Interview with Dr. Meghan Joy on Sanctuary Cities 

by Vivian Whalen 

Canada touts itself as a multicultural and accepting nation – but is it? Canada’s “sanctuary cities”, such as Toronto, illustrate that issues remain in creating the progressive cultural mosaic so often promoted about the country. Take Toronto’s “Access T.O” policy. The law is meant to provide undocumented persons access to an abundance of city services, like paramedic aid, without needing to provide government identification. On paper it may seem helpful, but in practice, it tends to fall short. We interviewed Dr. Meghan Joy to speak on these issues. 

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African intermediary cities as actors in urban migration governance. A blog mini-series by Janina Stürner-Siovitz (4)

Third post: How do African local authorities make use of transnational action to address the city-migration-governance paradox?

by Janina Stürner-Siovitz

It is important to highlight that at the time of writing, only few local authorities in Africa are directly engaging in questions of migration. Nevertheless, research shows that in the last years a growing number of African local authorities have started participating in transnational projects and networks that provide them with various opportunities:

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African intermediary cities as actors in urban migration governance. A blog mini-series by Janina Stürner-Siovitz (3)

Second post: Why would African local authorities engage in questions of mixed migration?

by Janina Stürner-Siovitz

In 2018, member cities of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) adopted the Charter of Local and Subnational Governments of Africa on Migration. Within the past years, cities such as Jijiga in Ethiopia, Arua in Uganda, Sfax in Tunisia, and Tangier in Morocco have started cooperating with Cities Alliance, the Mediterranean City-to-City Migration Project (MC2CM) and other actors to promote peer learning and to launch pilot projects addressing urban migration in collaborative ways. Building on such experience, local authorities have called for partnerships and greater support from national and international actors during the 2020 African Union Consultations of the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD).

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African intermediary cities as actors in urban migration governance. A blog mini-series by Janina Stürner-Siovitz (2)

First post: Making the case for migration research with African intermediary cities

by Janina Stürner-Siovitz

According to the OECD, Africa is the continent with the fastest urban growth worldwide, with a population expected to double between 2020 and 2050. Two-thirds of this growth will take place in urban areas, with intermediary cities exhibiting particularly high growth rates and forecast to absorb about half of the overall increase in urban residents.

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African intermediary cities as actors in urban migration governance. A blog mini-series by Janina Stürner-Siovitz (1)

Framework: African intermediary cities and urban migration governance

by Janina Stürner-Siovitz

Interviewed in the context of a study on migrant- and refugee-sensitive COVID-19 responses, a representative from the Tunisian city of Sfax highlighted that the municipality considered proactive engagement on mixed migration and social cohesion both timely and relevant. However, as a subnational entity of a state without a national migration framework, the municipal authorities lack politico-legal mandates and resources to address such issues. Nevertheless, the city of Sfax finds ways to take action on mixed migration through local and transnational cooperation with civil society actors, migrant associations, local and regional authorities, and international organizations. For example, city representatives are collaborating with the NGO Terre d’Asile Tunisie on a project to strengthen the coordination among local actors on questions of migration. Having said that, the municipal scope of action gained through such multi-stakeholder collaboration remains limited so far.

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