Program

The 2025 IMISCOE Spring Conference will feature keynote speeches, roundtable discussions and academic panels. In addition, these activities will provide a platform for scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and migrants themselves to exchange ideas, share research findings, and engage in meaningful discussions. The conference will also encourage interdisciplinary approaches, inviting scholars and experts from various fields and all social science disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, law, and migration studies.

This conference will be hybrid in nature. This includes online panels on 17 March 2025 and on-site panels on 18 and 19 March 2025. The on-site formats (on-site panels, opening keynotes, roundtables) will allow online participation via Zoom. All participants and attendees are required to register and select the appropriate type of attendance on the registration form.

Monday, 17 March 2025, 09:00-10:30

• Are direct estimates of irregular migration aspirations biased? Evidence from a double list experiment in Ethiopia | Eduardo Acostamadiedo (University of Potsdam)
   
• Selection into irregular migration in West Africa | Jasper Tjaden, Eduardo Acostamadiedo (both: University of Potsdam), Oumarou Hebie (International Organisation for Migration)
   
• Japa Syndrome: Narratives of Youths in Southwest Nigeria on migration by hook or by crook | Olusola Ayandel (University of Ibadan)
   
• Routinising the exemption: Administrative encounters and lived experiences of protracted deportation suspension in Germany | Stephanie Schneider (University of Siegen)
   
• Multilayered Inclusion? Marital experiences of Middle Eastern and South Asian migrants in Morocco | Judith van Uden (Leiden University)

Monday, 17 March 2025, 09:00-10:30

• Beyond the Politics of Bordering: Environmental Injustice and the Mobilities of Bangladeshi Women to India | Mrittika Bhattacharya (University of Bristol)
   
• From Forced Migration to Poetic Voice: Iranian Queer Narratives Across Borders | Nilofar Shidmehr (Simon Fraser University)
   
• When I Became a Migrant: Bureaucratic Categories and Self-Identification of Latin American People on the Move | Monica Salmon Gomez (The New School for Social Research)
   
• Becoming “black” in Europe. Refugee racialization processes in the Greek border camps | Eleftheria/ Elith Koutsioumpa (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Centre Marc Bloch)

Monday, 17 March 2025, 11:00-12:30

Session Chair: Robin Vandevoordt (Ghent University)
Discussant: Thomas Swerts (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
 

• Piloting Sanctuary? Negotiating inclusive policies towards illegalised migrants in Ghent, Belgium | Soline Ballet (Ghent University)
   
• From Street to Shelter: Local Citizen-Led Advocacy in Brussels and Northern France Amid National Asylum Reception Crises | Marlies Leen Casier (Ghent University)
   
• Governing the Unsettled: A Critical Inquiry into Ghent’s Post-Mobile Project for Roma Migrants | Sophie Lindiwe Samyn (Ghent University)
   
• Differential Inclusion and the “Right to Stay”: A Diachronic Analysis of Reception Policies for Illegalised Migrants in Ventimiglia (Italy) and Amsterdam (The Netherlands) | Silvia Aru (Università di Torino)

Monday, 17 March 2025, 11:00-12:30

Session Chair: Bastian Vollmer (Catholic University of Applied Sciences Mainz)
 

• Public Preferences for Policies vis-à-vis Irregular Migrants in Europe | Anton Ahlén, Lutz Gschwind, Joakim Palme (all: Uppsala University); Martin Ruhs (European University Institute/ Migration Policy Centre)
• Discourses about irregularised migrants in Germany: representation and narratives in media, politics, and civil society | Markus Rheindorf Markus, Bastian Vollmer (both: Catholic University of Applied Sciences Mainz)
   
• Narratives and perceptions on migrants’ irregularisation in post-Brexit Britain | Nando Sigona, Laurence Lessard-Phillips, Stefano Piemontese (all: University of Birmingham)

Monday, 17 March 2025, 13:30-15:00

Session Chair: Tesseltje Lange (Radboud Universiteit)
 

