John van Kooy, PhD
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pantzfanon.bsky.social
John van Kooy, PhD
@pantzfanon.bsky.social
Meanjin/Brisbane-based researcher working on migration, refugee resettlement, and social cohesion.

Where I work: https://scanloninstitute.org.au/
Some writing: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4668-261X
Other stuff: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnvankooy/
Displacement (refugees, asylum seekers and IDPs) has more than doubled across Asia Pacific in less than a 10-year period. Now at 18+ million people.

Most are from Afghanistan or Myanmar, while 2-in-5 (41%) are under the age of 18.

New report from @iom.int

reliefweb.int/report/world...
Asia-Pacific Migration Data Report 2025 - World
Analysis in English on World about Climate Change and Environment, Health and more; published on 19 Nov 2025 by IOM
reliefweb.int
November 19, 2025 at 10:40 PM
New Refugee Student Settlement Pathway (RSSP) "allows us to select really promising students who are in a refugee situation abroad, they're stuck, they're not able to continue their studies or settle where they are and they can't go home and they need a solution"

www.sbs.com.au/news/article...
Osamah is the first to arrive in Australia via this new visa pathway. His long 'limbo' is over
The 24-year-old, originally from Yemen, is one of just 20 refugees due to come to Australia as part of this pilot program.
www.sbs.com.au
November 5, 2025 at 12:14 AM
October 23, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Australia has pledged an additional AUD 370 million in humanitarian aid over the next three years for Myanmar and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, taking its total contribution since 2017 to over AUD 1.26 billion.

www.thedailystar.net/news/banglad...
Australian Minister Anne Aly to visit Bangladesh to boost regional cooperation
Trip aims to deepen engagement in the Indian Ocean region
www.thedailystar.net
October 23, 2025 at 4:17 AM
This isn't the worst thing happening in America right now, but it is pretty heartbreaking for the hundreds of thousands of *actual* refugees awaiting resettlement options.
www.reuters.com/world/africa...
Exclusive: Trump administration weighing refugee cap of 40,000 with focus on white South Africans
Trump's focus on resettling Afrikaners could upend the precedent around the refugee program, which for decades had bipartisan support.
www.reuters.com
September 18, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Super useful statistical primer on global migration via @migrationpolicy.bsky.social 👇
September 8, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Reposted by John van Kooy, PhD
Highest level of support since Gallup started asking this question a quarter century ago
September 7, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by John van Kooy, PhD
New paper out!!
10 years after “Wir schaffen das”: Refugees in Germany often feel more connected to their host country than to their origin country – even soon after arrival. Language, local contacts & welcome matter.
#MigrationStudies #SocSci #Refugees #Citizenship

🔗 doi.org/10.1080/1556...
Determinants of Refugees’ Identification with Country of Origin and Host Country and Their Naturalization Intentions: Evidence from Germany
Despite extensive research on immigrants’ identification and its integration implications, a substantial gap remains in understanding the factors and mechanisms underlying refugees’ identification ...
doi.org
August 8, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Reposted by John van Kooy, PhD
Something that I have been thinking about with attribution of "PhD level intelligence" or "PhD level expertise" to a machine is that it reflects an increasing trend among these AI bros and their sycophants to want the products of highly skilled training without actually doing any of the work.
August 9, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by John van Kooy, PhD
A PhD program is where you go to figure out the exact kinds of mental illnesses impacting your life, and an LLM just isn't capable of that sort of introspection. It can simulate the spiraling and denial, but that only gets you so close.
August 9, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by John van Kooy, PhD
There were babies in prams, elderly people in wheelchairs, families, friends, organisations, unions, and a sea of Palestinian flags and keffiyehs. It was the largest and most moving protest I have ever seen. #MarchForHumanity
August 3, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Halting starvation in Gaza isn't just about letting aid trucks in (or dropping palettes on shelters). Hospitals have been bombed. So even with food, people can't access the medical care to recover from malnourishment.

