that the state’s difficulties in coping with an increased influx of migrants and their possible integration are mainly due to its apparent refusal to take the lead in this regard and the lack of communication with the local population, especially where RRCs are situated.
Keywords: refugees, asylum seekers, migration, armed conflict, local perceptions, Afghanistan

In light of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in August 2021, this paper aims to analyze both the Bulgarian population’s attitudes toward newcomers and the capacity of the Republic of Bulgaria to manage mixed migration adequately. Toward this aim, a public perceptions survey was conducted in the cities of Harmanli and Sofia, where four out of five migrant registration and reception centers (RRCs) in Bulgaria are located. The authors argue that the state’s difficulties in coping with an increased influx of migrants and their possible integration are mainly due to its apparent refusal to take the lead in this regard and the lack of communication with the local population, especially where RRCs are situated.
Keywords: refugees, asylum seekers, migration, armed conflict, local perceptions, Afghanistan

The article compares key normative and judicial responses to the 2015–2016 “refugee crisis” in Slovenia and Austria. It does so by comparing the asylum statistics, the main changes to the legislation reflecting populist reactions to the “refugee crisis,” and judicial responses to these changes and reactions. The qualitative legal analysis is based on examples of the most important changes and responses. The article considers the populistic context of these changes, as discussed by some political scientists, who demonstrate that with the crisis, a new wave of populism—“the populist Othering of migrants”—emerged.
Keywords: “refugee crisis”, constitutional court, Slovenia, Austria, populism

The article compares key normative and judicial responses to the 2015–2016 “refugee crisis” in Slovenia and Austria. It does so by comparing the asylum statistics, the main changes to the legislation reflecting populist reactions to the “refugee crisis,” and judicial responses to these changes and reactions. The qualitative legal analysis is based on examples of the most important changes and responses. The article considers the populistic context of these changes, as discussed by some political scientists, who demonstrate that with the crisis, a new wave of populism—“the populist Othering of migrants”—emerged.
Keywords: “refugee crisis”, constitutional court, Slovenia, Austria, populism

At a time when the guarantees that international protection seemed to offer are being constantly undermined across the Global North, Stuck and Exploited offers a comprehensive approach to the current processes of retrenchment of reception rights and the dismantlement of reception structures through an in-depth analysis of the Italian case. With a strong ethnographic lens, Della Puppa and Sanò’s edited volume compiles 16 contributions of academics, activists, and practitioners working in the field of asylum to examine the processes of exclusion and discrimination of asylum seekers in their passage through an asylum reception system marked by arbitrariness, neglect, and opacity. Divided into two parts, the first part of the volume examines the national developments and characteristics of the Italian asylum reception system in its insertion within wider tendencies of migration governance through reception in the Global North. However, it does not fail to deepen in the particularities of different Italian regions and municipalities, highlighting how the implementation of national and EU policy is interpreted and reinterpreted at the local level and how, within this context, the discretion of “street-level bureaucrats,” as described by Lipsky, and other intermediaries, as well as the actions of social movements or the civil society can become a tool for “debordering” or yet another strategy of further control over migrants’ lives.

At a time when the guarantees that international protection seemed to offer are being constantly undermined across the Global North, Stuck and Exploited offers a comprehensive approach to the current processes of retrenchment of reception rights and the dismantlement of reception structures through an in-depth analysis of the Italian case. With a strong ethnographic lens, Della Puppa and Sanò’s edited volume compiles 16 contributions of academics, activists, and practitioners working in the field of asylum to examine the processes of exclusion and discrimination of asylum seekers in their passage through an asylum reception system marked by arbitrariness, neglect, and opacity. Divided into two parts, the first part of the volume examines the national developments and characteristics of the Italian asylum reception system in its insertion within wider tendencies of migration governance through reception in the Global North. However, it does not fail to deepen in the particularities of different Italian regions and municipalities, highlighting how the implementation of national and EU policy is interpreted and reinterpreted at the local level and how, within this context, the discretion of “street-level bureaucrats,” as described by Lipsky, and other intermediaries, as well as the actions of social movements or the civil society can become a tool for “debordering” or yet another strategy of further control over migrants’ lives.

According to the author, this book aims to explore the accessibility and use of social capital within and outside the migrant community from the former Soviet Union (FSU) for migrant enterprises that operate in various markets over time. Elena Sommer’s book aims to shed light on a phenomenon that has spawned an international lexicon of words and phrases that include “ethnic entrepreneurship,” “ethnic business,” or “ethnic economy,” “middleman minority,” “sojourners,” “transculturality,” “orthodox ethnicity,” and “reactive ethnicity.” In her exploratory research, based on evidence from 62 qualitative interviews, Sommer examines the usage of social capital for entrepreneurial practices of self-employed migrants from the former Soviet Union in Germany. The study resulted from the author’s doctoral research at Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS). It was designed to show how business-related social relationships are influenced by a company’s marketing policy and access to specific entrepreneurial social networks. The author investigates the types of relationship networks migrants use as a platform for creating and growing small enterprises and how migrants’ entrepreneurial social networks evolve.

According to the author, this book aims to explore the accessibility and use of social capital within and outside the migrant community from the former Soviet Union (FSU) for migrant enterprises that operate in various markets over time. Elena Sommer’s book aims to shed light on a phenomenon that has spawned an international lexicon of words and phrases that include “ethnic entrepreneurship,” “ethnic business,” or “ethnic economy,” “middleman minority,” “sojourners,” “transculturality,” “orthodox ethnicity,” and “reactive ethnicity.” In her exploratory research, based on evidence from 62 qualitative interviews, Sommer examines the usage of social capital for entrepreneurial practices of self-employed migrants from the former Soviet Union in Germany. The study resulted from the author’s doctoral research at Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences (BIGSSS). It was designed to show how business-related social relationships are influenced by a company’s marketing policy and access to specific entrepreneurial social networks. The author investigates the types of relationship networks migrants use as a platform for creating and growing small enterprises and how migrants’ entrepreneurial social networks evolve.

During the forty years of debate on the brain drain in Slovenia, various ideas have emerged on how to prevent the long-term negative socioeconomic consequences of the brain drain. Proposals range from measures to curb the emigration of educated and highly-skilled personnel to considerations of the need to encourage return, to the idea of international cooperation, which was at the heart of the proposal for a “Third Slovenian University.” Outflows should be regulated in a way that does not represent an outflow of knowledge, but its enrichment—the organization of transnational networks through which knowledge circulates and returns.Keywords: migration, brain drain, Third Slovenian University, emigrants, mobility

During the forty years of debate on the brain drain in Slovenia, various ideas have emerged on how to prevent the long-term negative socioeconomic consequences of the brain drain. Proposals range from measures to curb the emigration of educated and highly-skilled personnel to considerations of the need to encourage return, to the idea of international cooperation, which was at the heart of the proposal for a “Third Slovenian University.” Outflows should be regulated in a way that does not represent an outflow of knowledge, but its enrichment—the organization of transnational networks through which knowledge circulates and returns.Keywords: migration, brain drain, Third Slovenian University, emigrants, mobility