Intersections of immigration law and family violence: Exploring barriers for ethnic migrant and refugee background women

INTRODUCTION: Action on family violence1 remains a policy priority for the New Zealand government. Accordingly, this article explores the Immigration New Zealand’s Victims of Family Violence (VFV) visa. Specifically, it explores possible barriers preventing MELAA2 cultural groups from utilizing the VFV visa.APPROACH: The discussion is based on administrative immigration data, gathered by Immigration New Zealand (INZ), on applicants for VFV visas between July 2010 and March 2021.FINDINGS: Over the last 10 years, INZ received 1,947 applications for the VFV Visa. People of Asian (40%) and Pacific (38%) backgrounds made most of these applications, with India, Fiji, China, the Philippines, and Tonga making up the top five source countries. MELAA communities made only 11% of the total VFV visa applications. Applicants from South Africa, Brazil, Iran, Nigeria, and Argentina made up the top five source MELAA countries. Analyses showed that MELAA applications were mostly work-type visas.IMPLICATIONS: Data presented shows that the VFV visa is still underutilised within these communities. Possible reasons for these notable outcomes are explored in this article, with suggestions for remediating strategies for barriers preventing MELAA communities from utilising the VFV visa. This article concludes that more research is required to gain an in- depth understanding of the specific cultural contexts within which these women engage with this visa.

The Politics of International Education: Constructing New Zealand's Export Education Industry

<p>International education today is an important export industry for New Zealand. It has come a long way from its origins as a developmental scholarship programme for countries in South and Southeast Asia under the Colombo Plan. This thesis studies the concepts and debates related to international education globally; and traces its development in New Zealand over three stages to investigate how it has been transformed from “education for aid” to “education for trade”. This transformation has taken place against the backdrop of neoliberal globalisation. Adopting a constructivist approach, I argue that the commercialisation of international education is influenced by normative factors such as globalisation and regionalism, as well as a conscious decision made by the state based on the material resources New Zealand possesses as an English language speaking country with a relatively advanced liberal education system attractive to developing countries, particularly in Asia. I construct New Zealand’s export education industry in its current state using Wendt’s framework of three elements of social structure. Assuming that the neoliberal norm persists, this thesis identifies the critical factors affecting the continued wellbeing and future development of the export education industry as follows: 1) the quality and reputation of New Zealand’s international education; 2) the continued economic growth of key student source countries and the ongoing demand for overseas education; and 3) the willingness of people from these countries to purchase education services from New Zealand.</p>

The Politics of International Education: Constructing New Zealand's Export Education Industry

<p>International education today is an important export industry for New Zealand. It has come a long way from its origins as a developmental scholarship programme for countries in South and Southeast Asia under the Colombo Plan. This thesis studies the concepts and debates related to international education globally; and traces its development in New Zealand over three stages to investigate how it has been transformed from “education for aid” to “education for trade”. This transformation has taken place against the backdrop of neoliberal globalisation. Adopting a constructivist approach, I argue that the commercialisation of international education is influenced by normative factors such as globalisation and regionalism, as well as a conscious decision made by the state based on the material resources New Zealand possesses as an English language speaking country with a relatively advanced liberal education system attractive to developing countries, particularly in Asia. I construct New Zealand’s export education industry in its current state using Wendt’s framework of three elements of social structure. Assuming that the neoliberal norm persists, this thesis identifies the critical factors affecting the continued wellbeing and future development of the export education industry as follows: 1) the quality and reputation of New Zealand’s international education; 2) the continued economic growth of key student source countries and the ongoing demand for overseas education; and 3) the willingness of people from these countries to purchase education services from New Zealand.</p>

Community-Based Approaches to Tackling Illegal Wildlife Trade—What Works and How Is It Measured?

The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is a global issue that threatens the conservation of many species of fauna and flora and affects the livelihoods of people who are dependent upon wildlife. By far the most common approach to tackling IWT is to enhance law enforcement, including arming rangers and tougher penalties for perpetrators. Yet, critics of this approach argue that efforts to reduce IWT in source countries are likely to fail without the involvement of local people. However, little is known about the effectiveness of community-based approaches to tackling IWT or how this is being measured. We used information from the www.peoplenotpoaching.org learning platform to analyze over 100 case studies of community-based anti-IWT interventions to understand what proportion have been effective and how this has been measured. We present a typology of frequently reported outcomes, their indicators and means of verification. We show that effectiveness in community-based anti-IWT interventions is measured by a number of indicators and using a variety of verification means. Our findings suggest that conservation practitioners more frequently implement activities to measure conservation outcomes in comparison to livelihood outcomes, which has implications for how we consider if a community-based anti-IWT project has been effective. We recommend that future community-based anti-IWT projects build in more robust monitoring, evaluation and learning activities to measure how livelihood benefits impact local communities given their support is crucial to achieving long-term conservation success.

