Heaven CrawleyUNU · Centre for Policy Research
Heaven Crawley
Doctor of Philosophy
About
94
Publications
29,467
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
2,257
Citations
Citations since 2017
Introduction
Professor Heaven Crawley joined the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR) at Coventry University in Sept 2014 where she leads a team of researchers working on issues of Migration, Displacement and Belonging. Educated at the Universities of Sussex (1989-1994) and Oxford (1995-1999), Heaven has nearly 25 years' experience undertaking research on international migration in a wide range of institutional settings. She was made a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) in 2012.
Publications
Publications (94)
Journeys of refugees and other migrants are typically represented as linear movements between two places with the academic and policy gaze directed primarily towards the places people leave and what is assumed to be their final destination. This linear representation presupposes that people have a specific country in mind when they depart and that...
The situations of people who have moved from their countries of origin only to find themselves caught in a crisis that threatens their security and ability to thrive are of growing concern to the international community. While crises affect both nationals and non-nationals, the ability of migrants to cope with their impacts may be reduced, due to c...
This paper examines spatial differences in the attitudes of the public towards asylum seekers using data from the British Social Attitudes Survey. Initial analysis reveals some statistically significant variations across geographical areas, with people living in London, the South East of England and Scotland displaying the most tolerant views. The...
There is considerable interest among European politicians and policymakers in the factors influencing the destination preferences of refugees and other migrants. Drawing on in‐depth qualitative interviews with more than 250 Syrians, Eritreans and Nigerians, this article examines the destination preferences of those crossing the Mediterranean in 201...
Increased migration across the Mediterranean to Europe during 2015 was associated with growing interest in generating new research evidence to assist policymakers in understanding the complexities of migration and improve policy responses. In the UK, this was reflected in funding by the Economic and Social Research Council for a Mediterranean Migra...
This article examines the relationship between international protection, human rights and migration in the context of the EU Agenda on Migration which aims to ‘tackle migration upstream’ and reduce arrivals to Europe from the Horn of Africa (HoA) (Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sudan). This initiative is underpinned by assumptions abou...
What is it like to travel to Europe over land and sea in order to secure a future for yourself and your family? Why are so many people willing to risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean? What are their hopes and fears? And why is Europe, one of the richest regions of the world, unable to cope? Drawing on compelling first-hand accounts from 500...
2017 Elsevier Ltd.Europe is facing challenging times. The so-called 'migration crisis' has seen the hardening and militarisation of Europe's borders. Nationalist politicians are framing European states as being under siege from Islamist terrorists and economic migrants, which has led to a rise in xenophobia and casual racism on the streets of Europ...
Op ed for The Conversation reflecting on how both EU Member countries and those wishing to secure accession to the Union have used 'the migration crisis' to leverage power and influence in the political debate.
Op ed for Open Democracy on why refugees feel that they are unable to secure protection and a better life in Turkey.
A skewed debate on immigration has lost touch with reality and become fuel for fear, anxiety and prejudice. Never have reasoned argument and evidence been more needed. An opinon-poll by Ipsos-Mori in August 2015 showed that concern about immigration is at an all-time high with half of the British public now identifying it as the primary issue about...
Paper written for the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) to provide an overview of the current state of research evidence on migration and its impacts on UK economy and society with the aim of helping non-experts to better understand some of the debates in this complex and politically sensitive area. This is not intended to provide exhaustive an...
Op ed for The Conversation on the failure of the EU's relocation scheme to deliver on its promises.
The use of the categories ‘refugee’ and ‘migrant’ to differentiate between those on the move and the legitimacy, or otherwise, of their claims to international protection has featured strongly during Europe’s ‘migration crisis’ and has been used to justify policies of exclusion and containment. Drawing on interviews with 215 people who crossed the...
Op ed for The Conversation in response to Refuge by Alexander Betts and Paul Collier arguing that protection and human rights, rather than jobs, should remain the focus of the international refugee regime.
Heaven Crawley questions a call for enterprise zones as a solution to forced migration.
