Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 2

Reports:

Asylum and Forced Displacement in the EU Enlargement Process: Contributions to inform the European Commission 2026 Enlargement Package in the area of asylum (ECRE, June 2026) [text]

A common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the European Union (European Parliament, June 2026) [text]

Country Reports (AIDA, June-July 2026)

- Updated profiles are available for Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Romania.

Criminalising Asylum in Ireland: Prosecuting Asylum-Seekers without a Valid Passport or Equivalent Document (Irish Refugee Council & Maynooth University, May 2026) [text via Refworld]

UNHCR recommendations to the Dutch Government (UNHCR, June 2026) [text]

Journal articles:

"'Access Gaps as Drivers of Vulnerability'—Access to social services for refugees through the lens of vulnerability: An intersectional analysis in Türkiye," British Journal of Social Work, Advance Articles, 24 June 2026 [open access]

"Alternatives to Return: An Ideal-Typical Categorization of State Responses to Non-Repatriated Irregular Migrants," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Latest Articles, 24 June 2026 [open access]

"Rebuilding home on 'hot ground': spiritual obligation and the decision to return to Srebrenica," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Articles, 13 June 2026 [open access]

"The role of medical evidence certifying PTSD for legal outcomes in Swedish asylum cases 2016–2020," Social Science & Medicine, vol. 404 (Sept. 2026) [open access]

"A spatial analysis of secondary movements and desertification in EU asylum governance," Territory, Politics, Governance, Latest Articles, 25 June 2026 [open access]

Related post:

- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1 (2 July 2026)

Thematic Focus: Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

Short pieces:

There is something wrong with the asylum process for LGBTQ+ people – but it’s not fake claimants (The Conversation, April 2026) [text]

- Focuses on the UK.

UNHCR: Reaffirming protection for LGBTIQ+ refugees (UNHCR, May 2026) [text]

Reports & journal articles:

"'Already emancipated'? Queer refugee women in the Netherlands, dirty labor and the paradox of respectability," Chapter in Feminist and Queer Imaginaries of Hope in a Turbulent Era (Edward Elgar, April 2026) [open access]

"Frozen Identity: How Rigid Conceptions of Sexuality Endanger Lesbian Asylum Claims," Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy, vol. 21, no. 2 (2026) [full-text]

- Focuses on the US.

"Governing Legibility: Recognition, Protection, and Mental Health Among LGBTIQ+ Asylum Seekers in the United Kingdom and Lebanon," Sexuality Research and Social Policy, Latest Articles, 18 April 2026 [open access]

"Migrations LGBT+ vers la France : appropriations et négociations des catégories migratoires," Lien social et Politiques, no. 95 (2025; posted April 2026) [open access]

"Queer refugees in times of Dutch homonationalism, the dangerous straight male refugee and the limits of safety," Politics, Groups, and Identities, Latest Articles, 24 April 2026 [open access]

Restrictive Immigration: The Reduction of Support Provisions for Vulnerable Asylum Seekers, MOBILE Working Paper, no. 93 (April 2026) [text]

- "The paper builds on contemporary literature of queer migration and Nordic asylum models, with a particular focus on Denmark."

"'Working the Pages': Entrepreneurship Strategies of Venezuelan Trans Women Refugees Who Enter Sex Work in Brazil During COVID-19," Gender, Work & Organization, Early View, 29 April 2026 [open access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity (27 March 2026)

Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 2

New open access book:

Refugees and Citizens in Twentieth-Century East Central Europe: An Unlikely Refuge? (Central European University Press, May 2026) [open access]

- "Visited by violence and wars, border changes and political instability, authoritarian and totalitarian regimes as well as ethnic conflict, cleansing, and genocide, East-Central Europe in the twentieth century seemed an unlikely place of protection for refugees. This volume challenges this widespread view and explores a variety of forms of refugee protection, humanitarianism, and refugee agency in settings beyond the perceived stability of “Western” liberal democracies. Analyzing Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, and Yugoslavia over the twentieth century, the contributors provide a multi-faceted picture of refugee reception and aid, or its absence, across very different political regimes."

Journal articles:

"'The blonde girl of Moria': racialized humanitarianism and refugee deservingness in German media," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Latest Articles, 26 May 2026 [open access]

"An Endogenous ‘Refugee Crisis’: Exploring Frame Drain and Emerging Conflicts in Migration Politics," JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, Early View, 21 May 2026 [open access]

"Fair play? Hostile environments and everyday immigration ethics," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Latest Articles, 25 May 2026 [open access]

- Focuses on the UK.

"Multilevel governance and local housing innovations for refugees: Implementation of three municipal pilot initiatives in France, Spain, and Sweden," Cities, vol. 175 (Aug. 2026) [open access]

"Opening the Box of Quitting Volunteering in Refugee Aid Organizations," VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, vol. 26, no. 6 (Dec. 2025) [full-text via Erasmus Univ. IR]

- Focuses on The Netherlands.

"Reconfiguring European Union Migration Governance: From Technocratic Policy Harmonisation to Transactional Diplomacy Under the 2024 Pact on Migration and Asylum," JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, Early View, 17 May 2026 [open access]

Related post:

- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1 (14 May 2026)

Thematic Focus: Statelessness & Nationality - Pt. 2

Journal articles:

"Birthright Citizenship Re-Examined," Notre Dame Law Review, vol. 102 (Forthcoming, 2026) [preprint]

- Focuses on the US.

