The University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) research team has unveiled groundbreaking findings from the GAPs Project, shedding light on the lived realities of Nigerian returnees. The dissemination event, hosted at Rockview Hotel in Owerri, brought together academics, government officials, civil society organizations, traditional leaders, and media representatives to discuss the…
Read MoreOn November 19, 2025 at the European Parliament, a stark warning was issued that the New Common European System for Returns (the “proposal”) is being shaped by political rhetoric rather than robust scientific evidence, risking the criminalisation of irregular migrants and the stripping of existing human rights protections…
Read MoreOn 18 November 2025, coordinators of the Horizon Europe GAPs project, Soner Barthoma and Zeynep Şahin Mencütek, took part in the EU’s flagship conference, “Ten Years of EU Migration – Research & Innovation.” The event gathered leading researchers, policymakers, and civil society actors to reflect on a decade of EU-funded migration research and shape future directions.
Read MoreWarsaw, November 2025 - A new CMR Spotlight policy brief authored by members of the Horizon Europe project GAPs – De-centring the Study of Migrant Returns and Readmission Policies in Europe and Beyond sheds light on key shortcomings in Poland’s return migration system and calls for a more systematic, rights-based approach to return governance…
Read MoreWe are delighted to share that Shapoor Hamid, researcher at Bilim Organization for Research and Social Studies, has published a new article in International Migration titled “Enduring Aspirations and Continuous Mobility: Formation, Realisation, and Repression of Migration Aspirations of Afghan Returnees.” The study was conducted as part of the European Commission–funded GAPs Project (“De-centering the Study of Migrant Returns and Readmission Policies in Europe and Beyond”).
Read MoreOn 8 October 2025, the Centre of Migration Research (CMR) at the University of Warsaw hosted the third and final Stakeholder Expert Panel (SEP) within the Horizon Europe project GAPs. The meeting brought together experts from academia, public administration, and civil society to discuss the tightening of Poland’s return policy, the erosion of legal protection for migrants, and systemic inefficiencies in migration governance. The event provided a platform to situate recent developments in Poland within the wider European debates on…
Read MoreThe GAPs team is pleased to announce the publication of a new article by our Nigerian partner, Ngozi Louis Uzomah, titled “Regional Disparities in Returnee Support, Stigmatisation and Reintegration in Nigeria.” within the Special Issue entitled “Processes of Migrants Return and Reintegration: A Comparative Perspective” in the journal International Migration. The paper underwent internal peer review by Zeynep Sahin-Mencutek, GAPs Co-coordinator from BICC, Germany, and Richa Shivakota from CERC in Migration, at TMU, Canada, a GAPs partner institution prior to submission to the journal.
Read MoreThree leading Horizon Europe-funded research projects (GAPs, FAiR, MORE) studying EU’s return and readmission policies will convene a significant policy dialogue at the European Parliament (room SPAAK 4B1) on November 19, 2025, from 09:30-12:00. The projects will present their key findings and engage in critical discussions about alternatives to existing return frameworks. This joint initiative will bring together EU and Member State policymakers, civil society actors, and researchers to examine the limitations of current return policies and explore humane…
Read MoreOn 5 September 2025, The European Correspondent featured insights from two GAPs researchers, Zeynep Şahin-Mencütek (Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies) and Soner Bathoma (Uppsala University). The article examined how the externalization of migration management to third countries has entered the European political agenda, paving the way for discussions on establishing “return hubs.”
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