Op ed for Europe's World critiquing the idea in Refuge by Alexander Betts and Paul Collier (April 2017) that Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have the potential to mend the broken refugee system.
Europe is facing challenging times. The so-called ‘migration crisis’ has seen the hardening and militarisation of Europe’s borders. Nationalist politicians are framing European states as being under siege from Islamist terrorists and economic migrants, which has led to a rise in xenophobia and casual racism on the streets of European cities. Meanwh...
Op ed for The Conversation outlining key findings of MEDMIG research on routes and journeys of 500 refugees and migrants arriving in Europe during the last three months of 2015. Published to coincide with launch of final report. More at www.medmig.info
Between September 2015 and November 2016 a team of researchers led by the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (CTPSR) at Coventry University, working in collaboration with University of Birmingham’s Institute for Research into Superdiversity and the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society at the University of Oxford, conducted research int...
Short article drawing on initial findings of MEDMIG research (www.medmig.info) to argue that stories of ‘mass movement’ into Greece that dominated political and media narrative in relation to Europe's 'migration crisis' in 2015 conceal a much more complex picture. Migration policy is currently driven by moral and political panic, patchy knowledge a...
Op ed responding to the eviction of 'The Jungle' camp at Calais, arguing that it is largely a symbolic attempt by the British government to reassert 'control' over borders in the context of Europe's political crisis.
Op ed reflecting on whether the destruction of the Jungle camp in Calais will solve the problem of refugees wanting to travel to the UK.
Beyond fear and hate: mobilising people power to create a new narrative on migration and diversity
More than 1 million people have crossed the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas since January 2015,
arriving on the beaches of Southern Europe in dinghies and rickety boats, having paid a smuggler to
facilitate their journey. Most are refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea, and Somalia who are fleeing
conflict and violence. Others are migrants f...
Op ed for The Conversation on the implications of the EU-Turkey deal with cities in Turkey to which Syrians, in particular, have moved, focusing on the Basmane distract of Izmir.
Op ed for Europe's World reflecting on the EU-Turkey deal which became effective in March 2016 in an effort to reduce the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe.
Opinion piece drawing on initial findings of MEDMIG project (www.medmig.info) to unpack drivers of migration to Europe and assumptions underpinning the policy response.
This chapter takes stock of transnational developments in law and practice relating to gender-related and gender-based persecution over the past 20 years and reviews the role of International Human Rights Law (IHRL) in ‘gendering’ international refugee protection. Anker and Lufkin (2003), among others, argue that international refugee law has under...
Victims and Villains explores how migrant voices and experiences are framed in Britain’s migration debate, against the backdrop of a complex relationship between the media, political debate and public attitudes. We asked;
- Were the voices and experiences of migrants present in media reporting on migration issues in the months leading up to the 201...
First report of the ESRC-funded project 'Unravelling Europe's Migration Crisis' (MEDMIG) exploring the dynamics of movement across the Mediterranean to Europe. The report differentiates between the Central and Eastern Mediterranean routes providing an overview of who is travelling through each route, the differences and similarities between them an...
This Research Brief presents our emerging findings in relation to refugees and migrants who travelled via the Eastern Mediterranean Route from Turkey to Greece during 2015. This research was undertaken as part of the ESRC-funded project 'Unravelling Europe's Migration Crisios' (MEDMIG). This brief focuses on four main themes: The factors affecting...
Part of a special issues of the UK's leading travel magazine examining the refugee crisis in Europe. This short article examines the current refugee crisis, explains exactly what the situation is in the UK and beyond, and highlights why we need to act now to welcome and support refugees
Opinion piece for The Conversation on the failure of the UK and Europe to take account of the drivers of migration in responding to the arrival of increased refugees and migrants.
Op ed for The Conversation on the failure of the EU to respond to increased deaths in the Mediterranean.
Video also available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cnCEv5kS7A
Presentation of findings of Victims and Villains report to Global Migration Exchange (London, 2016)
Key points
- Although policy on migration is not devolved, the Welsh Government has responsibility to migrants, asylum seekers and refugees living in Wales under its housing, health, education, social service functions and through its community cohesion agenda.
