Migration Expert Stresses Importance of Diversity Ahead of Panel on European Refugee Crisis

On October 22, the HSE Public Policy Department and the Course on Comparative Migration Policy will hold a panel discussion on the European refugee crisis. Dr. Mahama Tawat, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences and a specialist in comparative migration policy, will serve as one of the panel members. Dr. Tawat recently spoke with the HSE news service about his research interests, what attracted him to HSE and his views on tolerance and diversity.

— Migrants and refugees have long been the focus of your research. Like other topics you study, the issue of minority rights is timely for Russia. Have you been looking into that recently?

— Yes, indeed. Humans have always moved. I always like to remind people that we all come from Africa where modern humans or homo sapiens originated. It seems that some took the southern route and went straight to Australasia. Others went north and later to Europe and Asia. Then it became more entangled.  Human palaeontologists and evolutionary geneticists are still trying to piece this story together, but their findings are fascinating when you read them.

The issue of migration will not go away soon. I have a new research focus on eastern Europe and Russia. As the refugee crisis has shown, eastern Europe is the new frontier. I have just submitted an article reviewing migration policymaking in the region to an international academic journal. I also supervise the research of Master's students from countries like Hungary and Kazakhstan.

Quite frankly, I was surprised myself by some of the findings. While national identity or the ‘who we are’ is as often suspect, in eastern EU countries it was not defined in ethnic terms until the Syrian refugee crisis. Rather, it was defined as Europeanization, which in a nutshell means adopting western European ways. This is despite the presence of old ethnic cleavages linked to their largest transnational minority, the Roma, and extra-territorial minorities such as Hungarians in Slovakia. It appears that the national boundary shifted violently with the prospect of ‘more significant others’, i.e., Muslim Syrians, arriving in high numbers. Russia has behaved as predicted. It has given priority to refugees from eastern Ukraine who are closer to its definition of ‘who we are’.

The size of immigration and cultural distance do matter to a certain extent, but there is more to this as the article explains.

— You joined HSE in 2014. How would you assess your first year of living and working in Moscow?

My first year in Moscow and at HSE has been quite smooth. There have not been any ‘biggies’.  I am thankful to the university for that. The Centre for Advanced Studies has provided support for my research, and the Department of Public Policy has given me the opportunity to teach. The Academic Support Centre of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the International Faculty Support Unit have helped with administrative and logistical matters. I appreciate their goodwill.

Of course, there are always difficulties, especially when one is a newcomer. But I have lived in many parts of the world and have learned to keep things in perspective. I like my neighbourhood. My relationship with my landlord is so good that we have just agreed to prolong the lease.

— What did you find attractive about HSE when you decided to join our university?

First, the fact that the university wanted to give young foreign academics a head start by providing them space and some autonomy to conduct their research. This is very important.  At older universities, people sometimes become blasé, and it is difficult for young academics to find breathing space. Second, I perceived that the university wanted to attract academics on the international job market by offering conditions that are similar to those offered by other global universities. Third, the job qualifications matched my profile.

— What is the main message to students when you teach Modern Political Science? 

I welcome alternative perspectives on the issues we discuss during lectures. This can be enlightening for me and the whole class. I often remind my students that I not only teach but also conduct research. So there are still many things out there that one needs to uncover. And they may be the ones doing these discoveries. However, I insist on convincing argumentation backed by facts and illustrations.

— What do you think could be a universal message to young people to teach them tolerance?

The message is that diversity is the essence of things. This diversity is not only ethnic but social. There are many lifestyles. We have goths, Rastafarians, vegetarians... and these communities are transnational. As John Donne wrote, ‘no man is an island’. No country can survive without trade, which means that borders will always be open. Globalization has only made this more imperative. At the same time, everyone should endeavour to fit with his or her environment in order to promote harmony. Of course, this should not come at an unbearable cost.

Anna  Chernyakhovskaya, specially for HSE News service