What rights do migrants have?
Rights, protection and inclusion
We investigate migrants’ access to basic rights, specialized protection for vulnerable groups like children, and factors influencing acceptance and belonging in host communities.
Highlights: This past year our work has:
- explored the inherently political role of civil society organizations providing healthcare to irregular migrants;
- mapped protection standards from international refugee and human rights law that migration control policies should adhere to, analyzing if and how they are being followed;
- highlighted a general lack of integration of migrants in small and medium-sized European communities, where interactions remain limited to necessary exchanges, hindering the development of lasting relationships;
- identified the adverse effects of migration containment policies, exercised by EU countries of destination in collaboration with African partner countries, on migrants’ fundamental rights.
Upcoming Priorities: Over the next year we are working to
- measure the legal rights of irregular migrants in Europe, compare how rights differ on paper versus in practice, and conduct hundreds of in-person interviews to understand the conditions and experiences of irregular migrants in Europe;
- better explore and communicate how policies can respond to the gender needs of migrants by using the case of Ukraine as an example of promoting an attention to gender across all aspects of migration policy and management.
Explore more:
Featured publications
- Making space: Encouraging interactions between recent migrants and long-term residents in smaller communities – Caitlin Katsiaficas and Leila Hadj Abdou
- Caught in the crossfire : unravelling the complex interplay of exploitation and agency in children associated with Boko Haram – Luigi Achilli