- The overall impact of migration on education in schools is unclear. The existing lit...
Key points
- The Welsh Government has responsibility towards migrants living in Wales under its housing, health, education and social service functions and through its community cohesion agenda.
- The majority of issues related to health and social care in Wales are devolved.
- Entitlement to access free NHS treatment is based on 'ordinary res...
Key points
- Although policy on migration is not devolved, the Welsh Government has responsibility towards migrants, asylum seekers and refugees living in Wales under its housing, health, education, social service functions and through its community cohesion agenda.
- The public sector equality duty includes a requirement for public bodies to fos...
Key points
- The Welsh Government has responsibility towards migrants living in Wales under its housing, health, education and social service functions and through its community cohesion agenda.
- Housing is a devolved issue in Wales which means that responsibility for policy in this area lies with the Welsh Government.
- There are an estimated...
This paper examines changes in public attitudes towards refugees across Britain over almost three decades using data from British Social Attitudes Surveys. It therefore covers the period when immigration as a whole has increased and the number of asylum applications reached their highest levels. The data are examined in periods before and after the...
Key points
- Although policy on migration is not devolved, the Welsh Government has responsibility to economic migrants living in Wales under its housing, health, education, social service functions and through its community cohesion agenda
- Since 2005 the percentage of migrant workers in the Welsh labour force has doubled to 9.2%, around 82,600...
Key points
- Although powers relating to asylum and immigration are not devolved, the Welsh Government has responsibility to asylum seekers and refugees living in Wales under its housing, health, education and social service functions and through its community cohesion agenda.
- Until 2001, relatively low numbers of asylum seekers and refugees dec...
Key points
- An international migrant is defined as someone who has, or intends to, change his or her country of usual residence for a period of at least a year
- The Welsh Government has responsibility towards international migrants living in Wales under its housing, health, education, social service functions and through its community cohesion...
The Scottish Guardianship Service works with children and young people who arrive in Scotland unaccompanied and separated from their families. The service supports unaccompanied asylum seeking and trafficked children and young people. This is a report of the findings of a formative evaluation undertaken of the service over a three year period start...
Unprecedented changes in both the scale and the complexity of international migration have led to international concern and controversy over the assessment of age in children and young people subject to immigration control or seeking asylum who say they are children yet have no documents to prove their stated age.
The article reviews the existing e...
These guidelines on working with children and young people subject to immigration control represent best practice in the context of United Kingdom immigration control based on contemporary knowledge and relevant national, international and regional norms, standards and principles. The guidelines are aimed principally at immigration practitioners wh...
In 2012 Race Council Cymru (RCC) secured funding from Awards for All and the Cooperative Society to undertake exploratory research on the needs and experiences of people from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds living in Wales, and collected baseline information against which to identify the key priorities for promoting good race relations...
Country of Origin Information (COI) is an integral part of asylum decision-making in the UK and is used at all stages of the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process to assess applications for refugee status or other forms of international protection. It informs decision makers and legal advisers about the political, social, cultural, economic, a...
This article explores the experiences of separated asylum-seeking children and considers the implications of dominant understandings of ‘childhood’ for the ways in which the children's experiences of persecution and violence are interpreted in the UK asylum system. Although there is a widely held consensus among academics that the boundaries of ‘ch...
UK asylum policy has increasingly restricted asylum seekers' access to welfare support, both while their application is being processed and if they are refused. Over recent years, there have been growing concerns about the scale and impact of destitution among refused asylum seekers. It is estimated that 283,500 refused asylum seekers were living i...
Background and context. Production of Country of Origin Information (COI).
Country of Origin Information (COI) is an integral part of asylum decision-making in the UK and is used at all stages of the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process to assess applications for refugee status or other forms of international protection (Morgan et al. 2003; I...
Presentation to Wales Strategic Partnership and wider audience of policy makers and practitioners working with migrants and refugees in Wales.
