ROLE OF POLICY CONFIGURATIONS IN LABOUR MARKET INTEGRATION OF HUMANITARIAN MIGRANTS. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SEVEN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.

This PhD thesis explores how policies in several receiving countries in Europe shape the labour market integration of humanitarian migrants. This research involved a systematic comparison across seven countries (The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Norway and Greece) in the period 1990 - 2008. Building on the integration framework of Ager and Strang (2008), I argue that integration is a multidimensional process that is influenced by both the individual characteristics of persons and the policy factors in the countries of reception. A combination of various policy instruments create an environment conditioning the behaviour of the integrating migrants, namely in granting or depriving legal rights, allowing more or less decision-making freedom with regards to employment or residence, and facilitating or hampering employment trajectories. A policy tool does not act in isolation, thus I deem it crucial to consider several policy areas at the same time. The following aspects are explored in this study: 1) access to a stable residence status and official labour market; 2) welfare benefit policies; 3) policies actively promoting labour market participation; 4) policies supporting language training. I show how different configurations of these policy conditions have led to different labour market integration outcomes among humanitarian migrants. Successful labour market integration is understood as equal labour market performance between humanitarian migrants and natives. This is operationalized by two indicators \u2013 difference in employment chances and difference in chances of having a good quality job. These parameters are measured through logistic regression analysis using the data of the European Labour Force Survey, Ad-hoc Module of 2008. The findings reveal that no country exhibited an outcome where humanitarian migrants are fully equal to natives in both parameters. However, Norway and Germany were found to be the countries where the differences between humanitarian migrants and natives were minimal. This outcome was labelled \u2018balanced integration\u2019. Using a technique of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), I compared the configurations of policies observed in the countries revealing balanced integration (Germany and Norway) with the remaining five countries. I found that having obligatory language and employability training programmes for humanitarian migrants was a crucial policy aspect, and the success of economic integration increases when such a policy is combined with generous welfare benefits and relatively easy and fast access to the official labour market

Differences in Labour Market Integration of Humanitarian Migrants In European Countries

There is insufficient research on the question: why are refugees better integrated in some countries than in others? In addition, there are few comparative studies describing differences in integration outcomes of humanitarian migrants. This paper investigates economic integration across 8 European countries, in the year 2008, through the indicators of employment, quality of jobs and overqualification. No country demonstrated a very high level of economic integration of humanitarian migrants. In Greece their employment opportunities are almost equal to those of natives, but the quality of employment and overqualification rates are much worse. On the contrary, in the UK, the chances of getting a ‘good’ job and rates of skill mismatch are similar, but the probability of humanitarian migrants finding employment is much lower. Other countries revealed moderate disadvantage of refugees in the labour market, with Norway as a positive outlier. The reasons for these disparities may lie in the variations between types of welfare states, but further research is needed

Between fragmentation and institutionalisation

It is clear that the field of migration studies has grown significantly over the past decades. What is less known is how this growth has taken place. This article combines bibliometric metadata with expert interviews to analyse the institutionalisation of the field in terms of self-referentiality, internationalisation, and epistemic communities. Self-referentiality in migration studies has gradually increased as the field has grown, until recently. The field has internationalised in terms of international co -authorships but has done so unevenly. Finally, we find that epistemic communities in migration studies, based largely on disciplines, increasingly refer to one another and are increasingly interdisciplinary

Modern approaches to visual rehabilitation of patients with neuromotor disorde

Background. Approximately 50 % of children with cerebral palsy have vision problems, manifested in strabismus, impaired eye mobility, refractive errors, nystagmus development and partial atrophy of the optic nerve.The aim: to present a clinical case of combined correction of myopia and divergent strabismus in a patient with cerebral palsy (CP).Materials and methods. A clinical case of combined correction of myopia and divergent strabismus in a patient with cerebral palsy is presented. General anesthesia was used to perform a two-stage treatment under one anesthesia: the first stage – laser myopia correction by femtosecond extraction of the lenticule through a small access (SMILE) to both eyes, the second stage was the strabismus correction by performing tenoscleroplasty of the external rectus muscle and resection of the internal rectus muscle of both eyes. The sequence of stages is due to the relative traumatism of strabismus surgery, in some cases, accompanied by a reaction from the bulbar conjunctiva and the cornea in the form of edema, which, during subsequent femtosecond vision correction, can affect the refractive result and worsen visual acuity in the postoperative period.Results. The performed treatment let significantly increase uncorrected visual acuity, achieve a correct and stable eye position, which became the basis for changing the vision nature from monocular to binocular.Conclusion. Thus, modern laser and surgical technologies in combination with an adequate anesthesia allow rehabilitating patients as much as possible in a short time, even with severe forms of cerebral palsy, and significantly improving the quality of life

On uneven internationalisation, disciplinary diversity and interpretation of co-citation analysis

In this rejoinder for this special issue, we enter into dialogue with the various commentaries that our article "Between Fragmentation and Institutionalisation" received. In doing so, we address some of the commonly-identified limitations of our paper and clarify the interpretation of some of our findings. This includes key issues such as the uneven internationalisation of migration studies, the need to reveal a broader variety of disciplinary contributions to the field, and the need for some further clarification of the results of the co-citation analysis and caveats of its interpretation

Mathematical modeling of the refractive effect of SMILE surgery in high degree myopia correction

