Past events
PROTECT Expert Forums
autumn 2021, online
PROTECT has organized three Expert Forums in 2021, all of which sought to explore the legal potential and impacts of the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration:
#1 Expert Forum (EU, 10 September)
> See the program and the speakers
> (Re)Watch talks and discussions
#2 Expert Forum (Southern Africa, 15 and 22 September)
> See the program and the speakers for 15 September and for 22 September
> (Re)Watch talks and discussions
#3 Expert Forum (Canada, 7-8 October)
Round Table: Rethinking Migration Research, Teaching and Practice
12 January 2022
Our WP3 co-lead on Governance and historical research, Frank Caestecker from the University of Ghent has held a presentation on “The challenge of migration management, a century’s experience in France and Belgium” at Fondation Biermans-Lapôtre.
Round Table: Rethinking Migration Research, Teaching and Practice
7 December 2021
The Department of Political Science at the University of Vienna and the African Centre for Migration & Society (ACMS) at the University of the Witwatersrand organized a roundtable on Rethinking Migration Research, Teaching and Practice. The event was moderated by Kudakwashe Vanyoro from our Wits-team.
American Anthropological Association 2021 Annual Meeting
17 – 21 November 2021
PROTECT organized a panel on “Re-engaging anthropology with the social and political life of vulnerability in international protection” at the American Anthropological Association conference on 17 November 2021. In this panel, the following PROTECT researchers have presented their findings: Mara Benadusi (Catania-team), Giovanna Cavatorta (Catania-team), Evgenia Iliadou (Surrey-team), Kudakwashe Vanyoro (ACMS-Wits-team), Christine M. Jacobsen (Bergen-team).
Second Gender workshop by the Centre for Britain and Europe
11 November 2021
This workshop, organized by the Centre for Britain and Europe, a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, focused on gender and immigration. Our Surrey-team presented papers on immigration detention and refugee camps and the lived experiences of people who are confined.
ZeMKI Research Seminar
10 November 2021
The University of Bremen’s ZeMKI Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research has welcomed our researcher and WP7 co-leader on media and social media discourses, Anamaria Dutceac Segesten from Lund University to present her paper on “Assessing Europeanization on social media: a new approach” during one of their research seminars. Annamaria probed for the existence of a Europeanized public discourse on Twitter
on the issue of migration by collecting data over the period 2014-2019, in nine different
languages, and by charting the connections and the content of Twitter-based communication using a
triangulation of methods: network mapping, qualitative coding, and statistical modeling.
> Read the whole invitation here
IHSA World Conference on Humanitarian Studies
3 – 5 November 2021
Hosted by the International Humanitarian Studies Association (IHSA), the conference focused on ‘New realities of politics and humanitarianism: between solidarity and abandonment’. From our researchers, Giovanna Cavatorta, from the Catania-team, has presented a paper on ´From beneficiaries to humanitarian workers : the politics of difference about migrants working at the Eu Italian border´, as part of the Humanitarianism and Inequality panel.
V. International Conference on Migration in the 21st Century
11 – 12 October 2021
The International Conference on Migration in the 21st Century, organized for the fifth time this year by Yeditepe University Global Education and Cultural Studies Application and Research Center (KEKAM), was held online on October 11-12, 2021. Among the invited speakers was our WP1 and WP9 co-lead İdil Atak from the Ryerson University.
Immigration Law and Policy, Border Control, and Migrant Deaths
29 September – 1 October 2021
This two-day conference, organized by the Centre for British Studies, Humboldt-University of Berlin, explored the relationship between migration and border control law and policy, and migrant deaths within and close to the borders of Europe, as well as relevant practice and research in the area of contentious death investigation. Conference papers were presented by our Queen Mary-researchers, co-leading our legal work package, Elspeth Guild, Kathryn Allinson, Nicolette Busuttil and Maja Grundler on ‘Implementing the UN Global Compacts for Refugees and Migrants in Times of Pandemic: A View from the EU Member States”.
III Convegno Nazionale SIAC
22 – 25 September 2021
The Società Italiana di Antropologia Culturale (SIAC) in Rome has organized its third national conference, which focused on “Futuro : Anthropologies of the Future, the Future of Anthropology”. Giovanna Cavatorta from our Catania-team has presented a paper on the autonomy of “children”, with a paper titled L’autonomia dei “ragazzi”: il riconoscimento dell’il-libertà di richiedenti asilo neo-maggiorenni in Italia.
