https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/116292 2026-04-12T18:16:51Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/116480 Title: Mediterranean Journal of Migration : volume 1 : issue 1 Authors: Grech, Helen; Assimakopoulos, Stavros; Pisani, Maria; Ragonesi, Isabelle; Borg, Maria Giulia Abstract: The Mediterranean Journal of Migration is a multidisciplinary refereed open access online journal with a special focus on migration in the Mediterranean region. The Journal is produced by the Platform for Migration, based within the University of Malta. The University of Malta Platform for Migration was set up to offer a dialogical space in which researchers from different academic disciplines can work towards understanding all the evolving aspects of international migration, with a focus on the Mediterranean region, with a view towards contributing to an equitable, more sustainable and more inclusive society. Accordingly, the Mediterranean Journal of Migration aims to facilitate the dissemination of academic research related to migration. The journal is interested in accepting submissions which are research-based, including reviews of the relevant literature grounded in empirical research, and theoretical contributions (i.e., conceptual models, frameworks, etc.). 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/116368 Title: Foreword [Mediterranean Journal of Migration] Authors: Azzopardi, Andrew Abstract: The Mediterranean Journal of Migration is another loop in the initiatives of the relatively new and innovative Platform for Migration, set up only a few years ago, within the University of Malta. This Platform is a melange of scholars who come from diverse entities, namely Faculties, Institutes, Centres and Schools and who share a common interest in having a better understanding of the complexities surrounding migration. This Journal is an attempt at another space to converge the different angles and optics of these nuances and slowly but surely craft an understanding of the multifarious narrative and demography of what is happening. This would in turn help us predict and construe possibilities which could lead us to more effective policy making and scholarship. I am hopeful knowing well enough that the Platform and the Journal are becoming a staple contributor in this debate. 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/116369 Title: Editorial [Mediterranean Journal of Migration] Authors: King, Russell Abstract: The launch of a new journal is always a significant and exciting event and is especially welcome in the burgeoning field of migration studies. The Mediterranean Journal of Migration will play a major role in showcasing scholarship on migration in a region of global significance for contemporary (and past) population movements. Let me reflect for a moment on the publishing landscape for journals on migration. Five journals stand out as well-known outlets with a global remit for papers on migration. Three of these are long-established: the International Migration Review, the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies and International Migration (all of them going since the 1960s or 1970s). Two, Migration Studies and Comparative Migration Studies, are more recent (both since 2013). Then there are two important journals which do not have the word ‘migration’ in their titles but which have the majority of their papers on migration topics – these are Ethnic and Racial Studies and Population, Space and Place. 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/116370 Title: The impact of COVID-related emergency measures on the human rights and human security of migrants in Italy and Malta in the context of the Central Mediterranean Route Authors: Grech, Omar; Wohlfeld, Monika Abstract: This paper analyses the consequences of COVID-related emergency legislation enacted in Italy and Malta for irregular and undocumented migrants as well as refugees. The study focuses on two issues: (i) identifying key emergency laws in Italy and Malta; and (ii) assessing their impact on these migrants’ human rights and human security. Many states, including those in the Mediterranean, have securitized their pandemic response. The context of pre-existing legal, political and social-economic structures Italy and Malta is essential to understand the implications of these measures for these migrants. The paper suggests that Italy and Malta implemented emergency measures which were not specifically aimed at irregular migrants, yet had a significant impact on their human security and human rights. It also argues that in parallel, Italy and Malta targeted specific measures to limit migratory movements. These included: the closure of ports, restrictions on the work of humanitarian NGOs along the Central Mediterranean Route, pushbacks and ‘pull backs’, and detention at sea, leading to human rights violations and unsafe conditions. Finally, the paper also argues that the latter emergency measures were used as a tool to press for greater solidarity from the EU partners and influence EU’s policy-making on migration controls. The paper concludes by highlighting the need for inclusive and rights-based approaches to crisis management. 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z