(De)constructing our migrant neighbours: Regional and International impacts of the Venezuelan crisis

In a general context, migration remains at the top of policy agendas in many countries worldwide and the Caribbean is no exception. Globally, involuntary migration (fleeing political conflict, persecution, civil war and/or natural disaster) and voluntary migration (seeking improved quality of life or job security) are not new occurrences as they have been around since time immemorial. The Caribbean is no exception, and has one of the highest rates of simultaneous inflow and outflows.

Starting possibly in 2010, the South American nation of Venezuela has been experiencing internal political crisis in the face of increasing economic sanctions placed on the Hugo Chavez and then Nicolas Maduro regimes by the United States and their allies. Due to Venezuela’s close proximity to the Caribbean, the much smaller English, French and Dutch Caribbean islands have borne the brunt of both involuntary and voluntary migration as host countries to Venezuelans. During the ensuring period, Venezuelans have been migrating as individuals, as family units, and/or in large groups and it is argued that this migration has placed an intolerable burden on the infrastructure of host countries.

As a result of the continuous migration out of Venezuela and into the Caribbean, North America and Europe, there are numerous concerns raised at the regional and international levels. Some of these concerns include economic, social/gender and environmental concerns. There is thus the need for empirical research documenting flows and assessing impacts, as well as a need for sex-disaggregated data to inform policies with a rights-based approach aimed at effective and comprehensive migration governance within and outside of the Caribbean. It is against this background, that this Call for Papers is based.

Submission

The submission of scholarly papers of a quantitative, qualitative or mixed nature that assess the impacts of labour migrants/displaced persons/illegal migrants/refugees from Venezuela on host communities in the English, French and Dutch Caribbean are welcomed. Articles examining impacts on the local, regional or international level and cover different scenarios (urban or rural settings) are welcomed. Papers that examine experiences and challenges faced by migrants, and include policy recommendations based on the evidence presented in the paper are encouraged. Submitted papers may include, but are not limited to impacts on:

• Immigration services and citizenship
• Climate change and environment.
• Culture.
• Education.
• Human rights and refugee protection.
• Infrastructure.
• Labour markets, employment, trade and entrepreneurship.
• Diaspora host and home communities.
• Migration, crime and national security.
• Migration and gender.
• Migration and health.
• Politics and good governance
• Protest actions.
• Public revenue and expenditure.
• Social cohesion.
• Social work, welfare and poverty.
• Trafficking, illegal trade and black market prices.
• Transnational family life.

Submission Details

The deadline for submission of abstracts is October 1, 2019. Abstracts should be of no more than 250 words and should be submitted as a word document. Invitations to submit a full manuscript will be sent by November 1, 2019, with a manuscript submission deadline of February 1, 2020. An invitation to submit a full paper is not a guarantee of acceptance for publication. Authors who do not submit an abstract for preliminary feedback may still directly submit manuscripts by the March 1, 2020 deadline.

Please send abstracts to: Dr. Wendell C. Wallace at Wendell.Wallace@sta.uwi.edu and Dr. Natasha K. Mortley at natasha.mortley02@uwimona.edu.jm. Selected articles will be published in a special issue of Migration and Development. All submitted manuscripts will undergo an initial screen by the editors (Drs. Wallace and Mortley) and papers that appear appropriate for this special issue will be sent out for the regular peer review process by the publishing journal (Migration and Development). Articles for publication in the special issue will be reviewed by the editor and editorial committee members of Migration and Development prior to being published. The special issue will consist of 6-8 original articles to a maximum of 9,000 words each (including appendices, footnotes, tables, figures and references).

How will the final selection be made?

The submitted articles will be assessed through the following criteria:

• Full application according to the submission guidelines.
• Importance of the topic to advancing the agenda on the Venezuelan crisis and its international and Caribbean impacts.
• Adequacy of knowledge on the topic allowing for exploration of the issues in sufficient detail and with reference to concrete examples.
• Complementarity of the topic to the issues under inquiry.

For general inquiries regarding this Special Issue, please write to Dr. Wendell C. Wallace at: Wendell.Wallace@sta.uwi.edu.

Important Deadlines

Abstract submission: October 1, 2019.

Notification of acceptance/rejection: November 1, 2019.

Submission of 1st draft: March 1, 2020.

Return of 1st draft from reviewers: May 14, 2020

Final submission: June 5, 2020.

Proposed publication date: July, 2020.