News

Empty, unfinished, or ‘ghost’ houses are common sights around the world, where aspirational investment in housing outpaces the potential to physically occupy it.

Commissioned by the Council of Europe (Division on Migration and Refugees), Prof. Lilian Tsourdi and Dr. Catherine Warin (University of Lille) co-authored a mapping study on identifying and effectively responding to needs linked with vulnerability in the context of asylum and migration.

Prof. Dr. Melissa Siegel has two new videos on her YouTube channel: 

It is our pleasure to announce that MACIMIDE researcher Cecilia Schenetti will defend her PhD thesis entitled “Creating and contesting the message – The lifecycle of EU migration information campaigns from Europe to Senegal” on Tuesday, 16 December, at 13:00 in the Aula of Maastricht University. 

We would like to inform you about the CESSMIR conference  ‘Looking back, moving forward: Migration Studies in times of societal transformation’ that will take place from 14 to 16 September 2026 in Ghent. You can find the call attached, a short version is at the end of this e-mail. 

This is to share the news about an exciting Roundtable on the Images of Migration and the Ethics of Visual Research on Migration and Social Exclusion that the (B)OrderS Centre will be hosting. 

In this talk, dr. Marta Rawłuszko, assistant professor at the Institute of Applied Social Sciences at the University of Warsaw, will examine contemporary feminist tactics by introducing the concept of ‘illegitimate care’. In particular, she will focus on two case studies: feminist support for migrants at the Polish-Belarusian border and assistance in accessing abortion in Poland. 

You are cordially invited to attend the upcoming UNU-MERIT Migration Seminar featuring Senija Mehmedovic, a survivor of the Srebrenica Genocide, who will share her journey from war and displacement to resilience, exploring trauma, identity, and the power of healing through storytelling. 

This collective volume, co-edited by Prof. Lilian Tsourdi together with Dr. Niovi Vavoula and Prof. Valsamis Mitsilegas, offers a contemporary understanding of the state of the art of ‘crimmigration’ with a focus on the European Union and challenges this paradigm of intersecting criminal justice and immigration control.

Abstract: The correlation between rising asylum immigration and the electoral success of far-right anti-immigration parties has sparked concerns about a potential “Democratic Dilemma” – namely, a trade-off between a country’s openness to immigrants and the preservation of democratic institutional quality.

1. One in thirty people in Amsterdam is an undocumented immigrant. They are denied the right to health insurance, but they do have the right to healthcare. Nonetheless, many undocumented people do not receive the healthcare they are entitled to. 
2. Health care is a basic human right, so how can it be that undocumented people are regularly denied access to care? Who cares explores the harsh reality of undocumented people living in Amsterdam. A reality in which you can be terminally ill, but still faced with closed hospital doors. 
3. Understanding the need for awareness on this topic, AT5 aired this documentary on their TV-channel multiple times. You can also watch this at: https://beyondbordersmedia.com/portfolios/documentary-who-cares. 

Where and how does power operate in the governance of international migration?