"Élévation du niveau de la mer et apatridie climatique, l’immatérialité d’un statut et sa protection juridique," Revue des Droits de l'Homme, no. 29 (2026) [open access]

"Estándares de derechos humanos aplicables a las personas en riesgo o situación de apatridia y la responsabilidad internacional  del Estado: el caso colombiano," Revista Derecho del Estado, no. 64 (2026) [open access]

"Exploring UK Public Attitudes Towards Stateless People: A Network Analysis," Social Policy and Society, FirstView, 3 Dec. 2025 [open access]

"Inhabitants of another world: refugees, humanitarians and emotions in the Suwałki no man’s land," East European Jewish Affairs, Latest Articles, 24 Feb. 2026 [open access]

- "The article argues that no man’s land cannot be fully understood using the conceptual toolbox of the territorial nation-state and examines how stateless spaces formed around the refugees and in interaction with other actors, such as soldiers and humanitarian workers."

"Litigating Birthright Citizenship in the Shadow of World War II: The Continuing Relevance of a Forgotten Case," Michigan Journal of Race & Law, vol. 31 (Forthcoming) [preprint]

- Focuses on the US.

"Récits de la construction d’une machine jurisprudentielle: les conclusions des rapporteurs publics dans le contentieux de la déchéance de nationalité," Revue des Droits de l'Homme, no. 29 (2026) [open access]

- Focuses on France.

Statelessness & Citizenship Review, vol. 7, no. 2 (2025) [open access]

- Mix of articles focusing variously on Taiwan, Haiti, Germany, Italy and India.

"Statelessness and mental health experiences of Kuwaiti Bidoon people living in the UK: An interpretative phenomenological analysis," PLOS Mental Health 3(2): e0000441 (Feb. 2026) [open access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Statelessness & Nationality - Pt. 1 (6 March 2026) 

Thematic Focus: Solutions - Pt. 1

Short pieces:

A Challenge Becoming an Opportunity: The Venezuelan Diaspora’s Journey to Social Integration (Immigration Lab Blog, Feb. 2026) [text]

- Focuses on Peru.

In Newly Released Memo, DHS Claims Authority to Detain Refugees Who Have Not Applied for Green Cards After a Year (IRAP, Feb. 2026) [text]

- Focuses on the US. See also info on a related lawsuit; scroll down to see additional resources.

The Welcoming of Migrants: A Continuum from the Local to the International (SciencesPo, Feb. 2026) [text]

- Interview with authors of a recent book, Des localités pour accueillir. Migrants dans les villes et villages de France et d’ailleurs (Le Bord de l'Eau, 2025).

Reports:

*2025 Afghan Returns: One Year Recap (UNHCR, Feb. 2026) [text]

Designing legal pathways into Sweden: opportunities, challenges and added value (Delmi, Feb. 2026) [access]

- Follow link for report and brief.

From 'refugee' to 'New Arrival': The Challenges Faced by Repatriated Somali Refugees Returning to Dadaab, Refugee-led Research Working Paper, no. 8 (Refugee Studies Centre, Aug. 2025) [access]

- Scroll down to access report and executive summary.

Measuring Progress Towards Durable Solutions in Ukraine (International Organization for Migration, Feb. 2026) [text via ReliefWeb]

Multiculturalism in Focus – Migrants’ Sense of Belonging Study 2025 (Scanlon Foundation Research Institute, 2026) [text]

- Focuses on Australia. See also related SBS article.

Ukrainian displaced people's inclusion in Europe (Stockholm School of Economics Riga & Robert Bosch Stiftung, Feb. 2026) [text]

*UPDATED

Related posts:

- Thematic Focus: Solutions - Pt. 1 (30 Jan. 2026)

- Thematic Focus: Solutions - Pt. 2 (30 Jan. 2026)

Thematic Focus: Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

Opportunity:

CFP/Call for registration: LGBTQ+ refugees in the welfare state: Research, policy and practitioners in dialogue, Uppsala, 21-22 May 2026 [info]

- Submit abstracts by 25 March 2026. Registration opens 30 March 2026.

Short pieces:

Fighting to Be Felt: Reimagining Feminist Protection Through the Lives of Trans Syrian Refugee Sex Workers in Lebanon (RLI Blog, Feb. 2026) [text]

On the limits and harms of LGBTQ+ asylum models: new book Queering UK Refugee Law (Border Criminologies Blog, Feb. 2026) [text]

Senegalese LGBTQ+ Migration (Immigration Lab Blog, Jan. 2026) [text]

- Focuses on France.

