Feminist Migration Policy

As Heinrich Böll Foundation we are committed to gender democracy. Within our regional programme on migration we seek to enhance capacities and resilience to growing pressure and criminalisation of refugees, migrants and host communities as well as civil society throughout the region. As a feminist political foundation, we acknowledge the fact that gender matters and while people on the move face discrimination in Europe structurally, women and LGBTIQ+ in addition are confronted with discrimination based on gender and/or sexuality. Feminism aims at dismantling oppressive and discriminatory power structures, which currently are very much defining EU migration policies. While Feminist Foreign Policy is already somewhat established as a concept with a number of EU Member States having commited to putting human security at the core of their foreign policy, feminist migration policy is not yet much on the radar. In light of the lack of a functioning EU migration policy respecting human rights and valuing the experiences and needs of people on the move, especially of the most vulnerable and marginalised among them, the intersection of feminism and migration seems to be more relevant than ever. This dossier collects various forms of contributions at this specific intersection and thereby aims to present alternatives to current policies and discourses.

Podcasts

Retrieved 3: Gender and Migration Policy

PODCAST

What would we see if we looked at migration through the gender lens? How does the experience of displacement differ for women and vulnerable social groups? In the 3rd episode, we speak with Neda Noraie-Kia, Head of European Migration Policy at the Thessaloniki Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

Böll Europe Podcast #2 | Intersectionality and refugee women

PODCAST

Have female refugees found ‘safety’ at the European Union’s borders?

Articles

Feminist foreign policy in action: exiled Afghan women MPs in Greece

COMMENTARY

Afghan women political representatives want to establish a parliament in exile in Greece: reason enough for me to pay them a visit and show my support.

Hannah Neumann

LGBTQI+ asylum seekers in Greece teaser image

LGBTQI+ asylum-seekers in Greece: A call for intersectional inclusivity

ARTICLE

People with minority sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and/or sex characteristics (SOGIESC) have often been forced to flee their country and apply for international protection due to persecution and criminalisation. How are they treated by the asylum services and how does this affect their mental and physical health as well as the course of their application?

Abby Field , Anaïs Heldmaier

Exposing the Liberal Paradox: Feminist Foreign Policy and European migration control politics

ARTICLE

While some Member states commit to Feminist Foreign Policy agendas, its implementation in Europe’s migration and asylum regime remains all but absent. How does Europe square the circle between Feminist Foreign Policy and border control policies?

Deitra Myers

Open letter

LGBTQI+ Asylum Seekers in Greece

OPEN LETTER

15 organisations supporting asylum seekers in Greece published an open letter and calling for action with regard to the treatment of LGBTQI+ asylum seekers in Greece. As Heinrich Böll foundation we see a need to shed more light to the situation of refugees and migrants with minority sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and/or sex characteristics (SOGIESC), who are at risk of double stigmatisation, which is why we are happy to share this NGO’s appeal.

Publications

Intersectionality and refugee women

E-PAPER

This contribution sheds an intersectional feminist perspective on the European Commission’s (EC) New Pact on Migration and Asylum by critically examining some of the gendered and racialized notions about migrants embedded in and institutionalized through the Pact.

Madita Standke-Erdmann

Guide for LGBTI+ refugees on experiences with safe third country

E-PAPER

This guide for LGBTI+ refugees who have applied for asylum in Turkey and hope for resettlement into another country, provides tips on resettlement including testimonies from people who relocated to Switzerland, USA, Spain and Australia. Prepared by HEVI LGBTI+ Association, realized with the support of Heinrich Böll Foundation Turkey Representation.

Practicing Feminist Foreign Policy in the Everyday: A Toolkit

PUBLICATION

Feminist foreign policy is emerging as a new paradigm in international relations. The concept raises expectations of a more peaceful and just foreign policy, but its theoretical dimension and practical implementation are often not clearly defined. This toolkit, published in November 2021 by IFFF and Heinrich Böll Stiftung, tries to close this gap and clarify key terms of feminist foreign policy, as well as outline the practical application of the feminist approach to international diplomacy, to security, environmental, development, trade and migration policy.

Victoria Scheyer, Dilek Gürsel, Marie Jelenka Kirchner, Jessica Cheung

Video

Bridges #2 Parliament in Exile. Afghan Women's Resilience and the EU's Responsibility to Act - Heinrich Boell Foundation - Office Thessaloniki

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Bridges - Encounters on Migration and Asylum in Europe #2 Parliament in Exile. Afghan Women’s Resilience and the EU's Responsibility to Act

VIDCAST

"Bridges" is about bringing together different people on relevant questions on migration and asylum in Europe. With Nazifa Yusufi Bek, elected member of the Afghan parliament, and Hannah Neumann, member of European Parliament.

Description

"Bridges" is about bringing together different people on relevant questions on migration and asylum in Europe. "Bridges" thereby seeks to connect people whose paths would not necessarily cross otherwise and thereby create a conversation on timely topics of mutual interest.

In our second "Bridges" session we welcome Mrs. Nazifa Yusufi Bek, who is an elected member of the Afghan parliament and co-founder of the so called "Parliament in Exile" - a group of female Afghan parliamentarians who had to flee their country and who currently are in Athens. Of the former 69 female MPs of the Afghan parliament around 25 are currently in exile in Greece. They have found a network to be able to better raise awareness for the situation of their fellow Afghan people back home and to jointly express their political proposals and positions towards the international community. Together with Dr. Hannah Neumann, member of European Parliament and the peace and human rights spokesperson of "The Greens/European Free Alliance (EFA)" as well as vice-chair of the Human Rights Committee (DROI) -who had recently come to visit the network in Athens- this session will introduce the "Parliament in Exile" and shed a light on the situation of Afghanistan's women, inside the country, in transit or in exile and hereby look into the EU's potential role to support these brave women.

Photo exhibition

1000 Dreams Report & Photos

“1000 Dreams” is a photographic and storytelling project entirely authored by people with a refugee background across Europe. We as Heinrich Böll Foundation had the honour and pleasure of exhibiting a selection of these portraits and stories coming from the LGBTQI+ community for five days in Thessaloniki (June-July 2022) as part of our 'Re-act! Ideas in Motion' activities. The exhibition offered a look into a reality, which many people on the move have to face and which is often overlooked: being LGBTQI+ and displaced can be a double stigma and people sometimes must have incredible strength and resilience.