via @civilianprotection.bsky.social

theconversation.com/air-dropping...
Air-dropping food into Gaza is a ‘smokescreen’ – this is what must be done to prevent mass starvation
States must exercise their full diplomatic leverage to pressure Israel to let aid in at the scale required to avert famine.
theconversation.com
July 29, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Aside from how incredibly bleak this is (in a time when everything else is also very bleak), I bloody love data-driven journalism like this.
Well researched & written, beautifully presented.

via @abrahm.bsky.social @propublica.org

www.propublica.org/article/wate...
“Staggering” Water Loss Driven by Groundwater Mining Poses Global Threat
A new study finds that freshwater resources are rapidly disappearing, creating arid “mega” regions and causing sea levels to rise.
www.propublica.org
July 29, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Reposted by John van Kooy, PhD
Today, some 30 organisations, including member and partner organisations of the Network, have launched the "Where We Rise" campaign, a coalition call to raise €1 million for people on the move seeking safety.

Donate here: forrefugees.donorsupport.co/page/where-w...
July 28, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Reposted by John van Kooy, PhD
We need to teach people the difference between being uncomfortable and being unsafe. Because the discomfort of the safest people is endangering the most vulnerable, all day every day.
July 29, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Reposted by John van Kooy, PhD
2. The greatest heroes of any age, the people who have secured all our fundamental freedoms, are those who have broken oppressive laws for moral reasons. When you malign altruistic protesters for breaking the law, you diss the legacy of those who broke it for your sake.
July 29, 2025 at 9:07 AM
What an absolutely stellar program for this year's Kaldor Centre Conference: "Building bridges: Advancing refugee protection in a divided world".

Thu, 23 Oct, 9am - 5pm AEDT
Get your tix!!

@kaldorcentre.bsky.social
conference.unsw.edu.au/en/2025-kald...
2025 Kaldor Centre Conference | UNSW Sydney
conference.unsw.edu.au
July 29, 2025 at 4:56 AM
I've seen the reporting and the footage of ICE arrests, but these charts are INSANE
Who is Arrested by ICE under Trump 2.0? A 🧵

New from me & @elizabethacox.bsky.social!

Piece: immresearch.org/publications...

1. ICE arrests spike in Jan & May 2025; when arrests increase, percent of those arrested who are convicted of a crime falls

Majority arrested have no criminal conviction
July 29, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Great opportunity for African refugee and displaced students - 500+ Master’s scholarships available at 25+ universities worldwide, via @refugeestudies.bsky.social

www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/news/rlrh-la...
RLRH launches new round of Graduate Horizons application support scheme
www.rsc.ox.ac.uk
July 29, 2025 at 1:20 AM
Reposted by John van Kooy, PhD
It doesn’t have to end this way. There’s now an effort to rescue the DHS, and new funders could help secure its future.

In a new article, @scientificdiscovery.dev gives an overview of the DHS, what the termination of USAID funding means, and what can be done about it:
The Demographic and Health Surveys brought crucial data for more than 90 countries — without them, we risk darkness
Cuts to US aid could end the Demographic and Health Surveys. This would leave a massive gap in our understanding of global health, mortality, and development.
ourworldindata.org
July 22, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Reposted by John van Kooy, PhD
“Around 50% of funded research remains unpublished”✍️Ritu Dhand

Citation bias leaves valuable lab work unseen, fuelling duplicated effort. PWC estimates €26B lost in Europe alone. Time to rethink what we call ‘quality’!

#PeerReview
Is there a strain on peer review? – It’s more complicated than you think - Impact of Social Sciences
The significant growth of academic publishing in recent years has led some to argue the system is reaching a breaking point, but is it this simple?
ow.ly
July 22, 2025 at 2:09 PM
"We can't say we didn't know... Now is the time to exert diplomatic, legal and economic pressure on Israel to change course."
- @civilianprotection.bsky.social
theconversation.com/suffering-in...
Suffering in Gaza reaches ‘new depths’ – Australia condemns ‘inhumane killing’ of Palestinians
Pressure is mounting on Israel to lift all restrictions on food and other emergency supplies, with more than 870 Palestinians having been killed while seeking aid.
theconversation.com
July 22, 2025 at 2:53 AM