• The Portuguese approach to regularisation of immigrants and its recent changes | Sofia Oliveir (University of Minho)
   
• The Spanish agricultural sector migration scheme and the risks for serious violation of human rights | Giovanna Leuzzi (University of Barcelona)
   
• Reframing Labour Exploitation in Italy’s Agricultural Sector: a Political Issue Rooted in Systemic Condition | Salomè Archain (University of Florence)
   
• Title tba | Dévika Pérez (Universitat de Barcelona)

Monday, 17 March 2025, 13:30-15:00

Session Chair: Zeynep Sahin Mencutek (Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies)
 

• Types and dynamics of intergovernmental return/readmission cooperation: a conceptual and empirical investigation | Sandra Lavenex, Frowin Rausi (both: University of Geneva)

• Enhancing Cooperation in EU Readmission Agreements: A Legitimacy-Based Approach | Ana Maria Torres Chedraui, Arjen Leerkes (both: Erasmus University Rotterdam)

• Understanding the International Politics of Return Diplomacy via Qualitative Comparative Analysis Method | Gerasimos Tsourapas, Samet Apaydın (both: University of Glasgow; Zeynep Sahin Mencutek (Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies)

• Procedures of irregularisation in Greece: spatial, carceral and temporal aspects | Eva Papatzani¹, Panos Hatziprokopiou^1,2, George Kandylis¹, Penny Koutrolikou^3,
  
  1 National Centre for Social Research, Greece; 2 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; 3 National Technical University of Athens

• Changing Norms in EU Return Policy? An analysis of EU documents over five decades | Paula Hoffmeyer-Zlotnik (University of Cologne), Philipp Stutz (Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Monday, 17 March 2025, 15:15-16:45

Session Chair: Luisa Feline Freier (Universidad del Pacifico)

• Forced and Voluntary Immobility & Migrant Decision-Making in Colombia and Ethiopia | Luisa Feline Freier (Universidad del Pacifico), Abebaw Minaye (Addis Ababa University)

• Exit, Voice, or Vocal Exit? Authoritarianism, Mass Displacement, and (Im)mobility in Venezuela | Matthew Bird, Marta Castro (both: Universidad del Pacífico)

• Migrant Decision-Making and Irregular Migration Routes through Mexico | Hiram A. Angel, Rosario Edith Mendoza Cida (both: Universidad de Guadalajara)

• (Ir)regular Migrants in Morocco: a Relational Approach to Migrants’ Decision Making | Myriam Cherti (Compas, Oxford University), Norman Sempijja (University Mohammed VI Polytechnic) 

Monday, 17 March 2025, 15:15-16:45
 

• So Many Paths: Exploring the role of citizenship in mobility in South America | Andrea Jiménez Laurenc (University of Copenhagen)
   
• Explaining the Mexican Dream: Naturalization trends in Mexico | Henio Hoyo (CIDE)
   
• The Documenting State: Governing Irregular Immigration through a Rights-based Approach | Andres Sebastian Besserer Rayas (The Graduate Center, CUNY)
   
• From migrants to dual citizens, a possible new group of the electorate: How Germany's new citizenship law could change Turkish political participation | Inci Öykü Yener-Roderburg (University of Cologne)
   
• Struggles Over Regularization for Undocumented Residents in Canada: A Critical Policy Discourse Analysis | Kushan Azadah, John Carlaw (both: Toronto Metropolitan University)

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 11:00-12:30

• From the Local to the Global: Racism, Colonialism and The Making of Migrant Illegality in Germany | Sabrina Axster (Cornell University)

• Protracted Displacement and Secondary Movement Histories of recently arrived Syrian Refugees in Austria |
  Sophie Reichelt¹, Judith Kohlenberger^1,2, Kotayba Kadri¹

  1 Austrian Institute for International Affairs; 2 Institute for Social Policy, Vienna University of Economics and Business 

• Development as White Borders: The case of the USAID ‘Root Causes Strategy’ | Leah Durst-Lee (University of Coimbra)