Silence: The Shirika Plan’s Impact on LGBTQIA+ Refugees in Kenya (Immigration Lab Blog, Jan. 2026) [text]

Reports & journal articles:

"Ambivalent intersectional solidarity: Berlin’s LGBTIQ+ civil society alliances during the war in Ukraine," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Articles, 3 Feb. 2026 [open access]

"Flipping the Lens: Using Instagram for Photovoice and Videovoice with LGBTQ+ Migrants in São Paulo," Qualitative Inquiry, OnlineFirst, 5 Feb. 2026 [open access]

"'I feel like I am losing myself': protection, ontological in/security, and queer/trans refugees in Turkey," Security Dialogue, Advance Articles, 6 Jan. 2026 [open access] 

"An LGBTQI+ child rights-based approach to eligibility for international protection," International Journal of Refugee Law, Advance Articles, 15 Jan. 2026 [open access] 

"Putting People in Boxes: Iranian Exiles and Queer Identities," Sexuality & Culture, vol. 30, no. 1 (Feb. 2026) [open access]

- Focuses on "queer Iranians in exile in Turkey, the UK and Canada." See also related project website and research brief.

"Using Creative Arts-Based Methodology to Build Solidarity Between LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ Refugees living in London," Displaced Voices: A Journal of Migration, Archives and Cultural Heritage, vol. 4 (Autumn 2025) [open access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity (17 Dec. 2025)

Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 2 (UK)

Short pieces:

Asylum Discourse in the Media (and Beyond) (RLI Blog, Dec. 2025) [text]

Invisibility, Impartiality and Inconsistency in Interpreter-Mediated Asylum Interviews (RLI Blog, Dec. 2025) [text]

Temporary protection: the UK’s new policies on asylum and returns (Migration Observatory, Dec. 2025) [text]

Why some minds change on Immigration — and others don’t (MPC Blog, Dec. 2025) [text]

Wicked indeed for good: the latest UK asylum policy proposals (RLI Blog, Dec. 2025) [text]

Reports & journal articles:

Navigating Statutory Homelessness Support: Impacts of Asylum and Refugee Policy (Y-Pern, Nov. 2025) [access]

Public Understanding and Attitudes to Irregular Migration in the UK (Univ. of Birmingham, Dec. 2025 [access]

Systems-wide evaluation of homelessness and rough sleeping: Interaction with the asylum system (UK Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, Dec. 2025) [text]

"You can't stay but you can't go": State violence at the UK-France border (Humans for Rights Network, Dec. 2025) [text via EIN]

Journal articles:

"Interpreters in UK Asylum Appeals: Evidence and Impact," International Journal for the Semiotics of Law = Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, Latest Articles, 8 Dec. 2025 [open access]

"Perceived credibility of asylum claimants: the role of decision-maker affect and asylum seeker’s emotions," Psychology, Crime & Law, Latest Articles, 5 Dec. 2025 [open access]

Related post:

- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1 (18 Dec. 2025)

Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1

Short pieces:

Bridging the Gaps: Albania takes steps to improve access to documentation for refugees, with support from UNHCR under the EU4Migration Project (UNHCR, Dec. 2025) [text]

Germany’s plan to deport Syrian refugees echoes 1980s effort to repatriate Turkish guest workers (The Conversation, Dec. 2025) [text]

Justice and Home Affairs Ministers agree position on key migration laws and security policies (European Commission, Dec. 2025) [text]

- See also related ECRE editorial.

What makes people welcome or reject refugees? What research in Germany reveals (The Conversation, Dec. 2025) [text]

**For much more news and info on the latest developments, check out the ECRE Weekly Bulletin.**

Reports:

ECRE Comments on the Qualification Regulation (EU) 2024/1347 (ECRE, Dec. 2025) [text]

To Leave or Stay? Examining the Role of Counseling and Reintegration Assistance in the Return Decision-Making of Migrants Ordered to Leave the Netherlands (Migration Policy Institute, Dec. 2025) [text]

Union support for asylum, migration and integration (European Parliament, Dec. 2025) [text]

"You can't stay but you can't go": State violence at the UK-France border (Humans for Rights Network, Dec. 2025) [text via EIN]

Journal articles:

"Just Like Us? 'Sameing' Ukrainian Refugee Migration," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Latest Articles, 11 Dec. 2025 [open access]

- Focuses on Germany.

"'Migrant data can never be accurate': studying migration and borders through the notion of data quality," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Latest Articles, 10 Dec. 2025 [open access]

- Focuses on Greece.

"One century, two refugee crises in Greece: de-nationalising the past/de-naturalising the present," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Latest Articles, 9 Dec. 2025 [open access]

Related post:

- Regional Focus: Europe (5 Dec. 2025)

Thematic Focus: Statelessness & Nationality

Opportunity:

Call for input: Draft Global Recommendations on Nationality and Statelessness in the Context of Climate Change [info]

- Submit comments by 15 December 2025. See also related webinar recording.

Short pieces:

Building Power Through Collective Action: Reflecting on our Statelessness & Innovation Conference (ENS Blog, Nov. 2025) [text]

Corruption and Statelessness in Sabah: How ‘Deportability’ Becomes a Commodity (LSE South East Asia Blog, Nov. 2025) [text]

An exceptional situation of exile: Kurdish stateless diaspora a decade after the long summer of migration (FluchtforschungsBlog, June 2025) [text]

Harnessing pro bono collaboration: reflections on the PILnet Global Forum and new ways to address statelessness through the law (ENS Blog, Nov. 2025) [text]

Las nubes que amenazan el soleado panorama de la apatridia en España (ENS Blog, Dec. 2025) [text]

- Also in English.

