[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/6349\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EIs it time to apply research results to migration?\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Restrictive policies have a lot of unintended consequences,\u2019 said Dr Cris Beauchemin from the French Institute for Demographic studies, who ran the EU-funded MAFE project investigating migration between Africa and Europe. \u2018There is such a big gap between policymaking and researchers and my hope is that we are able to bridge the gap.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Beauchemin and colleagues surveyed current migrants, returnees and non-migrants in Ghana, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo and also in European countries in order to understand the factors that influence why some people return and some people do not.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We were especially interested in return migration,\u2019 he said. \u2018We in Europe have very little data on return migration. Usually countries know how to count the people who enter their country but they have very little data on those who leave.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhat they found was that, as Europe\u2019s immigration restrictions have grown in the period since the 1970s, fewer people are returning to their home countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018In the context of growing restrictions, people tend to return less and less. If you\u2019re in a context where people can circulate, come and go, they can return, try, test their return and if they do not fit in they can come back to Europe.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECrucially, they found that gaining secure legal status in Europe increased people\u2019s propensity to return to Africa, indicating that the best way of promoting return migration is to provide legal status for migrants.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018If you are an irregular migrant and you go back to your country of origin, you are pretty sure you won\u2019t be able to come back,\u2019 said Dr Beauchemin. \u2018While if you are a regular migrant, you can go back and forth.\u2019\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Research shows that consistently in almost all countries people believe there are three times more migrants than there really are.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EDr Aija Lulle, University of Sussex, UK\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe results from the MAFE project feature in a policy review of EU-funded migration research, which was launched at a Brussels-based conference called Understanding and Tackling the Migration Challenge: The Role of Research, on 4 and 5 February.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOpening the conference, Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said the decisions that Europe is facing now with respect to migration will be judged by history.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0027T\u003Cspan\u003Eo make those decisions, we must be armed with knowledge based on reliable research, because knowledge enlightens,\u0027 he said. \u0027It removes fear. It obliterates prejudice. Evidence-based policymaking can help us make the right decisions, swiftly and decisively.\u0027\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDepoliticising debate\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Aija Lulle from the University of Sussex, UK, and University of Eastern Finland, who co-authored the policy review with Professor Russell King from the University of Sussex, said that one way that research can contribute to the migration debate is to depoliticise the issue and counter misconceptions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Research shows that consistently, in almost all countries, people believe there are \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/research\/conferences\/2016\/migration-challenge\/pdf\/migration_conf-r_king.pdf#view=fit\u0026amp;pagemode=none\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Ethree times more migrants\u003C\/a\u003E than there really are,\u2019 she said. \u2018This perception that migrants are invading Europe and taking away our jobs, it\u2019s unjustified, it\u2019s not real.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Dr Lulle, research can also help to present a more nuanced picture of what is going on so policymakers can respond accordingly. In recent years, for example, new and more diverse forms of migration have emerged, such as onward migration, where people try out work opportunities and lifestyles in different countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We really see an increase in onward migration. Coming to Italy, for example, doesn\u2019t mean that person will stay in Italy, he or she will probably also try Spain and then the UK and then maybe the Nordic countries. We don\u2019t have policies yet for how to benefit from these flows.\u2019\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe reason, she says, could lie with the collaborative nature of European policymaking. \u2018The problem is that policy takes time. Europe is very much based on this democratic debate and compromise so it really does take time.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, when debates become very political, as with migration, scientific evidence can get lost in the fray, says Professor Christina Boswell from the University of Edinburgh, UK, who specialises in the relationship between knowledge and public policy.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018When issues are highly politicised, politicians feel under pressure to respond to those public concerns and negative media coverage. Often that means quite simplistic and polarised ways of looking at the problem.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProf. Boswell cautions that, while scientific evidence does eventually impact the political debate, it can take time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018There is potential for research to have an impact on policy but it\u2019s often an incremental, slow, a drip, drip effect. Research gradually causes a shift in the way we frame concepts and ideas and policy problems.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-y2rjwx3xog910hkloztmi4-h489kmh9ycjvyguxnprs\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-Y2rjwx3xog910HKloZtmi4-H489KMH9YCJVyguxNprs\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]