> More on the program and speakers
Day of Belgian Migration history
22 September 2021
The fourth edition of the Belgian Migration History Day took place at the University of Saint Louis in Brussels. The purpose of this day is to offer the opportunity to all those interested in the history of migration in Belgium to meet, whether they belong to the academic world, to the cultural, educational or media sectors. Our researchers from Ghent University, Frank Castecker and Eva Ecker contributed to this event by sitting in the scientific committee (Frank Castecker) and by holding a presentation on “Belgian refugee policy: history of legislation and asylum institutions (1952-1990)” (Eva Ecker).
ILPA Handbook for Legal Practitioners Using the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration as an Interpretative Tool
16 September 2021
This event was planned for all immigration and asylum practitioners to learn about the new ILPA Handbook for Practitioners on the Global Compact for Migration. It introduced how the UN Global Compact can assist them and their clients by ensuring that the Home Office lives up to the ministerial statement that UK law is compliant with the UN Compact. The panel included three of our researchers from the Queen Mary-team, co-leading our legal work package, Elspeth Guild, Kathryn Allinson and Nicolette Busuttil.
EISA 14th Pan-European Conference on International Relations
13 – 17 September 2021
51st UACES Annual Conference
8 September 2021
Daniela Irrera from the University of Catania was presenting during the UACES Annual Conference, organized by the University Association for Contemporary European Studies, which is the global membership organisation for academics, students and practitioners who are interested in all aspects of Europe and the European Union.
#ECPR General Conference
30 August – 3 September 2021
During this year´s General Conference, the Catania-team has presented two papers: Stefania Panebianco´s on `A discursive re-conceptualization of migration in the midst of the Covid19 crisis. A European Human and Humane Approach or Business as Usual?´ and Iole Fontana`s on ´The external dimension of EU migration and asylum policy between migration politics and functional cooperation´.
PROTECT’s Mid-term Conference
26 – 27 August 2021, online
During the Conference, PROTECT presented initial research findings from its 11 Work Packages. PROTECT’s Canadian partner, the Ryerson University hosted and organized the conference.
> See the program and speakers
> (Re)Watch talks and discussions
National Conference on Migration and Urbanisation
28 July 2021
This panel explored the ‘Boundaries of Protection and Human Rights for International Migrants’ in South Africa and included PROTECT researchers Jo Vearey and Nicholas Maple from Wits University.
> Download the presentation (video)
> Download the slides (pdf)
18th Biannual Conference of the International Association for the Study
of Forced Migration (IASFM)
26 – 30 July 2021
The conference, focusing on “Disrupting Theory, Unsettling Practice: Towards Transformative Forced Migration Scholarship and Policy”, organized by the University of Ghana was held over five days and consisted of five keynotes, three plenary sessions, and around 72 panel sessions, providing an opportunity for a wide range of contributions and participants from different backgrounds and geographical contexts. PROTECT was represented by our Ryerson and Wits-team.
> See the full program for IASFM18
26th IPSA World Congress of Political Science
10 – 15 July 2021
The PROTECT-team has contributed to the World Congress with a panel on “International Protection in a Multilevel Governance System: Between Global Commitments and National Responses”, chaired by PROTECT`s Scientific Coordinator Pierre Georges Van Wolleghem from the University of Bergen on 14 July. The discussant was Francesca Longo from the University of Catania.
> The full program with papers is available here
WISC Global Virtual Conference
30 June 2021
The Global Virtual Conference was designed in preparation of the 6th Global International Studies Conference in June 2022. The Virtual Conference ran for ten hours, with the theme “WISC and the Globe – Achievements and Challenges”. It included seventeen panels. On the panels about ´Regulation of Migration Flows in the World´ and ´International Political Economy, Global Transformations, Regional Reconfigurations, and National Dilemmas´, PROTECT researcher Daniela Irrera, from the University of Catania was amongst the speakers.
Academic Council of the United Nations System Annual Meeting 2021: Toward a Fit for Future UN System
24 – 26 June 2021
The 2021 Annual Meeting featured an outstanding global effort with approximately 500 participants spanning all the world’s time zones. Six headliner plenary sessions included the formal launch of the Global Governance Innovation Network. Plenary sessions are available on the ACUNS YouTube channel. The Annual Meeting included 57 panels and roundtables, two of which featured Daniela Irrera, from our Catania-team: ´Challenges Stemming from International Migration´ and ´Displacement and Governance of International Migration and Displacement´.
