Migration

Around 80 million people have been forcibly displaced by war or political violence worldwide. Several millions more have fled because of environmental disasters and socio-economic marginalisation. As there is no immediate end in sight to this steadily increasing global trend, forced migration is one of the central challenges in world politics today. We focus on the background of this phenomenon in the regions of origin.

Migration

  • Award | Routledge Publishing Ltd., Taylor and Francis Publishing Group | 2023

    Award for GIGA researchers: Dr. Christiane Fröhlich and Dr. Lea Müller-Funk win Routledge Area Studies Interdisciplinarity Award

    For their outstanding article “Mobility Control as State-Making in Civil War: Forcing Exit, Selective Return, and Strategic Laissez-Faire,” published in Migration Politics, Dr. Christiane Fröhlich and Dr. Lea Müller-Funk were awarded this year’s Routledge Area Studies Interdisciplinarity Award.

    Canadian Journal of African Studies | 08/2023

    “The Cake is in Accra”: A Case Study on Internal Migration in Ghana

    This article is about the motivations for internal migration, and how do social relations influence the migration process? In answering these questions, this paper focuses on internal migration to Accra, the capital of Ghana. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 migrants.


    Research Project | 01/12/2021 - 30/11/2024

    Migration and Im/Mobility in the Global South during a Pandemic (DFG Network)

    The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has led to novel experiences of isolation, mobility restriction and exclusion. Mobile populations are particularly affected when borders are closed and migrants are turned away, commuters are denied border crossings, resettlements are suspended or unlawful deportations are justified by pandemic-related risks. This network brings together twenty migration researchers to collect data, build theory, and gain new knowledge about the impact of the pandemic on the Global South.
    DFG, 2021-2024

    Dr. Antje Missbach

    Judith Altrogge

    Jun.-Prof. Dr. Soledad Alvarez Velasco

    Dr. Sabine Mohamed

    Dr. Tabea Scharrer

    Dr. Gerhild Perl

    Dr. Dora Sampaio

    Dr. Victoria Kumala Sakti

    Dr. Megha Amrith

    Dr. Wayne Palmer

    Yaatsil Guevara

    Dr. Magdalena Suerbaum

    Dr. Monika Palmberger

    Dilshad Muhammad

    Dr. Franzisca Zanker

    Prof. Dr. Jelena Tosic

    Maria Lassak

    Dr. Katja Girr

    Prof. Dr. Magnus Treiber

    Research Project | 01/06/2021 - 30/11/2021

    A Different Kind of Refugee: A Case Study of the Emirates’ Syrian Migrants Seeking Citizenship in Europe

    In the absence of access to citizenship rights and permanent residencies in the Gulf States, Syrian migrants of the Gulf are increasingly seeking alternative permanencies elsewhere. Through an ethnography in Berlin and Hamburg, this project aims to explore how Syrians, born and raised in the UAE, navigate the ‘asylum seeking route’ to Western Europe, taking into consideration the situation in Syria and its effects upon their relationship to citizenship and future plans, within the Gulf and Europe. AvH, 2021

    Dr. İdil Akıncı

    Former Visiting Fellow


    GIGA Focus Africa | 1/2024

    Ten Things to Watch in Africa in 2024

    Democracy will remain strained in Africa, with crucial elections in 2024. Conflict risks may arise alongside the further waning of Western influence. Economic growth will continue, but also structural socio-economic challenges too. Western policymakers should address migration and decarbonisation.

    Canadian Journal of African Studies | 08/2023

    “The Cake is in Accra”: A Case Study on Internal Migration in Ghana

    This article is about the motivations for internal migration, and how do social relations influence the migration process? In answering these questions, this paper focuses on internal migration to Accra, the capital of Ghana. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 migrants.

    International Migration Review | 06/2023

    Disentangling Forced Migration Governance: Actors and Drivers along the Displacement Continuum

    In this paper, we study the question of who and what drives forced migration governance in origin, host, and transit states, drawing on empirical material from the contemporary Syrian and Libyan, and the historical Algerian displacement situations.

    Migration Politics | 03/2023

    Mobility Control as State-Making in Civil War: Forcing Exit, Selective Return and Strategic Laissez-Faire

    This paper by Dr. Christiane Fröhlich and Dr. Lea Müller-Funk addresses the question of how different actors govern mobility during civil war, and how mobility control and processes of state-making interact in such settings.

    Conference | 24/05/2023 - 27/05/2023

    Immigrated People’s Challenging and Resisting Practices in Monterrey: Reconceptualizing Political Behavior

    Lasa 2023, Vancouver Organisers: Latin American Studies Association Indi-Carolina Kryg (Speaker)

    Paper presentation in the panel "People with Migration Experiences as Social and Political Agents in the Mexican Context".

    President (ad interim)

    Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach is President (ad interim) of the GIGA.

    Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

    Regional Institutes

    Africa|Asia|Latin America|Middle East

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