Migration is to be understood broadly, including different forms of mobility ranging from forced migration (refugees), to labour, family and student migration.
Governance
This research focuses on the governance of migration from a multi-level perspective (global, European, national, local). It seeks to contribute to a better understanding of how and why governance strategies at various levels and in different types of organisations respond to mobility and how they interact in multi-level settings.
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Protection
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This topic looks at the protection needs of refugees and migrants, what kind of protection is offered, where and by whom. Despite the safeguards of the international refugee regime and fundamental rights instruments, access to protection is difficult. If legal pathways for migration are absent, mobility becomes a risk for refugees and other migrants. NGOs have been active in the field of protection for decades, alongside IGOs such as the EU, UNHCR and IOM. Protection is found in countries of origin or in neighbouring countries, increasingly in cities. Western countries continue to externalise their policies in cooperation with countries of origin and transit. New protection needs require innovative solutions, cooperation at different levels of government and between the public and private sector.
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Legacies
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Repeatedly politicians, policy makers and journalists claim that current migration (including refugee migration) cannot be compared to those of the past. Also NGOs tend to stress the uniqueness of current migrations. Historical research has proven that there are many more similarities than assumed. Furthermore, policies are strongly characterized by path dependencies: new policies always build on and derive ideas from previous policies.
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Security
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The recent refugee crisis and the threat of terrorist violence have reinforced this linkage of migration and security. Securitisation, risk and crimmigation are different conceptual tools that have been developed to better understand different aspects of that phenomenon. The term crimmigration was introduced into academic debates to describe the blurring between criminal law and immigration law as a result of the criminalization of (aspects of) migration, and the use of immigration law to deal with crime and public safety issues.