• Unity in Victory, Division in Departure: Nationalism and Illegal Migration in Post-Colonial Morocco | Farouk El Maarouf (Justus Liebig University, Tofail University)

• Exclusion, bordering, and presencing: exploring refugees’ experiences in the informal economy in Amman, Jordan | Jessie Sullivan (University College London)

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 11:00-12:30

• Necropolitics at the Southern European Border: Deaths and Missing Migrants on the Western Mediterranean and Atlantic Coasts | Oscar Prieto-Flores (University of Girona)

• EU-Egypt Migration Partnership: The reinforcement of (neo-) colonial systems of exclusion through EU border externalization policy | Nomzamo Penelope Malindis (University of Pretoria)

• Don't Come, Don't Stay: A Crisis-driven Paradigm Shift in Forced Migrants' Access to Sweden's Welfare State | Mechthild Roos (University of Augsburg)

• The Management of Irregular Migration in Europe: Defining Approaches and Identifying their Evolution | Filip Savatic (Sciences Po)

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 11:00-12:30

• Legal status and occupational trajectory: the role of previous irregular histories in Italy and France | Rocco Molinari (University of Bologna); Cris Beauchemin, Ariane Pailhé (both: Institut national d’études démographiques/ Ined)

• Quantifying Migration Aspirations and Capabilities: A Data Envelopment Analysis Approach to Migration Decision-Making | Georgios Tsaples, Anastasia Blouchoutzi (both: University of Macedonia)

• How Female and Male Asylum Seekers Respond to Return Policies and Social Networks in EU+ Countries | Jiancheng Gu, Mathias Czaika (both: University for Continuing Education Krems)

• Identification of irregular migration flows' indicators and use of data on irregular migration in Greece since 2010 to today | Marina Nikolova (Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy/ ELIAMEP)

• Understanding public discourse and sentiment towards irregular migration in the UK: an analysis of Twitter data | Matt Mason (University of Liverpool)

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 13:30-15:00

• EU Migration Policies in Crisis: The role of traditional and social media in shaping the European policy attention and actions | Naja Thaulov Camisa (University of Luxembourg)

• The role of media discourses in shaping the perception of irregular migrants and political responses to migration | Mirela IMSIROVIC (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

• The Politics of Causality: An In-Depth Analysis of German Discourse on Deportations | Carlotta Mezger (Hertie School)

• The Invention of ‘Irregular Migration’ in West Africa: Questioning Numbers and Narratives in the international policy discourse | Inken Bartels (Universität Osnabrück, Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies)

• Words-Deeds Gap: Exposing state ignorance of immigration in Poland | Agnieszka Fihel, Paweł Kaczmarczyk, Katarzyna Rakowska, Andrei Yeliseyeu (University of Warsaw)

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 13:30-15:00

Session Chair: Irene Ponzo (FIERI)
Session Chair: Alberto Neidhardt (European Policy Centre)

Governing irregular migrant work. Comparing and assessing national models within the EU | Irene Ponzo (FIERI); Anastasia Karatzas, Albert-Horst Neidhardt (both: European Policy Centre, Belgium); Martin Ruhs (European University Institute); Martina Belmonte (Knowledge Centre of Migration and Demography, European Commission); Pawel Kaczmarczyk (University of Warsaw); Tesseltje de Lange (Radboud University); Blanca Garcés (Barcelona Centre for International Affairs)

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 13:30-15:00

• Concession, cooperation, and contestation: Filipino undocumented migrant domestic workers navigating hostile environments in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands | Roderick Galam (Oxford Brookes University), Lalaine Siruno (United Nations University-MERIT, Maastricht University)

• In the Quicksand: The Uncertain Condition of Non-returnable Migrants in Italy | Francesca Cimino, Fabio Perocco (both: Ca' Foscari University of Venice)

• Liminality of Forced Displacement: Syrian Refugee and Immigrant Lives in the US | Anna Kate Ferris (University of Pennsylvania)

• The work of status: precarious and differential inclusion in Canada | Luin Goldring (York University)

• Privileged Precarity? Living as a European (ir)regular migrant in Southern Africa | Miriam Ngombe (Miriam Ngombe Consulting)

