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 blog
The posts collected here were originally written for the Rethinking Refuge project. They offer short research-based articles which 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.