Newsletter #2

Newsletter Issue 2 - April 2024

Highlighted GAPs News

Engagements with scholars and policy circles

Joint Webinar: Reconsidering EU's partnership and cooperation models on return and readmission by the Horizon Europe projects on irregular migration and returns in Europe, Monday 5th February 2024

Watch Webinar Recording

GAPs project coordinator Dr. Zeynep Sahin Mencutek at EC Roundtable Workshop, “Bridging Research and Policy Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe Shaping Migration Policy”

Participation of GAPs project coordinator Dr. Zeynep Sahin Mencutek in EC Roundtable Workshop titled, “Bridging Research and Policy Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe Shaping Migration Policy” on Thursday December 14, 2023.

Voices of Gaps

The “Voices of GAPs” video series, prepared by GAPs consortium member, Migration Matters was released. You can watch the first “Voices of GAPs” video here.

Watch more Voices of GAPs videos.

Moving forward with Stakeholder Expert Panels

One of the key objectives of the GAPS project is to organize Stakeholder Expert Panels (SEPs) in partner countries in order to bring our research closer to the ground and to facilitate a productive relationship between different sectors working on return and with returnees. As advertised in the GAPs News feed, the first round of SEP activities has already taken place in many countries. In Greece, Germany, Poland, Turkey and Sweden, the first roundtables discussed the legal and policy framework of return and readmission policies in the light of the research reports prepared by the respective country teams. In Nigeria, the first SEP event was dedicated to the discussion of the governance of return and the general problems and challenges in this field. Stay tuned for more information on SEP activities, here.

Fieldwork

Focus Group Discussion with returnees organized by the GAPs project team at the University of Nigeria

A focus group discussion was held with ten Nigerians, who had returned to their country within the last ten years, at the Patriotic Citizens’ Initiative (PCI) shelter, a transit camp for returnees in Lagos.

Field Study of Return Migration Infrastructure (RMI) in Tbilisi by CMR UW team

The Polish team of the Horizon Europe GAPs project at the Centre of Migration Research of the University of Warsaw (CMR UW), carried out a field study in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, in connection with research conducted under Working Package 3, which concerns the Return Migration Infrastructure (RMI).

Internal Training

Fieldwork/interview workshop of GAPs WP4 team by Radboud University

WP4 leaders (at Radboud University) organized an online internal fieldwork workshop, addressing sampling strategies, tailoring of interview protocols and practicalities of coding and analysis.

Digital Storytelling Training for WP7 partners

WP7 leaders at Ozyegin University organized a Digital Storytelling Training in coordination with Migration Matters, a partner in the consortium and Serkis Kurumlu.

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GAPs Publications

You can access all GAPs publications here, including:

Legal and Policy Infrastructures of Returns in Germany - Country Dossier (WP2); by Katja Mielke, Zeynep Sahin Mencütek, Daphne Wolf (BICC)

Legal and Policy Infrastructures of Returns in Greece - Country Dossier (WP2); by Panos Hatziprokopiou, George Kandylis, Katerina Komita, Penny Koutrolikou, Eva Papatzani, Angelo Tramountanis (ΕΚΚΕ)

Studying Return Migration from a Historical Perspective - concept note; Soner Barthoma (UU)

Unlocking the Economic Contribution of Returning Refugees to Their Home Countries; by Rasha Istaiteyeh (HU)

Anthropology of Return Migration - concept note, by Susan Rottman and Maissam Nimer (OzU)

Framework paper on the concepts and typologies on returns - combined with four conceptual notes; by Zeynep Sahin Mencütek (BICC), Anna Triandafyllidou (CERC), Soner Barthoma (UU), Maissam Nimer (OzU), Susan Rottman (OzU), Neva Ozturk, (SRII), Rasha Istaiteyeh HU

Click here for all GAPs publications

Spotlight on… Tunisia

In each newsletter, this section focuses on an aspect concerning the issue of return in different countries. In this newsletter, the focus is on Tunisia, one of the countries within the GAPs consortium.

Syrian Refugees Returning from Jordan: “The Situation in the Mirror”

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GAPs BLOG

Click here to read GAPs’ recent blog posts including:

Destiny Deferred for Afghans in Istanbul, by: Negin Derviş (Contracted Freelance Researcher, GAPs Project), Özyeğin University

Canadian Return Policy and the Migration-Terrorism Nexus, by: Younes Ahouga, Toronto Metropolitan University

Materials matter! Preliminary Research Findings on Return Migration Infrastructures in Greece, by: George , Eva Papatzani, Panos Hatziprokopiou, National Centre for Social Research, EKKE