Despite its ubiquity in migration discourse, mobility practices like migrant smuggling, the facilitation of migration, and migrants’ secondary movements have been scarcely researched. Furthermore, most examinations on these topics rely on secondary sources, and fail to incorporate the perspectives and challenges faced by those directly involved and/or impacted by said practices and their criminalization. The MPC is at the forefront of this research field, generating empirical and critical work that is also interdisciplinary and global in nature. Our work, incorporating participatory methods and community perspectives, provides nuanced data and responses concerning the impact of migration enforcement practices, the organization of smuggling facilitation, the use and reliance of technology by migrants in the course of their journeys, among others. It also documents legal challenges and responses to migration controls, and the latter’s impact on human and civil rights.
Selected recent publications and working papers(2018/19):
- Carrera, S., V. Mitsilegas, J. Allsopp, L. Vosyliute (2019). Policing Humanitarianism: EU Policies against human smuggling and their impact on civil society. Oxford: Hart Publishing.
- Hadj Abdou, L. and S. Rosenberger (2019) Contesting the deportation state? Political change aspirations in protests against forced returns, Ethnic and Racial Studies 42 (16): 102-119.
- Ricard-Guay A. (2018) Criminalizing migrants who steer the dinghies in the Mediterranean: A collateral effect of migration management? RSCAS Working Paper, EUI Working Paper RSCAS 2018/32. Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Global Governance Programme: Fiesole, Italy.
- Sanchez, G., R. Hoxhaj, S. Nardin, A. Geddes, L. Achilli, S. Kalantaryan (2018). A study of the communication channels used by migrants and asylum seekers in Italy, with a particular focus on online and social media. Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs. Brussels: European Commission.
- Zhang, S., G. Sanchez and L. Achilli (eds.) (2018). Migrant Smuggling as a Collective Strategy and Insurance Policy: Views from the Margins. Special Issue of THE ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, vol. 676.
- Zuccotti, C.V., Geddes, A.P., Bacchi, A., Nori, M. and Stojanov, R. (2018). “Rural Migration in Tunisia: Drivers and patterns of rural youth migration and its impact on food security and rural livelihoods in Tunisia”, Rome: FAO.
