The RefMig project aims to re-examine the refugee regime through the lens of mobility and migration. In order to achieve a deeper understanding of the laws, norms, institutions and practices that govern refugeehood and the migration and mobility of refugees, the project examines the division between refugees and (other) migrants in several contexts. The project’s premise, ‘refugees are migrants’, aims to open up for scrutiny those practices that limit refugee flight and onward mobility, to examine how migration control concerns have come to permeate the refugee regime. It also questions the notion that international protection is only for refugees, and aims to understand how human rights and migration control may be reconciled.
Research Strands
Recognising Refugees
Through the Recognising Refugees strand, the project examines the institutional practices that seek to distinguish refugees from migrants, which ought to be subject to much greater scrutiny by those who would defend refugee privilege in a world of migration control.
Organisations of Protection
The Organisations of Protection strand focuses on the role of international and humanitarian organisations, with a particular focus on the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
Latest News & Events
‘IOM Unbound?: Obligations and Accountability of the International Organization for Migration in an Era of Expansion’ by Prof Cathryn Costello (University College Dublin, formerly Hertie School), Prof Megan Bradley (McGill University) and Dr. Angela Sherwood (Queen Mary University of London) was published by Cambridge University Press in June 2023
The open access link for Megan Bradley, Cathryn Costello and Angela Sherwood (eds), IOM Unbound: Obligations and Accountability of the International Organization for Migration in an Era of Expansion (Cambridge University Press, 2023), is now live.
Link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/iom-unbound/63DD0B11FD174F2BFEB94DEC458F9E1D
Megan Bradley, Cathryn Costello and Angela Sherwood (eds), IOM Unbound: Obligations and Accountability of the International Organization for Migration in an Era of Expansion (Cambridge University Press, 2023)
Cathryn Costello. "Who is Recognised as a Refugee? Insights from Diverse Disciplines." Z'Flucht. Zeitschrift für Flucht-und Flüchtlingsforschung 7, no. 1 (2023): 120-135.
Jubilut, Liliana Lyra, and Giovana Agútoli Pereira. "Mudanças no Procedimento de Reconhecimento do Status de Refugiado no Brasil ao longo dos 25 anos da Lei 9.474/97 e seus impactos na proteção das pessoas refugiadas." REMHU: Revista Interdisciplinar da Mobilidade Humana 30 (2022): 165-190
Minos Mouzourakis and Cathryn Costello, “Effective Judicial Protection of Migrants and Refugees? The Role of Europe’s Supranational Courts in Protecting and Generating Rights”, in Research Handbook on EU Migration and Asylum Law. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022. 79-97.
Cathryn Costello and Michelle Foster. "(Some) refugees welcome: When is differentiating between refugees unlawful discrimination?" International Journal of Discrimination and the Law 22.3 (2022): 244-280.
Natalie Welfens (2023), Ungleicher Zugang: Kategorisierungspraktiken in deutschen humanitären Aufnahmeprogrammen für syrische Geflüchtete, Z’Flucht 2/2022. (The article is in German)
Lucas Rasche, Natalie Welfens & Marcus Engler (2022), The EU Migration Pact at Two: What remains of the fresh start?, Jacques Delors Centre Policy Brief. Available in German and English.
Natalie Welfens (2022, online first), ‘‘Promising victimhood’: contrasting deservingness requirements in refugee resettlement’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.
Natalie Welfens and Saskia Bonjour (2022, online first), ‘Seeking legitimacy through knowledge production: the politics of monitoring and evaluation of the EU trust fund for Africa’, Journal of Common Market Studies.
Ozkul, Derya (with Rita Jarrous) (2021) 'How do refugees navigate the UNHCR’s bureaucracy? The role of rumours in accessing humanitarian aid and resettlement', Third World Quarterly 42 (10) 2247-64