Lost in transit? Deconstructing the il/legalization of migrants dwelling in European ‘transit zones’.

PhD student: Maud Martens
Summary: In their attempts to regulate migration, Western states have produced and enforced various forms of il/legal status upon migrants. This research project provides a case study of how migrant il/legality is produced in the particular context of North-European transit zones. On the one hand, it examines the socio-legal processes through which state actors force migrants in transit zones into a position of illegality. For instance, how and on what grounds do different states use EU law to refuse and/or circumvent the process of migrants’ asylum applications? What impact does this have on migrants’ onward trajectories? On the other hand, the research looks into the socio-legal support migrants are offered in these zones of transit (either by state actors, civic actors, or among migrants themselves) as these forms of support potentially constitute strategies to counter the illegal status of migrants and legalize their presence instead.
PhD in Social Work
Promoter(s): Robin Vandevoordt, Ellen Desmet (Migration Law, Ghent University)
Periode of time: February 2022 - February 2026