The Stateless Within: Citizenship, Exclusion and the Internal Borders of India’s Refugee Regime (RLI Blog, Nov. 2025) [text]

Statelessness in Sweden: 10 Facts with Recommendations from UNHCR (Refworld, Dec. 2025) [text]

Status of Stateless Fighters in International Humanitarian Law: An Overlooked Legal Dilemma (Opinio Juris Blog, Nov. 2025) [text]

Supreme Court’s decision on birthright citizenship will depend on its interpretation of one key phrase (The Conversation, Dec. 2025) [text]

- Focuses on the US.

*Check out the Institute for Statelessness & Inclusion's Monthly Bulletins for more news and publications.*

Reports & journal articles:

"Climate Change, Statelessness, and Digital Sovereignty: Safeguarding Island Nationhood," Kent Law Review, vol. 10, no. 1 (2025) [open access]

- Focuses on Tuvalu.

"Ius soli under siege: a comparative analysis of France and the United States," Comparative Migration Studies, 13:84 (Nov. 2025) [open access]

Stripped: The Citizenship Divide (Runnymede Trust & Reprieve, Dec. 2025) [access]

- Focuses on the UK.

"Toward a Neoliberal Regime of Belonging?: Rethinking Contemporary Statelessness Governance in Thailand," International Migration Review, OnlineFirst, 14 Nov. 2025 [open access]

Related posts:

- Thematic Focus: Statelessness & Nationality - Pt. 1 (3 Nov. 2025)

- Thematic Focus: Statelessness & Nationality - Pt. 2 (3 Nov. 2025)

Regional Focus: Europe

Short pieces:

10 years of EU-funded migration research: shaping the future of Europe through evidence-driven policy (European Commission, Nov. 2025) [text]

"Moldova Shoulders Disproportionately Large Ukrainian Population, in the Shadow of the European Union and Russia," Migration Information Source, 4 Dec. 2025 [text]

On the perils of the ‘Danish model’ (Border Criminologies Blog, Dec. 2025) [text]

S.S. and Others V. Italy: When the ECtHR Chose Borders Over Rights (RLI Blog, Nov. 2025) [text]

The UK government’s latest policy approach to asylum and returns: will it work, and at what expense? (RLI Blog, Dec. 2025) [text]

- See also related posts on IPPR and the LSE British Politics and Policy Blog.

**For much more news and info on the latest developments, check out the ECRE Weekly Bulletin.**

New open access book:

Humanitarian Mobilization in Central and Eastern Europe: Local, National and International Perspectives (Manchester Univ. Press, Nov. 2025) [open access]

- "This book explores actors, practices and meanings of humanitarianism in Central and Eastern Europe during the twentieth century. It brings together a diverse group of scholars who offer a cutting-edge perspective on how wars and conflict, state-building processes, nationalist activism and policies, socialist politics or regime changes influenced the emergence and trajectories of humanitarian aid. It examines how international ideas and discourses about humanitarian aid have shaped its practices in the region. It also highlights the agency of aid recipients and looks at how policymakers and experts in the region co-produced paths of humanitarian aid giving. Lastly, it analyses the emergence, development and effects of local humanitarian initiatives; thus, it challenges unidirectional narratives of international and Western-centric humanitarianism."

Journal articles:

"Applying Classical Migration Theories to Forced Displacement: The Case of Displaced Ukrainians in Berlin, Warsaw, and Budapest," KZfSS Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, Latest Articles, 28 Nov. 2025 [open access]

"Asylum as Artifice: Race, Law and Capital as Regimes of Abstraction in the United Kingdom's Asylum Accommodation System," Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Early View, 19 Nov. 2025 [open access]

"Beyond refugee camps: housing solutions for war refugees from Ukraine in Poland," Crime, Law and Social Change, vol. 83, no. 1 (Dec. 2025) [open access]

"The Constitutionality of the Italy–Albania Protocol of November 2023," Nordic Journal of Migration Research, vol. 16, no. 1 (2026) [open access]

"Credibility assessment of religion-based asylum claims from a comparative perspective," Freedom, Security & Justice: European Legal Studies, no. 3 (2025) [open access]

"Facilitating research participation through a research navigator programme: researchers’ insights from a project with asylum seekers and refugees," Conflict and Health, 19:88 (Dec. 2025) [open access]

- Focuses on Sweden.

"Intergroup Contact with Refugees Shapes Levels of Social Fear of Crime," European Journal of Social Psychology, Early View, 18 Nov. 2025 [open access]

- Focuses on Germany.

"Let Me Move: A Legal Analysis of Residence Restrictions on Asylum-Seekers in Ceuta, Melilla and the Canary Islands," Social & Legal Studies, vol. 34, no. 3 (2025) [postprint]

"Migrant Reception Centres and Coercive Social Control: Rule by Legal Uncertainty?," Social & Legal Studies, vol. 34, no. 3 (2025) [open access]

- Focuses on Spain.

"Selective Humanitarianism in Asylum Policies: Yezidi Refugees in Germany and France," Nationalities Papers, FirstView, 26 Nov. 2025 [open access]

Related posts:

- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1 (23 Nov. 2025)

- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 2 (23 Nov. 2025)

Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1

Short pieces:

Commission launches first Annual Migration Management Cycle under the Pact on Migration and Asylum (European Commission, Nov. 2025) [access]

- The text of the first European Annual Asylum and Migration Report can be accessed below. See also a related At a Glance from the European Parliament and a summary in this week's ECRE Weekly Bulletin. 

