From Doubt to Denial: Reflections on International Women’s Day 2026
International Women’s Day 2026 arrives at a critical juncture for the international protection of refugees. As Catherine Briddick explains, it offers an opportunity to celebrate hard-won gains, while serving as a sobering reminder that those gains remain fragile and contested.
Deportation from the US: The risks for stateless people
Changes in the United States' migration policy have led to an increase in deportations. Visiting Fellow Alice Neikirk analyses the data and highlights human rights concerns about the deportation of stateless people – such as Bhutanese refugees – who may be at risk of persecution.
Boat Charlie and the right to life
Who should be held to account when migrants die attempting to cross borders? Visiting Fellow Desislava Dimitrova discusses the legal obligations of States to uphold the right to life and examines what went wrong when, in November 2021, at least 31 people were left to drown in the English Channel.
Using photovoice to amplify the voices of young migrants and refugees in Chile
What does meaningful inclusion in decision making look like for young refugees and migrants? Refugee and Forced Migration Studies MSc student Zachary Sessa and researcher Grace Amigo Pérez explain how a research intervention in Chile has amplified young people’s agency and advocacy.
What US intervention could mean for displaced Venezuelans
Alessandra Enrico-Headrington
19 January 2026
Alessandra Enrico-Headrington reflects on what recent US intervention in Venezuela could mean for displaced Venezuelans across Latin America, drawing on her ongoing research on asylum and temporary protection based on fieldwork and focus groups in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador.
The paradox of North Korea’s Overseas Labour Programme
North Korea’s Overseas Labour Programme exploits workers while simultaneously offering them a window to the wider world, efforts to close this system may not, on their own, reduce exploitation. Yeji Kim shares the findings of her research drawn from interviews with former North Korean workers.
Waiting for academia: The impact of research on UNHCR policy, programmes and practice
UNHCR has always had close connections with the academic world. Jeff Crisp explains why those linkages have had a limited influence on the organisation’s operations and asks whether current developments in the refugee studies landscape might strengthen the impact of research on the agency.
Displaced Venezuelans experiences of navigating temporary protection in Latin America
Alessandra Enrico-Headrington
18 November 2025
There is a growing trend towards states offering displaced people temporary legal-protection as a substitute for the longer-term guarantees that asylum is meant to provide. What impact does this have on displaced individuals? Alessandra Enrico-Headrington conducted focus groups with Venezuelans living in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador and found that their preferences and experiences in relation to legal-protection are complex and diverse.
Rethinking Refuge
The posts collected here were originally written for the Rethinking Refuge project. They offer short research-based articles aimed at rethinking refugee issues from various angles, including politics, international relations, normative political theory, law, history and anthropology.
Find out more about the project here.