MER Article

Deportation as Punishment and the Everyday War on Migrants from Turkey to the United States

At dawn on December 9, 2024, hundreds of Syrian refugees gathered at Turkey's Cilvegözü and Öncüpınar border crossings into northern Syria to return home following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government. Wrapped in blankets and clutching their children and possessions, they waited in anticipation, some having

Fulya Pınar • 13 min read

Current Analysis

At Any Cost—The War in Sudan and Europe’s Flawed Migration Policies

The current conflict in Sudan reveals the deep flaws in EU border regimes.

Parastou Hassouri • 9 min read

MER Article

Understanding Race and Migrant Domestic Labor in Lebanon

The dire financial and political crises in Lebanon have made migrant domestic workers even more vulnerable to abuses of the kafala system of sponsorship. Kassamali explains the history of this labor system in Lebanon and the intersecting roles of race, class, nationality and gender in the hierarchie

Sumayya Kassamali • 12 min read

MER Article

Who is “Indian” in the Gulf? Race, Labor and Citizenship

How do race and racism operate in the Gulf? Neha Vora and Amélie Le Renard closely examine how the term "Indian," as it is used in the United Arab Emirates, refers to much more than national origin. They trace the role of colonialism, capitalism and the state in creating "Indian" as a racialized cat

Neha Vora, Amélie Le Renard • 11 min read

Current Analysis

Understanding Race and Migrant Domestic Labor in Lebanon

The dire financial and political crises in Lebanon have made migrant domestic workers even more vulnerable to abuses of the kafala system of sponsorship. Kassamali explains the history of this labor system in Lebanon and the intersecting roles of race, class, nationality and gender in the hierarchie

Sumayya Kassamali • 12 min read

Current Analysis

Who is “Indian” in the Gulf? Race, Labor and Citizenship

How do race and racism operate in the Gulf? Neha Vora and Amélie Le Renard closely examine how the term "Indian," as it is used in the United Arab Emirates, refers to much more than national origin. They trace the role of colonialism, capitalism and the state in creating "Indian" as a racialized cat

Neha Vora, Amélie Le Renard • 11 min read

Current Analysis

The Fog of the Forever War with a Laugh Track in "United States of Al"

As President Joe Biden’s administration struggles to meet its self-imposed deadline of September 11, 2021 to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan, Hollywood is offering its own painless, bloodless version of an end to America’s longest war. In this review of the CBS sitcom "United States of Al," the

Wazhmah Osman, Helena Zeweri, Seelai Karzai • 12 min read

MER Article

The Muslim Ban and Trump's War on Immigration

Within one week of taking office, President Donald Trump made good on his campaign promise to implement a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Clothed in the language of national security, Executive Order 13769, issued on January 27, 2017, immediately prohibited the entry of immigrant and

Louise Cainkar • 18 min read

Current Analysis

The Muslim Ban and Trump's War on Immigration

Trump's war on immigration from the Middle East, enacted through multiple executive orders and proclamations since January 2017, is collectively known as the Muslim ban. Eventually approved by the Supreme Court, it hit the Yemeni community particularly hard with overwhelming costs and other hurdles

Louise Cainkar • 17 min read

MER Article

Border Regimes and the New Global Apartheid

Catherine Besteman analyzes the new form of global intervention that is taking shape in the rise of militarized borders, interdictions at sea, detention centers, indefinite custody and the generalized criminalization of mobility around the world. The Global North—the United States, Canada, the Europ

Catherine Besteman • 14 min read

Current Analysis

State Department Taking Passports Away from Yemeni-Americans

Over the past year, dozens of Yemeni-Americans visiting their ancestral homeland have had their US passports summarily revoked or confiscated by the embassy in Sanaa without any clear legal basis, effectively stranding them outside the United States. Last month, a coalition of US civil rights groups

The Editors • 6 min read

Current Analysis

Justice for Rasmea Odeh

This past winter, I was privileged to participate in several events in Chicago organized by Rasmea Yousef Odeh, associate director of the Arab American Action Network [http://www.aaan.org/] and leader of that group’s Arab Women’s Committee [http://www.aaan.org/?cat=27]. The events brought together a

Nadine Naber • 5 min read