How to design an independent asylum appeal body (LSE British Politics and Policy Blog, Nov. 2025) [text]

Migration Crisis or Crisis of Migration Management? Syrian Refugees’ Rights in the EU and Türkiye (RLI Blog, Nov. 2025) [text]

“They treat us like criminals”: racism at the France-UK border (Free Movement Blog, Nov. 2025) [text]

**For much more news and info on the latest developments, check out the ECRE Weekly Bulletin.**

Reports & book chapters:

Asylum policy in Denmark (UK House of Commons Library, Nov. 2025) [text]

European Annual Asylum and Migration Report (European Commission, Nov. 2025) [access]

Practical Guide on the Audio Recording of Personal Interviews (EU Agency for Asylum, Oct. 2025) [text]

"Silver Linings of the EU Migration Pact: Progressive Elements and Binding Solidarity," Chapter in Challenges of European Refugee and Asylum Law and Policy (Oxford Univ. Press, Forthcoming 2026) [preprint]

Towards a point of no return for fundamental rights? The EC’s proposal for a Return Regulation, Policy Note, no. 50 (ECRE, Nov. 2025) [text]

- ECRE will hold a related online briefing on 24 November 2025. Register by 20 November 2025.

Journal articles (regional-level):

Berlin Geographical Papers, vol. 56 (2025) [open access]

- Thematic issue on "Geographies of the European Border Regime: How borders shape the everyday lives of refugees and asylum-seekers."

"Externally driven integration in EU migration policy: enabling integration through indifference, undermining it through conflictive politicisation," Journal of European Public Policy, Latest Articles, 22 Oct. 2025 [open access]

"The Intra-EU Relocation Scheme of 2015: A Test Run for a Dublin Reform," International Migration, vol. 63, no. 6 (Nov. 2025) [open access]

"Restrictive, liberal, selective or universal? A cross-national analysis of European countries’ policy response to forced migrants from Ukraine," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Latest Articles, 6 Nov. 2025 [free full-text]

-  Introduction to not-yet-published special issue.

Related posts:

- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1 (31 Oct. 2025)

- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 2 (31 Oct. 2025)

Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1

Opportunity:

Panel discussion: Realising Solidarity under the Pact: From Theory to Practice, Brussels, 27 October 2025 [info]

Short pieces:

The Agreement Between the UK and France on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys (Opinio Juris, Oct. 2025) [text]

The Collapse of Mutual Trust in EU Asylum Governance (RLI Blog, Oct. 2025) [text]

Italy's Borders Immigration Paradox: Rising Numbers, Falling Crime, and the Reality of Exploitation (Border Criminologies Blog, Sept. 2025) [text]

Proceed with Caution: Legal Counselling in the New EU Migration and Asylum Pact and Notes from the Greek Experience (RLI Blog, Oct. 2025) [text]

''Return, or prison': Inside IOM and Greece’s failing migrant return scheme," The New Humanitarian, 7 Oct. 2025 [text]

**For much more news and info on the latest developments, check out the ECRE Weekly Bulletin.**

New open access book:

Refugee Protection Crises and Transit Europe: Immediate Responses, Selective Memory, and the Self-Serving Politics of Diversity (Springer, Aug. 2025) [open access]

- "This open-access book presents a socio-legal analysis of immediate responses to large-scale refugee displacement in Europe after the 1951 Refugee Convention came into force, focusing on the countries to which refugees initially fled or through which they passed (namely Austria and, initially, Yugoslavia, followed by several of the former Yugoslav countries). First, it investigates the immediate responses to refugee movements following the suppression of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution by Soviet troops. Second, it examines the responses to individuals seeking asylum after being displaced during the post-Yugoslav wars of the 1990s. Third, it analyses the responses of the same countries to refugees fleeing Global South countries (predominantly Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan) in 2015 and 2016. Finally, it explores how these countries responded to the mass displacement of refugees from Ukraine. The book argues that these countries have positioned themselves as 'transit' or temporary protection countries in order to avoid assuming long-term responsibility for a larger number of refugees. As a consequence, they granted various forms of temporary legal status to refugees that differed from the refugee status defined in the 1951 Refugee Convention. These legal statuses were hierarchical (in terms of the rights attached to them) and racialized, with the fewest rights granted to refugees from the Global South and other negatively racialized groups."

Reports & book chapters:

Crisis-Induced Changes in Migration Laws and Policies: Investigating the Impact of Crises on Migrant Workers and Forced Migrants in Poland, Working Paper, no. 39 (NCCR on the Move, July 2025) [text]

"Intertwining Criminal Justice and Immigration Control in the EU: Theoretical, Interdisciplinary, and Practical Perspectives," Introductory chapter in Intertwining Criminal Justice and Immigration Control in the EU (Routledge, Sept. 2025) [preprint]

Reconsidering ‘Home’: Aspirations and Intentions of Syrians in the Netherlands in the Context of Syrian Political Transition (International Organization for Migration, Oct. 2025) [text via ReliefWeb]

Related posts:

- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1 (30 Sept. 2025)

- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 2 (30 Sept. 2025)

Thematic Focus: Detention - Pt. 2 (Other Countries)