Equitable data sharing in epidemics and pandemics

Background Rapid data sharing can maximize the utility of data. In epidemics and pandemics like Zika, Ebola, and COVID-19, the case for such practices seems especially urgent and warranted. Yet rapidly sharing data widely has previously generated significant concerns related to equity. The continued lack of understanding and guidance on equitable data sharing raises the following questions: Should data sharing in epidemics and pandemics primarily advance utility, or should it advance equity as well? If so, what norms comprise equitable data sharing in epidemics and pandemics? Do these norms address the equity-related concerns raised by researchers, data providers, and other stakeholders? What tensions must be balanced between equity and other values? Methods To explore these questions, we undertook a systematic scoping review of the literature on data sharing in epidemics and pandemics and thematically analyzed identified literature for its discussion of ethical values, norms, concerns, and tensions, with a particular (but not exclusive) emphasis on equity. We wanted to both understand how equity in data sharing is being conceptualized and draw out other important values and norms for data sharing in epidemics and pandemics. Results We found that values of utility, equity, solidarity, and reciprocity were described, and we report their associated norms, including researcher recognition; rapid, real-time sharing; capacity development; and fair benefits to data generators, data providers, and source countries. The value of utility and its associated norms were discussed substantially more than others. Tensions between utility norms (e.g., rapid, real-time sharing) and equity norms (e.g., researcher recognition, equitable access) were raised. Conclusions This study found support for equity being advanced by data sharing in epidemics and pandemics. However, norms for equitable data sharing in epidemics and pandemics require further development, particularly in relation to power sharing and participatory approaches prioritizing inclusion. Addressing structural inequities in the wider global health landscape is also needed to achieve equitable data sharing in epidemics and pandemics.

Analysis and Research on the Requirements and Applicability of “Hualong-1” Commissioning Standards

Chinese nuclear power standards are parallel due to a variety of technical routes and different technology source countries, resulting in a situation of multiple standards parallel in the domestic nuclear power industry. Through the comparative analysis of nuclear power standards in the United States and France, domestic electric power industry and domestic conventional thermal power industry, this paper seeks for the combination point with domestic nuclear power commissioning standard system, and combs and analyzes the existing standard system. Through industry research and data collection and analysis, combined with the technical characteristics of “Hualong-1”, the requirements and applicability elements of the commissioning standard system are determined, the framework of the commissioning standard system is optimized and improved, and the corresponding standard acquisition, formulation and revision plan of the standard system is formed, so as to guide the construction of commissioning standardization.

Effect of regional terrorism events on Malaysian tourism demand

The study analyzes the impact of terrorism on Malaysia’s tourism demand. Panel data from the 25 top source countries, covering the period from 2000Q4 to 2017Q4 is obtained from the Global Terrorism Database, and the Malaysian Tourism Board (MyTourismData). For analysis, a panel Fully Modified OLS (FMOLS) procedure is employed. The results indicate that an increase in terrorism activity in Malaysia depresses international arrivals to the country. Furthermore, spillover effects from terrorism activity in neighboring South East Asian countries are identified. Increased terrorism activity in Thailand is found to boost tourist arrivals in Malaysia from each of the four source continents (Europe, North America, Oceania, and Asia) as well as overall. However, increased terrorism activity in Indonesia depresses arrivals from each of the four source continents as well as overall, possibly due to closer physical and cultural proximity. Increase in terrorism activity in Philippines generally creates a negative effect on Malaysia tourism arrivals except for fatalities which induces a positive effect from North America and Oceania. It is suggested Malaysia should coordinate counter terrorism strategies with Indonesia and Philippines to reduce negative spillover. Malaysia tourism providers should also emphasize differentiation of Malaysia tourism products from Indonesian and Philippine products. Future research should assess how terrorism attack patterns affect tourism demand across different nationalities.

Are There Significant Differences Between Multiculturalism and Interculturalism?: A Study of the Integration of Newcomers in Toronto and Montreal

Immigrant integration is a prominent issue in Canada, in which one-fifth of the population is foreign-born. The Canadian government adopted an official policy of multiculturalism as a means of managing its growing diversity, proclaiming all minority cultures as equal. Meanwhile, Quebec has chosen to manage its diversity differently, adopting an unofficial policy of interculturalism, in an attempt to preserve its minority culture and language, and presenting some interesting questions about the integration of minorities in the province. This paper examines the political cultures of federal multiculturalism and Quebec’s interculturalism, the ideals behind them, and the criticisms mounted against each. Using data from Statistics Canada, this study examines the impact of factors such as immigrant source countries, visible minority status, and religion on immigrants’ economic and political outcomes. Based on the findings, it appears that immigrants in Montreal, and Quebec more widely, fare worse economically and politically than their counterparts in Toronto, and are falling well behind the Canadian-born population.