Transitions: Journal of Transient Migration - 1-2: Politics, Perils and Privileges: Immobilities in the Time of Global Pandemics, Dec 2022

In this article, we investigated how the pandemic actually influenced decisions of migration/mobility of highly skilled EU migrants. We took a closer look at physicians in Greece and Germany, because they can be seen as a very mobile migrant group, which is highly demanded by the labour market of the health industry as doctors in hospitals, clinics or universities in both countries and beyond. Based on the opposed theoretical concepts of ‘transnational mobility or migration’ and ‘stasis,’ we conducted in-depth interviews with selected Greek doctors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this study indicate that the pandemic has mainly had little impact on the migration/mobility of interviewed Greek doctors. Rather, economic demand on the health market seems to be more important than the impact of the pandemic on mobility, long-term migration or stasis.

Through a study of a village in Jharkhand, India, the paper maps the migration process of workers due to the structural transformation of the rural area. The nature of transformation in Jharkhand has led to a process of migration as a temporary strategy. This paper illustrates the processes wherein the socio-economic dynamic of the village is reflected in different migration strategies which take the form of identity and assignment-based networks. The paper develops a rudimentary typology of migrant workers to map the differential effects of reverse migration. Reverse migration due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in lost skills, lost opportunities and increased competition which has affected workers in different networks and identity groups to varying extents. The breakdown of networks and their revival in the subsequent period led to the solidification of the identity-based networks, which is a reflection of the hierarchy in the village. The paper argues that reverse migration and the subsequent revival of the migration networks are taking on an exclusionary form that affect an already vulnerable population disproportionately.

This article explores the interplay between digital work and mobility through a look at the career trajectories, remote work practices and im/mobilities of professionals in the information technology (IT) sector. We draw upon a qualitative study conducted with IT professionals who work remotely for Swiss or Swiss-based international companies. IT professionals have been pioneers in practising virtual work long before the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis and have long engaged in various forms of mobility, including tourism and labour migration. A focus on their remote work and im/mobility practices can shed light on the possibilities and challenges of the virtualization of work, especially in the context of the pandemic. We discuss how geographical immobility, combined with digital technology, becomes important in building a career and a personal life, staying ‘rooted’ and reconstituting the boundaries between work and non-work.

What has been the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on international students and how have they coped with living, often in isolation, in a foreign country? This article examines the challenges and coping strategies of current and recently graduated higher degree by research (HDR) international students in the Australian city of Melbourne through a transient migration lens. Through interviews with eight international students during one of Melbourne’s lockdown periods, this pilot study provided participants the opportunity to explain that not only were they dealing with the difficulties posed by lockdowns (e.g., loneliness and lack of sense of belonging) but doing so while balancing non-lockdown-related issues as students and transient migrants (e.g., passing their degree courses). Students interviewed however also revealed that they made the most out of lockdowns while taking charge of their own well-being by working towards their postgraduate futures and using the time to discover new non-study-related talents (e.g., watercolouring). The results of this study provide international education stakeholders and higher education institutions with ways of moving forward in the student support space.

There has been an increase in HIV diagnoses among Chinese men who have sex with men international students (CMISs) in Australia. However, there is not a lot of understanding about the sexual health information of this cohort of transient students. There are often assumptions of low sexual health literacy and other vulnerabilities made about this cohort, but the actual cultural and systemic barriers are not well understood. In particular, there is a lack of understanding about their sexual health information behaviours. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews among ten CMISs in Australia, recruited from social dating apps and snowballing methods. Within this sample, there was a diversity in CMISs’ prior sexual health knowledge, sources of sexual health information and engagement with the Australian LGBTIQA+ community. A key concern amongst those interviewed was a lack of in-depth knowledge about the Australian health system. This article challenges some of the assumptions about CMISs’ sexual health information behaviours and calls for a more nuanced approach when engaging with them. In order to provide relevant and timely sexual health information to CMISs, these results point to four areas for attention and improvement. These are use of peer mentoring, messaging disseminated through Chinese social media, activating a more inclusive LGBTIQA+ community and increasing awareness about the Australian health system.

Review of: Mobilities of the Highly Skilled Towards Switzerland: The Role of Intermediaries in Defining ‘Wanted Immigrants’, Laure Sandoz (2019)

Berlin: Springer Nature, 244 pp.,

ISBN 978-3-03021-121-9, h/bk, EUR 53.49

Review of: Digital Experiences of International Students: Challenging Assumptions and Rethinking Engagement, Shanton Chang and Catherine Gomes (eds) (2021)

Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 228 pp.,

ISBN 978-0-36722-635-0, p/bk, £34.99