This podcast describes the quick reaction of Hasan Abu Zaanona, an international student from Palestine (Global South). His family fled from the Gaza Strip, to Yemen (Global South) then to Ukraine. When war threatened again, he quickly took fifty international students with him to Hungary. Hasan is safely in the Netherlands- but his educational work has been repeatedly uncredited due to bouncing from south-south to south- (poor) north.
He has made his first transition north-north, but faces uncertainty. However, “when confronted with economic restraints in host societies, [children of immigrants] have transnational cards to play not available to their less transnational Western counterparts” (Grasmuck & Hinze, 2016, p.1972). I extend this to Hasan, who migrated with his parents as a child
Hasan was able to mobilize resources and orchestrate movement for an already migratory group. I could attribute this feat to his association with other transnational international students or possibly social capital with a religious/ethnic population. The small population of Muslims in Ukraine live in Hasan’s region (Razumkov, 2016). This could’ve been a challenge, but also a unifying community. Such communities, exclusion or association with a homeland can influence the social position of migrants (Grasmuck & Hinze, 2016).
Unlike the heritage migrants in Grasmuck & Hinze (2016), Hasan’s credentials will not be readily credited in the Netherlands. His social position could also be difficult. “There is a general tendency to see religion, and specifically Islam, as one of the major obstacles to integration”, but the integration process of other groups often shows more parallels in educational performance and transnational activities (Thomson & Crul, 2007, p.1026). He can leverage his transnational networks and competencies into global opportunities or reap benefits from his kinship and transnational socialization upon returning to Palestine.
Grasmuck, S., & Hinze, A. M. (2016). Transnational heritage migrants in Istanbul: second-generation Turk-American and Turk-German “Returnees” in their parents’ homeland. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 42(12), 1959–1976. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183x.2016.1142365
Razumkov Center. (2016). Religion, Church, Society and State: Two Years after Maidan (pp. 22, 27, 29, 31). Razumkov Center in collaboration with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches.
Thomson, M., & Crul, M. (2007). The Second Generation in Europe and the United States: How is the Transatlantic Debate Relevant for Further Research on the European Second Generation? Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 33(7), 1025–1041. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691830701541556