Two research grants for Dr Zeynep Kaşlı on migration and displacement

Removal infrastructures for Syrians in Lebanon and Turkey

This two-year project proposes to empirically interrogate the principles of non-refoulement by studying removal practices in Lebanon and Turkey.

The principle of non-refoulement is enshrined in international human rights, refugee, humanitarian and customary law, and guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face harm. Against this backdrop, the project asks:

1. How are Syrians in Lebanon and Turkey subjected to removals?
2. How are Syrians navigating and resisting different forms of removals?
3. What are the human, social and political consequences of these removals?

The critical research will be conducted by an international team based primarily in Lebanon and Turkey and will seek to have a positive, tangible impact for Syrians subject to mobility control in Lebanon and Turkey.

The project received funding from the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

Displacement and emplacement of highly skilled migrants including refugees in post-industrial cities

This research aims to produce a general framework to study the processes of displacement and emplacement of recently arrived, highly skilled migrants (including but not limited to those officially categorized as refugees) to post-industrial cities.

Going beyond the forced–voluntary migration binary, the project will focus on professionals originating from economically and politically unstable contexts including Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Venezuela and Syria.

Potential research sites are Germany, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands (as receiving contexts) and Turkey (as receiving and transit context). The research will involve the engagement of non-traditional scholars, such as displaced or self-exiled scholars.

This project received funding from UNIC European University.