Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

This theme examines normative and political perspectives on refugees and forced migration. Our research projects focus on the roles of NGOs, international institutions and governments in responding to disasters. The wider effects of refugee and forced migrant flows are also examined in relation to domestic, regional and world politics.

Boxes are loaded onto trucks for transport to Al Adala settlement, Somalia © UNHCR / S Modola
Boxes are loaded onto trucks for transport to Al Adala settlement, Somalia

The theme explores the following questions:

  • How is forced migration 'governed' and how has the nature of its governance changed over time?
  • What practices and policies are used by states, international organisations, and other actors to manage, control, or protect forced migrants or asylum seekers and to what effect?
  • How do (and should) international and domestic actors cooperate in the face of forced migration?
  • What motivates responses to forced displacement?
  • How have conceptualisations of who is worthy of protection and assistance developed historically and what factors have driven these changing conceptualisations?
  • What spaces and opportunities exist for forced migrants to influence and change the structures that govern them?

Past projects

Read about our previous projects.

Policy & Impact

View a selection of case studies demonstrating the impact of our research