Where Are We on Durable Solutions for Irregularized Humanitarian Migrants?

Please click here to register. The webinar takes place on Tuesday, 19 December 2023 from 17.00 until 18.15.

In this webinar, scholars, policy makers and practitioners will take a critical look at various policy responses to irregularized humanitarian migrants who find themselves in the gaps between the narrowing of legal protection and expanded migration law enforcement practices.

On the occasion of the 5th year anniversary of the UN's Global Compact for MigrationOpens external, the International Institute of Social Studies will be hosting the online launch of the newly published Journal of Refugee StudiesOpens external Special Issue entitled  'Irregularized Humanitarian Migrants—Policies, Rationales, and the Search for More Durable Solutions', guest edited by: Dr Zeynep Kaşlı, Dr Marieke van HouteOpens external and Dr Arjen LeerkesOpens external.

The Special Issue revolves around persons who are on the move for various humanitarian reasons including war and a lack of social, economic and political safety and who, due to lack of legal channels, cross state borders without authorization.

The introductory article and each contribution tackles three main questions:

• What policy approaches have been formulated to deal with irregularization of humanitarian migration and what are the outcomes of these different approaches for the migrants concerned, the authorities involved and the wider public, and can these outcomes then be regarded as ‘durable solutions’?
• What rationales (i.e. legal, institutional, economic, cultural, historical) explain these different policy approaches towards irregularized humanitarian migrants?
• How should more ‘durable solutions’ for irregularized humanitarian migrants be imagined and defined?

Overall, the Special Issue takes a closer look at  migration governance across regions in Europe, Africa and the wider Middle East and highlights the fact that similar trends can be observed in a variety of geopolitical and political contexts even though they play out differently in terms of scale, human rights issues and local and historical specificities.

The aim is to draw attention to the increasing irregularization of humanitarian migrants and contribute to current scholarly and policy debates on lasting migrant-centred solutions.

Speakers

• Dr Zeynep Kaşlı, Assistant professor at ISS
• Rossella Marino, PhD researcher at Ghent University
• Xander Creed, PhD researcher at ISS
• Dr M. Jill AlpesOpens external, Senior researcher at Ghent University
• Dr Iraklis DimitriadisOpens external, Research fellow at Universita' Degli Studi di Milano
• Professor Deniz SertOpens external, Professor at Ozyegin University, Istanbul
• Monika SzuleckaOpens external, Researcher at Institute of Law Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Charlotte MohnOpens external, Project officer at the International Organization for Migration
• Theresa SchützeOpens external, Researcher at University for Continuing Education Krems

Commentary by Dr Zeynep Sahin Mencutek