The politics of discretion: Authority and influence in asylum dispersal

Resilience and governance of dispersed sub-Saharan migration in Morocco: The case of the refuge-cities of Tiznit and Taza

“…In the cities of Tiznit and Taza, resilience emerged as a reaction to discretionary policy (Darling, 2022), but also as the result of a legal-administrative arrangement and a societal dynamic, based on a willingness to act collectively to welcome dispersed migrants. We understand urban resilience, first of all, as a property (capability) and intrinsic quality of the peripheral cities studied, which can be broken down into a reactive dimension (ability to cope with a restrictive policy and the unpredictable arrival of migrant flows) and a proactive dimension (ability to increase one's adaptability, one's capacity for resistance, anticipation, self-organization and assistance).…”

“How about Asylum Seekers who are Homeless?” The Racialised Logics Behind State Designed Strategies of Containment and Control During Covid-19 and Anti-Racist Alternatives: A Glasgow Case Study

“…It has also introduced the Ukrainian Sponsorship Scheme 3 for Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor. It is worth noting that in every iteration of dispersal since the 1990s, the UK Government has and continues to rely heavily upon the voluntary sector for much of the resettlement work of dispersed programme refugees (Darling, 2022a(Darling, , 2022bJoly, 1996;Wren, 2004).…”

“…Local authorities played a key role in asylum housing until 2012, when housing was contracted exclusively to private providers, including Serco, G4S, and Mears in Scotland. Since 2014, private housing providers have found it increasingly difficult to meet dispersal demand (Darling, 2022a(Darling, , 2022b. One consequence of this has been a growing use of temporary accommodation in hotels until dispersal accommodation is available, and as a result, local authorities had much less influence over housing conditions.…”

“…We also know that secure refuge helps people secure refugee status. Poor quality housing, which is continuously decreasing in both availability and accessibility, remains a central issue, and dispersal continues to be characterized by spatial control and implicit surveillance (Darling, 2022a(Darling, , 2022bHill et al, 2021). In this context, strategies of containment imposed on racially minoritised residents and racialised migrants via tightly controlled housing allocations in designated neighbourhoods cannot be bracketed off from the racialized logic of housing policies (Finney et al, 2019).…”

International migration and the rise of urban militant networks in the Mediterranean

“…Municipalities may adopt policies at the margin of legality, especially when the latter target undocumented migrants. This trend is attested by the various accounts of the strategies of dissent endorsed by municipalities in Europe and North America, from the silent implementation of discrete measures to vocal opposition (Oomen et al, 2021;Darling, 2022). This municipal activism is embedded into a wider movement of radical urbanism, calling for a "right to the city" and the development of urban commons (Carpio et al, 2011;Harvey, 2012;Tsavdaroglou et al, 2019) and adds to the commitment of the volunteer sector in reception areas.…”