Mediated politics in/and the "refugee crisis" Much has been said in 2015-2016 and beyond about the so-called Refugee Crisisthat is, yet another pan-European "crisis" caused by the sudden massive asylumseeker flow from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Iraq. Across Europe and especially in the key EU countries, there have been divergent interpretations of this process. Therein, various mobilizing and politicizing conceptsincluding humanitarianism, security, diversity, protectionism-were deployed in public discourses to legitimize the ever-new restrictions of migration and asylum policies and diverse expressions of solidarity or lack thereof. While, in general, we have experienced and witnessed many calls for control and urgency to manage the European borders more tightly-and to illustrate the sheer existence and plausibility of an EU-wide coordinated asylum policy response-there have also been many comments about a presumed regionally specific, including "Eastern" versus "Western" way of dealing with the issue. While central and eastern European countries generally seem to have failed to fulfill their asylum obligations, central, western and northern EU countries did, or at least attempted to, honor their commitments. Nevertheless, there has generally been a huge degree of change in attitudes towards openness and inclusion with, in the majority of cases, increased hostility and at best various reservations towards the incoming asylum seekers (for an extensive outline, see Triandafyllidou's article concluding and summarizing the findings of this Special Issue). Moreover, diverse interpretations have been put forward as far as this "new odyssey" (Kingsley, 2016) and a genuine human tragedy, indeed unprecedented in the postwar period, is concerned. These interpretations not only pertained to the geopolitical and politico-economic ontology of the so-called Refugee Crisis. They CONTACT Micha» Krzy_ zanowski

This paper is concerned with the ethical issues arising for researchers engaged in the study of irregular migration. Based on the authors' research experiences, the paper goes beyond analysis of ethical dilemmas and aims to provide some guidance to researchers in this field. Irregular migration is by definition an elusive phenomenon as it takes place in violation of the law and at the margins of society. The very nature of this phenomenon raises important issues, including the sensitivity and vulnerability of the research subjects and a whole series of other ethical issues to be addressed both when conducting fieldwork with irregular migrants and also at the later stage of data analysis, processing and dissemination. The paper first considers various methods in researching irregular migration and defines research ethics. It then discusses the differences between sensitivity and vulnerability and their particular implications for irregular migration research. Next, the paper looks at the ethical challenges arising from fieldwork and discusses the sensitive issues involved in the relationship between researcher, irregular migrant and society. Finally, it discusses the question of disseminating findings (both qualitative and quantitative) to wider audiences. In conclusion, we highlight the key points that we consider to be important when studying irregular migrant populations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The opinions expressed in the report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the report do not imply expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IOM concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries.IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. As an intergovernmental organization, IOM acts with its partners in the international community to: assist in meeting the operational challenges of migration; advance understanding of migration issues; encourage social and economic development through migration; and uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants.

Since the outbreak of the crisis in southern Europe, growing numbers of young highly educated Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese and Greeks have been taking their talents and expertise to other countries in search of a better quality of life and career prospects. There is limited knowledge on the characteristics of these new emigrants, the reasons for which they are leaving, and whether these reasons are shaped by the economic crisis, by pre-crisis grievances, or by other factors. The paper seeks to answer these research questions by analysing original data from 6,377 questionnaires collected in four countries through an esurvey run in 2013. We refer to the existing literature on the drivers of highly skilled emigration and the (un)employment situation in the four aforementioned countries. We explore the features of these new highly skilled emigrants, and the reasons that led them to leave their countries of origin. We suggest that while gender is not important, age, marital status, education and satisfaction with current employment (both income related and with regard to future prospects) are important factors predicting emigration. Non-economic factors, notably career opportunities, quality of life, and future prospects supersede all other considerations in the decision to emigrate for these highly educated Europeans.