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 15:30-17:00

Session Chair: Marta Jaroszewicz (University of Warsaw)
Discussant: Franck Düvell (Osnabruck University)

• Resilience in Precarity: Narratives of Afghan and Eritrean Refugee Families Across Their Migration Journeys | Lukas Marian Fuchs, Samuel Z. Hagos (both: Dezim-Institut)

• Forced migration in the Canary Islands: a human rights perspective on european and african migration policies | Cecilia Estrada (Universidad Pontificia Comillas)

• The governance of irregular maritime migration in the Central Mediterranean | Franck Düvell (Osnabrück University)

• Caught in the Storm: The inclusion of Refugees and IDPs in climate-related laws and policies | Jana Schröder (The Global Citizenship Alliance), Sonja Fransen (International Institute of Social Studies, Netherlands)

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 15:30-17:00

• The relevance of multi-level governance on supporting regularisation within the framework of labour exploitation: A comparison between the Italian Projects P.I.U. Su.Pr.Eme. and Common Ground | Francesca Cimino (Ca' Foscari University of Venice), Rafaela Pascoal (University of Palermo)

• Migrant Labor in the Shadows: How employers navigate the informality of irregular migrants in Turkey | Cagla Ekin Güner, Anil Duman (both: Central European University)

• Indirect Indicators of Irregularity among Highly Skilled Migrants: Evidence from Austria, Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands | Julia Reinold (Erasmus University Rotterdam)

• Navigating the Grey Zone: The Blurred Boundaries of Regular and Irregular Seasonal Migration from Albania | Bresena Kopliku (University of Shkodra)

• Illegalisation of migration in New Immigrant Destination: agenda-setting of political response towards irregular migrant workers in Poland | Kamil Matuszczyk, Aleksandra Grzymała-Kazłowska, Ksenya Homel (all: University of Warsaw)

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 15:30-17:00

• Migrant-smuggler relationship and embodied experiences of vehicle: Kurdish asylum seekers in Germany | Erkan Tümkaya (Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institut Freiburg)

• Brokers and migration infrastructures in Ethiopians clandestine migration to South Africa | Fekadu Adugna Tufa (Addis Ababa University)

• Third country recruitment as an 'irregular' form of labour migration: A sending country perspective | Rizza Kaye Cases (Slovak Academy of Sciences/ Institute for Sociology)

• Return Governance and Migrant Smuggling: Returnee-Led and Self-Smuggling Practices in Afghanistan | Hidayet Siddikoglu (Bilim Organization for Research and Social Studies)

• Digital Nomadism as the Epitome of Regular Irregular Migration: The Case of Transnational Remote Workers in Zadar | Aris Dougas Chavarria (University of Graz)

Wednesday, 18 March 2025, 9:00-10:30

• Those who burn (borders): challenging ideas of “irregularity” and “illegality” | Joma Thomé (Fulda Graduate School of Social Sciences)

• Imagining a journey ahead; Exploring the transformation of aspirations and imaginations during the clandestine journeys of Afghan migrants | Maryam Ekhtiari (Koc University)

• Questioning irregularity through the desire for the future | Monica Massari, Simona Miceli (University of Milan)

• Unraveling the categories: Understanding Mixed Migration in Morocco | Nada Heddane (Leiden University)

Wednesday, 18 March 2025, 9:00-10:30

Session Chair: Thomas Swerts (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Discussant: Robin Vandevoordt (Ghent University)

• Exclusion as Default: The legal and policy dynamics around the production of irregular migration in the Netherlands | Minke Hajer, Ilse van Liempt (both: Utrecht University)

• Infrastructuring Urban Solidarity: Civil society organisations engaged with illegalised migrants in Bern and Vienna | Ilker Ataç (Hochschule Fulda), Sarah Schilliger (ETH Zürich)

• The Regularity of Irregularity: Rethinking Migration Corridors | Martin Bak Jorgensen, Mashudu Salifu, Tomislav Pušić (all: Aalborg University)