> Access the full program here
CES Virtual 27th International Conference of Europeanists
21 – 25 June 2021
The Council for European Studies has organized its annual conference with a focus on “Europe’s Past, Present, and Future: Utopias and Dystopias”. The PROTECT panel focused on “International Protection in the Global Compacts Era”. The panel was chaired by Pierre Van Wolleghem from the University of Bergen, panellists included Dario Mazzola, Anamaria Dutceac Segesten from Lund University, Theofanis Exadaktylos and Evgenia Iliadou from the University of Surrey.
Second webinar of the SISP Standing Group of International Relations
18 June 2021
25 years after the Barcelona Process has been inaugurated, the Mediterranean space has changed decisively. As the Mediterranean finds itself at a critical juncture, this webinar asks – or asserts – why the Global North and the Global South do not meet in the Mediterranean. Our researcher from the Catania-team, Stefania Panebianco participated as a speaker in this online conference, looking at ´Why the Global North and the Global South do not meet in the Mediterranean´.
JEAN MONNET – ERASMUS + VIRTUAL CONFERENCE: VIRTUE, EUCTER & EUHYBRID
14 – 16 June 2021
Stefania Panebianco from the University of Catania held a presentation on the first day of the VIRTUE virtual conference organized by the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, about `´The European Commission’s Discourse on Migration amidst the Covid-19 Crisis´ as part of the panel on ´EU institutions and agencies – challenges after Lisbon´.
10th Conference of the ECPR Standing Group on the European Union
10 – 12 June 2021
The virtual edition of the Conference provided an engaging platform for researchers from various backgrounds to present and discuss cutting-edge research on the most pressing questions of European integration, across some 100+ Panels. PROTECT researcher, Stefania Panebianco from the University of Catania presented the following paper: A Discursive Re-Conceptualization of Migration in the Midst of the Covid19 Crisis. A European Human and Humane Approach or Business as Usual?
5th Annual Conference, Refugee Law Initiative (RLI): ‘Ageing Gracefully? The 1951 Refugee Convention at 70’
9 – 11 June 2021
PROTECT researchers Jo Vearey, Nicholas Maple, and Kudakwashe Vanyoro from Wits University participated in a panel discussion at the RLI Annual Conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the 1951 Convention.
The PROTECT panel explored the ‘Contemporary Role of the Global Refugee Regime in Sub-Saharan Africa’.
2021 CPSA Annual Conference
7 – 10 June 2021
The conference of the Canadian Political Science Association on “Diversity and the Discipline of Political Science” featured a panel this year on “Discourses and Practices of Refugee Exclusion”, with the participation of WP1 and WP9 co-lead İdil Atak from the Ryerson University.
The Second Helsinki Conference on Emotions, Populism, and Polarisation
4 – 8 May 2021
Dario Mazzola, Scientific Coordinator of PROTECT from our Bergen-team has presented on “Populism and the radicalisation of democracy: The frontiers of democratisation” in the Challenges of Democracy panel during the second HEPP conference.
See the conference program”>> For the full program and papers, click here
3rd CJIRIEP | Conference of Young Researchers in International Relations and Political Studies
15 – 16 April 2021
The 3rd Conference of Young Researchers in International Relations and Political Studies took place the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto. The event was organised by a group of students and former students with the aim to promote an interdisciplinary debate in the International Relations and Political Studies fields. Our researcher, from the Catania-team, Stefania Panebianco, held the keynote speech on ‘Migration practices in the EU Mediterranean periphery’.
Trondheim Analytica workshop on “Analyzing Citizen Engagement with European Politics through Social Media”
15 – 16 April 2021
How are European citizens’ offline characteristics related to political behavior on social media? Our researchers, Anamaria Dutceac Segesten and Mike Farjam from the Lund University contrasted English language tweets to the rest in order to shed light onto the European SoMe public sphere during the Trondheim Analytica workshop on “Analyzing Citizen Engagement with European Politics through Social Media” in April.
The new vulnerability in times of pandemic: The EU and NGOs in managing migrant and refugee issues
14 April 2021
In partnership with ERIQA, the Jean Monnet Center welcomed PROTECT researcher Professor Daniela Irrera from the University of Catania for a conference on ‘The new vulnerability in times of pandemic: The EU and NGOs in managing migrant and refugee issues.’
> See more
Nationalism & Covid-19 vaccination: Refugee and Migrant Health
30 March 2021
PROTECT researcher Jo Vearey argued that states’ vaccination programs cannot be effective unless they include undocumented migrants. How to create a ‘Firewall’ so that this group can access the Covid-19 vaccine without fearing arrest, detention, and deportation?