Short pieces:

12 years on, Australia’s cruel offshore detention policies continue to leave refugees in limbo with no hope for the future (Amnesty International, July 2025) [text]

Deportations to Eswatini Reflect Unprecedented Expansion of U.S Detention Regime (Immigration Detention Monitor, July 2025) [text]

Dispatch from Guatemala: Five Alarming Trends in US Immigration Detention and Removal (WRC Blog, Aug. 2025) [text]

*Immigration Detention Ends in Provincial Jails Across Canada (Human Rights Watch, Sept. 2025) [text] 

*South Sudan: End four deportees’ arbitrary detention (Amnesty International, Sept. 2025) [text]

Sri Lanka: Detainees Decry Poor Conditions and Indefinite Detention in Welisara Detention Centre (Immigration Detention Monitor, Sept. 2025) [text]

View from The Hill: Albanese government resorts to whatever-it-takes to rid Australia of former detainees (The Conversation, Aug. 2025) [text]

Publications:

Accessing legal advice in detention: becoming an impossibility (Jesuit Refugee Service, July 2025) [text via EIN]

- Focuses on the UK.

From Surveillance to Empowerment: Advancing the Responsible Use of Technology in Alternatives to Detention (Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, Refugee Law Lab & International Detention Coalition, Sept. 2025) [access]

- See also video of the report launch.

"'Hell before our very eyes': what makes a concentration camp?," Journal of Conflict Archaeology, vol. 20, no. 3 (2025) [open access]

"Immigration detention of children: a systematic review and meta-analysis of physical and mental health impacts," European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Latest Articles, 27 Aug. 2025 [open access]

A Legal Guide for People in Detention Facing Removal to France (BiD, Aug. 2025) [text via EIN]

- Focuses on the UK.

Medical Justice Annual Review: The state of healthcare and harm in UK immigration detention in 2024 (Medical Justice, July 2025) [text via EIN]

"Non-Care in the Detention Hotel: 20 Years of Australia’s Use of ‘Alternative Places of Detention’," Chapter in Refugee Reception and Camps: Local and Global Perspectives (Bristol Univ. Press, 2025) [open access]

*UPDATED

Related posts:

- Thematic Focus: Detention - Pt. 1 (United States) (23 Sept. 2025)

Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1

Short pieces:

As protesters and politicians call for the closure of asylum hotels, what are the alternatives? (The Conversation, Aug. 2025) [text]

"EU court rules against Italy on Albania migrant camps scheme," Reuters, 1 Aug. 2025 [text]

- See also related Amnesty International news release.

France grants asylum to a Gazan mother and her son in landmark ruling (InfoMigrants, July 2025) [text]

"Portugal's top court blocks bill restricting immigration," Reuters, 9 Aug. 2025 [text]

Reports: 

Country Reports (AIDA, July & Aug. 2025) 

- See updated profiles for Italy and Türkiye.

Data Analysis of Asylum Applications by Sex and Age in 2024, Fact Sheet, no. 35 (EU Agency for Asylum, Aug. 2025) [text]

"I knew nothing would be easy without papers": A glance at undocumented migrants’ access to housing, employment, and healthcare in Brussels and Paris (Mixed Migration Centre, July 2025) [text]

Self-assessment Tool on the Quality of the Asylum Procedure (EU Agency for Asylum, July 2025) [text]

Related post:

- Regional Focus: Europe (25 July 2025)

Thematic Focus: ICTs & Other Technologies - Pt. 2

Journal articles:

"Calibrating AI/d talk: framing perceptions, reframing policy, and deframing knowledge," Journal of International Humanitarian Action, 10:11 (July 2025) [open access]

"Digital Inequality and Resilience in Humanitarian Refugee Organizations," International Journal of Communication, vol. 19 (2025) [open access]

- Focuses on the US.

"The Digital Infrastructures of Illegal Border Crossings: Solidarity Actors and Networks in the Arabic and Persian Speaking Virtual Spheres," Critical Criminology, vol. 33, no. 1 (2025) [open access]

- "While the migration studies literature often focuses on state use of digital technology for border surveillance, its role in facilitating unauthorized crossings is emerging. Through digital ethnography on Arabic- and Persian-speaking virtual platforms where people discuss European border crossings, this paper challenges conventional perspectives on smugglers and solidarity within these networks."

"Digital technologies and migration: behind, beyond and around the black box," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Latest Articles, 8 July 2025 [open access]

- Introductory article to a forthcoming special issue. The seven articles that are included are all open access and available online: "Aspirational place-making and digital practices of refugees in the Netherlands"; "Constructed objectivity in asylum decision-making through new technologies"; "Digital internal bordering: surveillance, data-sharing, and the fate of sanctuary cities"; "Encountering the digital border: smartphone screening in the Dutch asylum procedure"; "Keeping people out of camps: biometric technologies, contested sovereignty, and border practices within humanitarian spaces"; "'Online business does not demand who you are': the case of Congolese refugee YouTubers in Nairobi"; and "Societies of immigration control: the transactional subject of British borders after Brexit." 