This paper examines the situation of children in immigrant families living in the UK through an analysis of 2001 census data
according to the country of birth of children and their parents. The foreign-born population in the United Kingdom reached
4.9 million in 2001, representing 8.3 per cent of the total population. Around 2.1 million children (1...
The concept of ‘evidence-based policy’ making has become something of a mantra within government circles. Within academia too, there is a growing emphasis on the ‘relevance’ of research to ‘real world’ issues and problems. For those of us who have been directly engaged in what might be described as ‘policy’ or ‘applied’ research for many years, thi...
There is considerable interest among policy makers in the UK and elsewhere in the decision making of asylum seekers and the factors affecting the place in which they claim asylum. The Refugee Council commissioned this research to investigate the reasons why asylum seekers come to the UK.
A significant proportion of politicians, policy makers and...
Drawing on research undertaken with separated children seeking asylum in the UK, this paper explores the ways in which children's political identities and experiences have been conceptualised in procedures for determining who is – and is not – in need of protection under international refugee law. The paper focuses in particular on the experiences...
The aim of this report is to examine the situation of children in immigrant families in the United Kingdom based on research evidence and new analysis of the most recently available census data in 2001. The report includes research and data relating to all children in immigrant families, including foreign-born children who have immigrated to the Un...
The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) published its Refugee Inclusion Strategy in June 2008. The strategy sets out WAG’s vision of refugee inclusion in Wales and aims to support and enable refugees to rebuild their lives and make a full contribution to society. For policy makers and practitioners concerned with the process of integration, the lack of...
This chapter discusses the experiences of separated children who seek asylum in the UK, and their attempts to negotiate the complex array of individuals and institutions with whom they come into contact, which are increasingly well documented. It examines how children's experiences of conflict, of human rights abuses, and of loss are assessed and i...
There is evidence of increasingly negative public attitudes towards asylum and immigration issues in the UK. This evidence can be found in ad hoc opinion polls, the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, European surveys – most notably Eurobarometer and the European Social Survey (ESS) – and international surveys, in particular the International So...
This research provides the first detailed, evidence-based analysis of current policy and practice in relation to age disputes of children and young people seeking asylum in the UK. The specific aims of the research are:
- To examine existing policy and practice in relation to age assessment by the Home Office, local authorities and others;
- To exa...
This article is a response to the eagerly awaited publication of the 2005 Global Commission on International
Migration’s (GCIM) report on Migration in an Interconnected World, just one of a series of recent reports that explicitly acknowledges that the economic, social, and cultural benefits of international migration could be
more effectively real...
This report examines the impact of recent changes in asylum and immigration law and practice on children subject to immigration control within the context of the Every Child Matters framework. This is particularly important and necessary because of the lack of explicit sharing of information across the two areas of policy and practice. Many of thos...
Whilst many recent surveys and opinion polls provide a description of negative public attitudes towards asylum and immigration issues in the UK, they provide limited evidence on the factors that underlie differences in attitude at the local level and, in particular, over time and/or in relation to particular national or international events. This p...
The theme articles in this FMR edited by Heaven Crawley challenge Europe's leaders to ensure that development of a common European asylum policy focuses on tackling the root causes of forced migration and on providing protection and integration and not simply keeping asylum seekers out of Europe. This article provides an introduction to the issue.
This report examines the experiences of children who are detained for the purpose of immigration control. It explores the impacts of detention on children, the alternatives to detention and the safeguards that are necessary to prevent detention becoming prolonged and to ensure that children’s rights are upheld and that they are treated lawfully. Th...
At the end of 2003, the UNHCR’s Regional Bureau for Europe commissioned a time-limited research project to undertake a comparative analysis of approaches to gender-related persecution in national asylum legislation and practice across Europe. The Department of International Protection provided additional financial support. The motivation for this w...
This report sets out the issues relating to the provision of accommodation for Travellers and Gypsies including what has gone before, and the consequences of the existing approach for the Travelling community, for local authorities, and for those parts of the settled community affected by unauthorised encampments. It sets out a framework for addres...