The webinar was organized by the M8 Alliance and the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM).
Staff Seminar of the Department of Social Sciences, the University of Geneva
8 March 2021
PROTECT Scientific Coordinator, Dario Mazzola presented on “Political Theory in Turbulent Waters: The Case of the Global Compact” at the Staff Seminar of the Department of Social Sciences, the University of Geneva.
International Women’s Day: Covid-19 and inequality: Gender, Work and Migration
8 March 2021
PROTECT researcher Christine M. Jacobsen explored ‘vulnerability in pandemic times’ and how Covid-19 has affected migrants with precarious legal status in France.
Protection in Mixed Movements: UNHCR – MMC Policy Workshop
15-17 February 2021
Kudakwashe Vanyoro, Jo Vearey and Nicholas Maple from our Wits-team have presented on “State & Humanitarian Responses to the Migration, (Im)Mobility & Covid-19 Nexus: Lessons from North Africa” at Day 3 of the MMC-UNHCR Policy Workshop on Protection Challenges on the Central & Western Mediterranean Routes.
Webinar: Using the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration as an Interpretative Tool for Legal Practitioners
12 February 2021
This Webinar, hosted by the Human Rights Law Centre presented work conducted between our researchers at the Queen Mary University of London and ILPA in developing a Handbook on the Global Compact on Migration for immigration law practitioners.
Webinar: Foreign African Nationals and Xenophobia in South Africa
27 Januar 2021
This webinar looked at how racist ideas and exclusionary frameworks have persisted in the modern South African society.
FASS2021 panel: University of Surrey Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Festival of Research
18 Januar 2021
> See festival program, panels and speakers
Dr. Theofanis Exadaktylos presented the aims and objectives of PROTECT – and how the researchers in Work Package 4 are overcoming the obstacles that Covid-19 has presented them with.
Seminar: Borders, mobilities and immobilities in Southern Africa
13 Januar 2021
In this seminar organized by the Migration Policy Institute, PROTECT researcher Kudakwashe Vanyoro presented his research on Zimbabwean migrants at the Zimbabwean-South African border. Dr. Frank Musoni from the University of Kentucky gave a talk on ‘Border Jumping and Migration Control in Southern Africa’.
Seminar: Using the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration as an Interpretative Tool for legal practitioners
27 November 2020
This seminar presented the work conducted between Queen Mary University of London and ILPA on developing a Handbook on the Global Compact on Migration for immigration law practitioners.
Elspeth Guild 
Kathryn Allinson 
Nicolette Busuttil
PROTECT partners Elspeth Guild, Nicolette Busuttil, and Kathryn Allinson presented the theoretical framework of the Handbook and some key examples to elucidate its contents. Adrian Berry from ILPA discussed the application of the Compact for practitioners in light of this framework.
Photo: Kingsley Napley and Queen Mary University of London
Protect Expert Forums
autumn 2020
(Re)visit our 2020 Expert Forums
#1 Expert Forum (EU, 13-14 November)
> See the program and the speakers
> (Re)Watch talks and discussions from 13 and from 14 November
> Read more about the Forum host
#2 Expert Forum (Canada, 20 November)
> See the program and the speakers
> (Re)Watch talks and discussions
> Read more about the Forum host
#3 Expert Forum (Southern Africa, 26 November)
> See the program and the speakers
Conversations on the Moria fires
19 September 2020
PROTECT’s project leader Hakan G. Sicakkan and International Advisory Board member, Jan Fridthjof Bernt discussed the Moria fires, the Dublin Regulation and the New Pact on Migration and Asylum in the monthly event, ‘Insight’.
ECPR General Conference: PROTECT panel
25 August 2020
Three PROTECT researchers participated in this panel, which looked at the politics of international protection in a context marked by the tension between the rise of nativist ideologies and efforts to share burden and responsibility of international protection at a global scale.
Panel title: ‘The Politics of International Protection: New Perspectives in the Post-Global Compacts Era’
> Explore the PROTECT panel and papers
Virtual roundtable: Researching Migration & Law
18 August 2020
PROTECT researchers Siri Gloppen and Hakan G. Sicakkan participated in a roundtable discussion on ‘Researching Migration & Law’ during the 2020 Bergen Exchanges on Law and Social Transformation.
PROTECT kick off conference
9 March 2020
A number of high profile representatives from the academic community, civil society organizations, and international organizations were present for PROTECT’s Kick-Off conference in Brussels on 9 March 2020.