The aim of the study. To develop a mathematical model of changes in corneal refraction during femtosecond laser-assisted lenticule extraction through a small surgical incision and, on this basis, to propose a technology for modified calculation of surgical parameters and to prove its effectiveness. Material and methods. The study included 191 patients with high myopia. They were divided into two groups: group  1 consisted of 55  patients who  were  had  SMILE (SMall Incision Lenticule Extraction) surgery with standard calculations; group  2 included 136 patients who had SMILE surgery with a modified calculation of surgical parameters based on the developed mathematical model of the refractive effect of the surgery. Results. When assessing the refractive effect of patients who were operated using standard technology, it was found that it was possible to achieve a refraction different from emmetropia for ± 0.5 D only in 51 % of cases; in the remaining patients, the planned residual refractive effect was obtained and averaged –1.96 ± 0.29 D. In patients operated using the modified technology, a statistically significantly better refractive result was achieved already on the first day. A refractive error of more than ± 1.0 D was obtained in only 1 % of cases; a deviation from the calculated refraction of ± 0.5 D was achieved in 82 % of cases, with the average values by 1 year –0.24 ± 0.57 D. Conclusions. The developed technology of a modified calculation of the parameters of the SMILE surgery for high myopia correction makes it possible to obtain an optimal refractive effect in compliance with safety rules when the structural and functional parameters of the eye are initially unfavorable for refractive surgery

Features of Femtosecond Correction of High Myopia through Small Access

Aim. To modify the calculated parameters of the lenticle extraction refractive surgery through a small access (SMILE), evaluate its safety and clinical efficacy in correcting high myopia.Materials and methods. 34 patients (68 eyes) underwent surgery by a modified SMILE technology under local anesthesia. In all cases, the patients had a high degree of myopia, in 37 % in combination with astigmatism.Uncorrected visual acuity before surgery averaged 0.05 ± 0.11, best corrected visual acuity of 0.94 ± 0.1, the pre-operative spherical refraction component was –7.23 ± 0.75, the cylindrical component was –0.48 ± 0.59.During the operation, to obtain the maximum possible refraction result using the proposed method, the standard operation parameters were changed: the corneal flap thickness was reduced to 100 μm, the neural optical layer by 5 μm, the diameter of the optical zone depended on the residual cornea thickness, which should exceed 280–290 μm. Corneal access was increased by 15–20 degrees.Results. The next day after surgery, monocular uncorrected visual acuity in distance in 73 % of patients was 0.8 or higher, and in 41 % of cases it was equal to or exceeded 1.0. The spherical equivalent on the first day after surgery had a slight hypermetropic shift, which was completely leveled by the year of follow-up. During the surgical intervention and in the postoperative period, no complications were noted.Conclusion. Using the proposed algorithm for calculating the refractive effect of the operation SMILE with a high degree of myopia allows obtaining a high refractive effect and avoiding possible complications

The state of art on European refugee integration policies: identifying gaps and searching for novel approaches

The abstract is giving an overview of the research design of my doctorate thesis aiming at a comparative policy analysis of several European countries and their approaches to economic integration of refugees. Economic self-sufficiency of individuals is a desirable goal for governments of the receiving countries, since it reduces the burden on welfare system (Juzwaik et al., 2014). However, studies show that humanitarian migrants experience higher rates of unemployment than other types of immigrants and natives (Ott, 2013). Many scholars have underlined that immigrants\u2019 integration is a complex process, shaped not only by individual characteristics of the integrating persons but also by the host government\u2019s policies towards them (Mestheneos & Ioannidi, 2002). Our understanding of the causes facilitating or hampering incorporation of humanitarian migrants into the receiving societies still has gaps, which could potentially lead to ineffective policy solutions. This paper reviews the literature on policies towards forced migration to highlight underexplored areas when explaining differences in refugees\u2019 integration across European countries. In clarifying the role of policies on economic integration, the empirical studies have either provided detailed accounts of the tools implemented by governments and NGOs, or tested the causal power of single provisions to the economic achievements of humanitarian migrants. The results of the studies in the former stream are rich, yet - especially when they challenge theoretical expectations - can hardly be generalised. Those from the latter can claim wider validity for their findings, yet often leave underexplored the complexity of the factors affecting refugees\u2019 economic integration. I suggest that the new light on integration of forced migrants can be shed by a research design aiming at configurations of \u2018insufficient-but-necessary\u2019 and \u2018unnecessary-but-sufficient\u2019 policy instruments (Mackie, 1965; Salamon, 2000; Howlett, 2010)

Differences in labour market integration of humanitarian migrants in European countries

There is insufficient research on the question: why in some countries refugees are better integrated than in others, nor there are many comparative studies describing differences in integration outcomes of humanitarian migrants. This paper investigates economic integration across European countries as of 2008 through the indicators of employment, quality of jobs and overqualification. No country demonstrated a very high level of economic integration of humanitarian migrants. In Greece, their employment chances were almost equal to natives but the quality of employment and overqualification rates were much worse. On the contrary, in the UK, the chances for a \u2018good\u2019 job and rates of skill mismatch were similar, but the probability of employment for humanitarian migrants was much lower. Other countries revealed moderate disadvantage of refugees in the labour market, with Norway as a positive outlier. The reasons for these differences may lie in the welfare state types, but further research is needed