RefMig Project: Scholarly Impact

Publications from the RefMig project continue to attract attention from scholars around the world. Dr Derya Ozkul and Rita Jarrous’ article ‘How do refugees navigate the UNHCR's bureaucracy? The role of rumours in accessing humanitarian aid and resettlement’ published in the Third World Quarterly, has been viewed more than 2,500 times within a year since its publication online. It has been cited in Written Evidence from the Migration Observatory for Legislative Scrutiny: Nationality and Borders Bill (NBB0062) in order to describe refugees’ little agency in UNHCR’s resettlement process.  

This article has also been recommended by the American University of Beirut’s Associate Professor Sawsan Abdulrahim as one of the ‘Essential Readings on Forced Displacement: Perspectives from the Arab Region’. Professor Abdulrahim argues: 

Only a few pieces from the region challenge “Northern knowledge" about refugees, including a highly recommended and recently published ethnographic study by Derya Ozkul and Rita Jarrous (2021) on the agency of refugees as they navigate UNHCR's bureaucracy through rumors as a form of collective interpretive labor. 

Publications from the RefMig project have also been included in syllabuses taught in universities around the world. The above article has been included in the syllabus of in syllabuses of the module titled ‘Refugees, Humanitarian Assistance and Resettlement’ taught by Professor Rey Koslowski at the University of Albany. The article ‘Recognising refugees: understanding the real routes to recognition’, which was published in Forced Migration Review by Cathryn Costello, Caroline Nalule and Derya Ozkul has been included in syllabuses of the above module as well as that of ‘The Politics of Displacement and Refuge’ taught by Dr Stephanie Schwartz at the London School of Economics.