Transitions: Journal of Transient Migration - Volume 9, Issue 1, 2025

This article reports on findings regarding the experience of prolonged temporariness of migrant women on partner visas that separated after experiencing domestic or family violence (sponsored women). Four participants’ narratives were selected from a longitudinal study to understand how women rebuild their lives after violence while in an uncertain visa status. The analysis reported in this article reveals two strong experiences: Investigation and waiting times and productive waiting. The conclusion is that like with protection visa applicants and students, waiting and prolonged temporariness is experienced as harmful and delaying progression and healing even when the sponsored women engaged in productive waiting. Further, time and waiting also shape women’s experiences of migration and in the case of this cohort, their relationship with the host country and their experience of safety and well-being.

This article explores the dynamics of care obligations and family solidarity within Balkan-Swiss families, specifically concerning ageing parents, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through interviews with adult children residing in Switzerland whose ageing parents reside in Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia, we uncover the challenges exacerbated by the pandemic’s global border closures and lockdowns. Our conceptual framework places a spotlight on family solidarity, central during our interviews in contrast to major discussions in social science literature on ageing in cross-border families revolving around moral obligation. We explore how family solidarity plays a pivotal role in the support systems for ageing parents in the interviewed families. We contextualize by the history of migration between the Balkans and Switzerland and the relevant migration laws before we shed light on the conditions of parents in the Balkans both before and during the pandemic. We analyse the impact of international border closures on family relationships, support structures and international travel patterns. We highlight a pattern of cooperation and unity, a solidarity as it manifests in specific relationships within families. Yet, the notion of solidarity encompasses the broader ‘public’ sphere and social movements. Solidary connections transcend one’s immediate (family) circle, encompassing also a global dimension of solidarity. We argue that the intricate dynamics of cross-border family caregiving for ageing parents during the COVID-19 pandemic represent a contemporary social issue suitable for discussion in the context of the solidarity concept. This discussion, we believe, offers a valuable contribution to the discourses on solidarity.

This article examines the advocacy role of Indian-Australian ethnic media and their efforts to address sociocultural issues within the Indian diaspora in Australia. Based on interviews with twelve media producers, the study explores how these outlets raise awareness of challenges such as casteism, dowry practices and sociopolitical divides. Ethnic media play a vital role in multicultural societies, expressing cultural identity while managing relationships between minority and majority groups. However, the findings show that financial and structural constraints often lead to editorial caution, especially regarding contentious topics. This restraint is largely driven by reliance on advertising revenue from community businesses and government sources, which affects editorial decisions. The study also reveals that these outlets often prioritize a broader national identity over engaging with internal divisions within the Indian diaspora, such as those related to religion, caste and class. The concept of multi-ethnic public sphere further supports the idea that ethnic media can promote inter-cultural dialogue, though their potential is limited by ongoing financial challenges. This article highlights the need for greater institutional and financial backing to strengthen ethnic media’s ability to serve their communities. Supporting these outlets would allow for more active engagement with marginalized groups and internal dynamics, positioning Indian-Australian ethnic media as key advocates for community interests within Australia’s multicultural framework and contributing to social change.

This article examines the sociocultural trauma experienced by Syrian forced migrants in Russia amid the Syrian warfare (since 2011), drawing on a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with ten Syrian migrants in Russia. The article explores these Syrian forced migrants’ experiences across three migration stages: pre-departure, initial arrival and post-arrival. Utilizing thematic analysis, findings reveal the sociocultural trauma arising at different phases. Pre-departure trauma stems from war, poverty and instability that have prompted migration. Initial arrival involves language barriers, cultural differences, residency challenges and loss of social ties. Post-arrival traumas include financial insecurity, family separation, stereotypes and cultural maintenance difficulties. Participants’ future plans vary, with some aspiring to permanently settle in Russia and others considering alternative destinations. This study highlights sociocultural traumas throughout migration and their implications for refugee policies in Russia. Interventions targeting legal status, employment, social integration and mental health may improve Syrian migrants’ well-being and adjustment.

When high-skilled professionals become high-skilled migrants, they often relocate with families. Drawing on a larger study of 52 professionals who moved to Denmark to take up a high-skilled employment positions, we focus in this article on a sub-sample of fifteen families. To examine the specific factors influencing decisions around potential re-migration in these constellations, we introduce Elias’s figuration framework, to more carefully consider the interaction and interdependency between the ‘I’ of the interviewee and ‘We’ of their family. The analysis identifies three main dimensions that determine future mobility plans: professional identity/aspirations, family needs and experiences of social incorporation. We show that various configurations of these three dimensions are possible, usually with one dimension being more dominant in shaping re-migration decision-making. Our findings highlight how the various needs and desires of the ‘I’ and ‘We’ within the family are negotiated and how these processes are shaped by macro-, meso- and micro-structures. Our contribution is situated within the framework of multinational migrations, offering scholars an approach for more closely considering how figurations of mobility are negotiated within the relational dynamics of the ‘I’ and ‘We’ that constitute families on the move.

Review of: Navigating the Cultures of Health Care and Health Insurance: Highly Skilled Migrants in the US, Nina Zeldes (2023)

London: University of College London Press, 232 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-80008-366-0, h/bk, £40.00

ISBN 978-1-80008-365-3, p/bk, £20.00

ISBN 978-1-80008-364-6, PDF

ISBN 978-1-80008-367-7, e-book