"Effectiveness of Interventions to Improve Digital Health Literacy in Forced Migrant Populations: Mixed Methods Systematic Review," Journal of Medical Internet Research, 27:e69880 (June 2025) [open access]

"Migrant Data Extractivism: Tech and Borders at the Limit of Rights," International Migration, vol. 63, no. 4 (Aug. 2025) [open access]

- Focuses on the US.

"Rethinking Mass Influx and Derogation in the Age of AI: The Role of New Technologies in Redefining Crisis, Protection and State Obligations," Refugee Survey Quarterly, Advance Articles, 14 July 2025 [open access]

"Technologies of life-making in the British refugee camps of the Southern Levant," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Articles, 15 July 2025 [open access]

"'Which Data Am I?': The Making of Migrants' Scattered Subjectivities and the Impossibility of Giving an Account of Oneself," International Migration, vol. 63, no. 4 (Aug. 2025) [open access]

- Focuses on the French-Italian border.

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: ICTs & Other Technologies - Pt. 1 (17 July 2025)

Thematic Focus: Gender-related Issues - Pt. 2

Journal articles:

"Bordering, belonging, beyond surviving: Critical readings of intersectionality in the nexus of gender-based violence and migration in Ireland," Irish Journal of Sociology, OnlineFirst, 27 May 2025 [open access]

"Efforts in Mainstreaming Gender into Uganda’s Refugee Settlement Policy Approach," Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Latest Articles, 26 May 2025 [open access]

"Estimating the incidence of induced abortion among women in refugee settings in Ethiopia," Conflict and Health, 19:37 (July 2025) [open access]

"Forced displacement, household composition, and mental health: how gendered family structures relate to adolescent girls’ well-being," BMC Public Health, 25:2066 (June 2025) [open access]

- Focuses on Venezuelans in Colombia.

"In the factory of 'migratory risk': Latin American women in the French air border regime," Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 22 June 2025 [open access]

"Incidence and safety of abortion in two humanitarian settings in Uganda and Kenya: a respondent-driven sampling study," eClinicalMedicine, vol. 83 (May 2025) [open access]

"Insights from Refugee Men as They Navigate Intersecting Settlement Challenges and Renegotiate Gender Identities," Australian Social Work, Latest Articles, 2 June 2025 [open access]

"The Long Arm of the Family: Family Role in Partner Selection Among Male Refugees in Germany," Populations, vol. 1, no. 2 (June 2025) [open access]

- Focuses on Syrian and Afghan refugees.

"Mobility capital formation among forced migrants: experiences of Ukrainian women in Poland," Migration Studies, vol. 13, no. 2 (June 2025) [open access]

"Torture, trauma and posttraumatic symptoms in Syrian women asylum seekers in the Greek border camp of Idomeni," Torture Journal, vol. 35, no. 1 (2025) [open access]

"Vulnerabilities in displacement: Can humanitarianism protect women?," Migration Studies, vol. 13, no. 2 (June 2025) [open access]

Related posts:

- Thematic Focus: Gender-related Issues - Pt. 1 (3 July 2025)

Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 2

New open access book:

Forced Migrants in Nordic Histories (Helsinki Univ. Press, June 2025) [open access]

- "[This book] sheds light on the often-overlooked histories of forced migrants in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden during the 20th and 21st centuries. It offers the first comparative, region-wide volume focused specifically on the histories of refugees and other groups of forced migrants across the Nordic countries. Nordic historiographies have long tended to marginalise or omit the presence of these migrants, producing a perception of forced migration as something ‘new’ or ‘exceptional’. This volume challenges that notion by uncovering the long and varied histories of forced migration within, between, to, and from the Nordic region. In doing so, it repositions forced migrants as integral to the shaping of Nordic societies."

AIDA country reports (June 2025):

Updated profiles for Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and Ukraine.

Journal articles:

"Bordering Asylum: Examining the EU’s Border Procedures under the Asylum Procedures Regulation (EU) 2024/1348," International Journal of Refugee Law, Advance Articles, 17 June 2025 [open access]

"Determinants of refugees’ generalised and institutional trust: evidence from Germany," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Latest Articles, 10 June 2025 [open access]

"Non-exceptional humanitarian spaces: the emergency reception of Ukrainian refugees as contingency planning for domestic mass displacement in Romania," City, Territory and Architecture, Latest Articles, 20 June 2025 [open access]

"Unpolitics, domestic pressures, or else? The opposition of Visegrád Group countries to the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum," Journal of European Integration, Latest Articles, 19 June 2025 [open access]

"Volunteering for Refugees as a Journey of Growth and Pain," Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, vol. 35, no. 4 (July/Aug. 2025) [open access]

Related post:

- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1 (28 June 2025)

Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1

Short pieces:

The CJEU’s Judgment in Kinsa: A Big Win – But for Whom? (RLI Blog, June 2025) [text]

Housing and Property Policies for IDPs: The Evolution of the Ukrainian Case (RID Blog, June 2025) [text]

*Irregular migrants’ rights in Europe: New indicators show protection limits of legal rights (MPC Blog, June 2025) [text]

Migrants and Refugees in Distress at Sea on the Central Mediterranean Route - Malta: You Have to Pick Up the Phone! (Opinio Juris, June 2025) [text]

S.S. and Others v. Italy (EJIL: Talk Blog, June 2025) 

- Read two reactions by members of the applicants' legal counsel team to the recent ECHR ruling, here and here.

