Forced Migration Unit

Our interdisciplinary work focuses on key themes in contemporary forced migration research, policy and practice. It engages with civil society, international scholars and practitioners, advocates and governments to understand forced migration, and propose alternative solutions to the challenges it engenders.

Forced Migration

Political, environmental and legal developments over the past couple of decades have triggered policy changes which pose a threat to the very meaning of international protection in international law. A common feature of these policy changes is a trend towards the externalisation of migration, exemplified by the offshoring of asylum processing and detention by Australia, the implementation of the European Agenda on Migration by the European Union and its Member States, and by recent attempts in the United States to impose a 'travel ban' from certain countries.

The significance of research on forced migration, therefore, continues to increase and so does the need to identify policy approaches that have international protection at their core. Led by Dr Daria Davitti, the Forced Migration Unit benefits from the collaboration with national and international NGOs, experts and practitioners in international, regional and domestic human rights law, development and humanitarian aid, children's rights, political analysts, and critical security studies.

People

The Unit is led by Dr Daria Davitti and benefits from the collaboration with national and international NGOs, experts and practitioners in international, regional and domestic human rights law.

Projects

The research carried out by the Forced Migration Unit looks critically, and from a variety of perspectives, at recent EU measures adopted to implement the European Agenda on Migration.

Publications

The Unit publishes the FMU Policy Briefs Series, which explores the nexus between EU development policies and EU migration policies, and their broader legal and political implications.

HRLC Refugee Clinic

The Clinic was established in February 2020 and works in collaboration with Across Borders and Saint Andrews Refugee Services (StARS). It is the first of its kind in the UK.