#4: Comparing Crises – „Migration Crises“ in the Middle East and North Africa

27 October 2020, 13:00 - 14:30 CET

The narrative of „crisis“ has been dominant in European discourses on migration in recent years. Migration, especially South-North movement towards the EU is often associated with a diverse set of political, social, economic and security risks. This perception is extremely Eurocentric, as migration to Europe is minimal compared to other world regions, and as access to the territory of the EU and Schengen states for third-country nationals is extremely limited (see the last session of this Webinar series: Webinar #3: Access to Europe: Governing the entry of third-country nationals).

The webinar has two interconnected goals. Firstly, presentations will zoom in on two regions where much of (forced) migration today is actually happening, namely the Middle East and North Africa, to provide a brief overview of migration dynamics and migration governance in each. For this, the speakers will draw on on-going research within the Migration Governance and Asylum Crises (MAGYC) project, funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

In a second step, we will discuss the promises and possible pitfalls of comparing cases within and between regions. Why is it useful to look at (forced) migration governance from a comparative angle? What can we learn from comparing cases intra- and cross-regionally? How can comparative research inform EU policy-making?

Facilitator: H2020 Project Migration Governance and Asylum Crises (MAGYC)

Moderation and host: Christiane Fröhlich, GIGA, Germany (MAGYC)

Invited speakers:

Recording of webinar #4

You can register for the webinar series here.