This report produced by IPPR's Task Force on Race Equality and Diversity in the Private Sector shows how businesses and communities can reap the benefits of a wealthier and more integrated society through their commitment to promoting race equality. Between 1999 and 2009, ethnic minority communities will rise from 6.7% cent to 8%of the total workin...
These guidelines on working with children and young people subject to immigration control represent best practice in the context of United Kingdom immigration control based on contemporary knowledge and relevant national, international and regional norms, standards and principles. The guidelines are aimed principally at those who play a role in dec...
The Country Information and Policy Unit (CIPU) of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, performs two roles. It aims to produce consistent and unbiased information on the countries from which asylum seekers come (known as country of origin information), to be used by those involved in asylum applications. It is also responsible for policy dev...
The global refugee population in 2003 is more than 12 million. Over the last 15 years, Europe has seen the arrival of millions of individuals who have sought asylum within individual Member States. Despite the fact that the top ten nationalities arriving in European countries are from countries which have seen high levels of violence, oppression an...
Refugees and Gender: Law and Process examines how those representing asylum seekers can ensure that all gender-related aspects of an asylum claim are considered and appropriately reflected in the determination process. The book aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the concepts of gender-related persecution, as well as a gendered framewo...
In this short article I argue that the particular difficulties facing many women as asylum seekers stem not from the absence of ‘gender’ in the Refugee Convention’s grounds but rather from the failure of decision makers to acknowledge and respond to the gendering of politics and of women’s relationship to the state when applying that definition to...
This chapter challenge the current conceptualisation of the genderless liberal states within international human rights law, arguing that the paradigmatically masculine interpretation of international asylum law has specific and profound implications for women seeking protection from violence
At the turn of the new millenium, war, political oppression, desperate poverty, environmental degradation and disasters, and economic underdevelopment are sharply increasing the ranks of the world's twenty million forced migrants. In this volume edited by Doreen Indra, eighteen scholars provide a wide-ranging, interdisciplinary look beyond the stat...
This research project was formulated following the publication of the Asylum and Immigration Bill in 1995 and associated Social Security Regulations. It set out to examine how asylum applicants would be served by immigration officers and legal representatives when an increased number of substantive asylum interviews were held at ports; how best tho...
The 1951 UN Convention relation to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol (the 'Refugee Convention') has often been approached with a partial perspective and interpreted through a framework of male experiences. The Guidelines aim to enable interviewers and decision-makers to apply the Refugee Convention in a way which embraces the totality of...
The application of participatory approaches has raised increasingly critical questions about their impact. Not least among these is the issue of whether participation is simply a more efficient ‘means' of accessing information to achieve externally driven development aims, or whether it should be viewed as an ‘end’ in itself (Nelson and Wright, 199...
There has typically been no gender attached to the term 'refugee' and limited attention has been focused on the protection needs of women as asylum seekers in the UK. This reflects in part an implicit assumption by some of those involved in the refugee determination process that gender does not make a difference to the experience of being a refugee...
The views expressed in this report are those of the authors, not necessarily those of the Home Office (nor do they reflect Government policy).
CMPR does not have a centre view and does not aim to present one. The views expressed in this document are only those of its independent author. This briefing paper was commissioned by the Wales Family Returns Group to inform discussion but does not necessarily represent the views of organisations who are members of the group.
Projects
Projects (6)
These outputs are the ones that don't fit in my other (somewhat artificially constructed) project categories. They draw on research looking at different aspects of migration and asylum policy and practice in the UK and Europe working with a wide range of organisations and funders from the UK Home Office, European Commission and UNHCR to the Welsh Assembly Government and a range of non-governmental and civil society organisations including the Refugee Council, Oxfam, Immigration Law Practitioners' Association and Royal Geographical Society.
A series of research projects exploring what we know about attitudes to asylum and migration, the factors that shape and influence what and how people think and the broader political and public narratives on migration within which attitudes are situation. The focus of the research is primarily the UK and Europe.
A series of different but closely related projects exploring the experiences of children and young people subject to immigration controls in the UK and Europe with a particular focus on the conceptualisation of childhood in the process of asylum determination and implications for detention, asylum interview procedures and issues of age assessment.