*Towards Temporary Prolonged Protection? (EU Immigration & Asylum Law & Policy Blog, June 2025) [text]

**For much more news and info on the latest developments, check out the ECRE Weekly Bulletin.**

Reports:

Analysis of Jurisprudence on the Implementation of the Dublin Procedure, Fact Sheet, no. 33 (EU Agency for Asylum, June 2025) [text]

Asylum Report 2025: Annual Report on the Situation of Asylum in the European Union (EU Agency for Asylum, June 2025) [text]

- See also the executive summary, list of reference sources used, and list of legislative, policy and institutional developments in asylum in 2024.

[ECRE Comments on the Proposal for a Return Regulation] (ECRE, June 2025) [text]

No Access to Justice 2 Mapping the UK's continuing immigration and asylum legal advice crisis (Justice Together, June 2025) [text via EIN]

- See also related Free Movement blog post.

Small Boats, Big Stakes: Options for a UK-EU Deal on Migration and Asylum (Migration Policy Institute, June 2025) [text]

*State of play on the implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum (European Commission, June 2025) [access]

Transitioning out of temporary protection for displaced people from Ukraine (EPRS, June 2025) [text]

- See also related EC article.

UK-France Cooperation on Border Control: Efficacy, Deterrence and Human Rights, RSC Working Paper, no. 142 (Refugee Studies Centre, June 2025) [text]

- See also related Refugee Research Online blog post.

*UPDATED

Related post:

- Regional Focus: Europe (3 June 2025)

Thematic Focus: Gender-related Issues - Pt. 1

Reports:

At a breaking point: The impact of foreign aid cuts on women’s organizations in humanitarian crises worldwide (UN Women, May 2025) [text via ReliefWeb]

Female Genital Mutilation amongst Sudanese Migrants in Greater Cairo: Perceptions and Trends (Equality Now, May 2025) [access]

- Available in English, French and Arabic.

Safety and Survival: How the Work Ban Fuels Violence Against Women Seeking Asylum (Women for Refugee Women, May 2025) [text via EIN]

- Focuses on the UK.

Understanding the wellbeing of displaced women and girls: gender-specific challenges in camps and cities (IIED, May 2025) [text]

- Focuses on refugees in Ethiopia, Jordan and Kenya and IDPs in Afghanistan.

Journal articles:

"Association between partner violence, and the appearance of symptoms of sexually transmitted infections, and reproductive tract infections among Afghan refugee women in Iran: a cross-sectional study," BMC Public Health, 25:1803 (May 2025) [open access]

"Barriers and facilitators to utilization of family planning among married women in Nyabiheke camp, Rwanda," Reproductive Health, 22:83 (May 2025) [open access]

"Equivocal Justice: Migrant and Refugee Survivors of Family Violence and Interactions with the Australian Legal System," Violence Against Women, OnlineFirst, 21 April 2025 [open access]

"The living conditions of Syrian refugee women in Zaatari camp," Discover Global Society, 3:27 (May 2025) [open access]

"Screening for coercive control with refugee women accessing settlement services," BMC Public Health, 25:1701 (May 2025) [open access]

- Focuses on Australia.

Multimedia:

Deconstructing Refugee Women's Empowerment: A Comparative Approach to British and French Aid Structures, 14 May 2025 [access]

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Gender-related Issues (9 May 2025)

Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 2

Journal articles:

"Bureaucratic and benign? The violent continuum of Home Office reporting in the UK," Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, vol. 43, no. 1 (2025) [open access]

European Journal of Migration and Law, vol. 27, no. 1 (2025) [contents]

- Mix of articles, with three that are open access.

"Learning Forced Migration: Guidance for Prospective Jewish Refugees in Nazi Germany," Central European History, FirstView, 13 March 2025 [open access]

"Protection from Indiscriminate Violence in Armed Conflict: The Scope of Subsidiary Protection in the European Union," International Journal of Refugee Law, Advance Articles, 14 March 2025 [open access]

"Safe Third Countries and Safe Countries of Origin: Safety Assessment and Implementation for Refugees Seeking Protection in Greece," QRP: Quarterly on Refugee Problems - AWR Bulletin, vol. 64, no. 1 (2025) [open access]

"Should I stay or should I go? Navigating contradictory temporal logics in the Dutch asylum system," Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Latest Articles, 20 March 2025 [open access]

"The Social Worker as Border Guard: How and Why British Welfare Workers are Disposed to Control Immigration," International Migration Review, OnlineFirst, 11 March 2025 [open access]

"'Stop the boats': populist contagion and migration policymaking in the UK," Ethnic and Racial Studies, Latest Articles, 19 Feb. 2025 [open access]

"'They just left me': people seeking asylum, mental and physical health, and structural violence in the UK’s institutional accommodation," Frontiers in Public Health, 11 March 2025 [open access]

"Vulnerability as a Globally Mobile Policy Concept in Migration Governance: A Comparative Study," International Migration Review, OnlineFirst, 12 March 2025 [open access]

- Draws on case studies in Cádiz (Spain) and Marseille (France).

Multimedia:

Supply Chain Justice: The Logistics of British Border Control, 19 Feb. 2025 [access]

Related post:

- Regional Focus: Europe - Pt. 1 (21 March 2025)