• The Politics of Migration: Marginalization, Stigmatization, and Recognition in Urban Contexts | Gülce Şafak Özdemir (Independent Researcher, Spain)

• Beyond sorting and distribution – Infrastructural hubs as sites of mobility mediation and bureaucratic politicisation for illegalized migrant in Brussels | Hannah Lara Kay, Thomas Swerts (both: Erasmus University Rotterdam)

Wednesday, 18 March 2025, 9:00-10:30

• From Undocumented to Integrated: Chinese Immigrants’ Experiences with Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrant Scheme in Ireland | Meishan Zhang (Maynooth University)

• Tied Visas and the ‘Breakdown’ of Regular Status | Jean-Pierre Gauci, Georgia Greville (both: British Institute of International and Comparative Law)

• The Opportunities of the Opportunity Residence Act: Preliminary insights into the effects of Germany’s newest regularization program | Laura Peitz, Anne-Kathrin Carwehl (both: BAMF)

• A dynamic understanding of the vulnerability of formerly illegalized migrant workers in relation to legal status stratification | Liala Consoli, Claudine Burton-Jeangros (both: University of Geneva); Yves Jackson (Geneva University Hospitals/ Division of Primary Care Medicine)

• Irregular Sub-Saharan Migrants in Morocco between Legal Integration and Social Exclusion | Nadia Elamri (Sultan Moulay Slimane University)

Wednesday, 18 March 2025, 11:00-12:30

• Urban Resilience and the Governance of Irregular Migrants (Refugees) in Turkish Cities: Empirical Findings and Theoretical Developments | Ricard Zapata-Barrero (University Pompeu Fabra)

• Adultism, Childism and “Voiceless Politics” as conceptual tools to challenge the exclusion of irregular migrant children from policy development | Barbara Gornik (Science and Research Centre Koper)

• Governing unaccompanied child migration and the role of state and non-state actors in Southern European borderlands | Eugenia Katartzi (University of Nottingham)

• Sanctuary suspended? The renationalization, polarization and erosion of sanctuary policies and practices towards illegalized migrants in Rotterdam | Thomas Swerts (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Raffaele Bazurli Queen Mary University of London), Carola Vasileiadi (Erasmus University Rotterdam)

• "I didn't need to reach out, the local volunteers just found me": The role of non-state actors in the everyday re-regularization of 'irregularized' Ukrainian refugees in Israel | Lior Birger Tel Aviv University); Noam Tarshish, Hani Nouman (both: University of Haifa)

Wednesday, 18 March 2025, 11:00-12:30

Session Chair: Maurizio Ambrosini (University of Milan)
Discussant: Paola Bonizzoni (University of Milan)

• Migration Policies, Racialization, and the Experiences of Migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean in New York City | Norma E. Fuentes-Mayorga (City University of New York)

• Regularisation instead of international protection? A comparison of selective inclusion pathways for Venezuelan, Colombian and Ukrainian refugees in Spain | Claudia Finotelli, Laura Cassain (both: Complutense University of Madrid)

• Invisible workers, visible resources. Refugees’ everyday struggles between irregularization and tolerance across Germany and Italy | Elena Fontanari (University of Milan)

• Interrogating the legitimacy of selective regularisation: Irregular migrants navigating toleration, deportability and institutional abandonment in Italy and Greece | Maristella Cacciapaglia, Gül Ince-Beqo (both: University of Milan)

Wednesday, 18 March 2025, 11:00-12:30

• Tackling Exclusion, and Statelessness: Afghan migrants and refugees in Pakistan and the Law | Anoshay Fazal (University of Liverpool)

• When host states oppose to deport: Human rights’ norms and Greek non-deportations to Turkey | Gaia Romeo, Florian Trauner (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

• Assessing the Impact of Regularization Programs on the Life Satisfaction of Migrants: Insights from Germany | Pau Palop-García, Zeynep Yanaşmayan (both: DeZIM Institute)

• Racism Reborn? Deportability and Evictability of Irregular Roma Migrants in France (2007-2016) | Emma Bouillard (Toronto Metropolitan University), Reena Kukreja (Queen's University)

• Legal precarity among child migrants in France | Tatiana Eremenko (University of Salamanca)

Wednesday, 18 March 2025, 13:30-15:00

Session Chair: Naiara Rodriguez-Pena (University for Continuing Education Krems)
Discussant: Lea Müller-Funk (University for Continuing Education Krems)

• Sticky stepping stones: Changing aspirations to move onward and stay among Nepalis in Malta’s temporary work regime | Josef Neubauer (University for Continuing Education Krems)

• Transitioning into Irregular Pathways: Stepwise Migration of Nepali Workers in Croatia to Europe | Arjun Kharel (Tribhuvan University); Jeevan Baniya, Samiksha Neupane, Sanjit Shrestha (all: Social Science Baha)

• Misinformation, debt, and exploitation among Nepali workers seeking long-term residence Europe | Bhrikuti Rai (Freelancer, Nepal)

• Vulnerability, temporariness and exploitation: a complex continuum of statuses and experiences | Alexandra Cristina Santos Pereira (Universidade Católica Portuguesa

Wednesday, 18 March 2025, 13:30-15:00

Session Chair: Maegan Hendow (ICMPD)
Discussant: Maristella Cacciapaglia (Università di Milano)

• Policy responses to the presence of irregular migrants: A typology | Maegan Hendow, Veronika Bilger, Martin Hofmann (ICMPD); Albert Kraler (UWK)

• Portugal’s legal pathways for the second generation of immigrants | João Carvalho (ISCTE-IUL)

• Categorization of alternative to return policies: A conceptual framework | Gül Ince-Beqo, Maurizio Ambrosini (both: University of Milan)

• Human Rights Compliance of Forced Returns: effectiveness and legitimization | Madalina Lepsa-Rogoz, Alexis McLean (both: ICMPD)

Wednesday, 18 March 2025, 13:30-15:00

Session Chair: Frowin Rausis (University of Geneva)

• Migration Discourses and Enforced Return Policies: Perspectives from the Global South and Diaspora Communities | Arjen Leerkes (Erasmus University)

• Discourse and policies: Silencing returnees and the need for more inclusive return policies | Nassim Majidi, Lisa Pfister (Samuel Hall, Kenya)

• Diaspora governance of returns: projections and realities | Soner Barthoma (Erasmus Rotterdam University, Uppsala University)

• Challenges and Complexities of 'Safe Return' from a Transit Country: Examining Conditional Aspirations of Syrian and Afghan Refugees in Turkey | Susan Beth Rottmann, Maissam Nimer (both: Ozyegin University)

Tuesday, 18 March 2025, 11:30-13:00

Researching irregular migration inevitably raises a series of ethical, epistemological, and moral questions. What is the positionality of researchers? What is their social and political responsibility vis-à-vis their subjects? Does partisanship introduce bias and in what way? How to deal with uncertainty and obscurity? What are the implications of disclosing hidden practices? Who benefits? How is research evidence used and what kind of evidence is produced for what purpose? This roundtable will discuss these questions from different perspectives.

Panelists: 

• Luin Goldring (York University)
• Michele Levoy (PICUM)
• Kira Williams (University of Toronto Scarborough)

Future Directions: Towards Comprehensive Research Approaches to Irregular Migration

Wednesday, 19 March 2025, 15.30-17.00

Description: This panel will reflect on the discussions held throughout the conference and explore future directions for research on irregular migration. It will emphasise the importance of comprehensive research approaches that consider the interconnectedness of irregular migration processes, governance, and integration, while being sensitive to contradictory, often conflictual processes and ethical dilemmas. The panellists will identify key priorities and strategies for future research, including relevant policy/political aspects from a scientific perspective. 

Panelists: 

• Tuba Bircan (Vrije Universiteit Brussels) 
• Anila Noor (New Women Connectors) 
• Nando Sigona (University of Birmingham) 
• Martina Tazzioli (University of Bologna)