The GAPs Project Final Conference, “Navigating Return Migration: What Next? Diplomacy, Infrastructures, and Pathways Beyond”, took place on 22–23 January 2026 at Akdeniz University in Antalya, Türkiye. The conference brought together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to critically examine how return migration is governed in an era of geopolitical uncertainty, externalised border regimes, and increasingly non-linear mobility trajectories.
Read MoreOn December 18, 2025, an online seminar co-organised by the Migration Analytical Centre of the Office for Foreigners and the Centre of Migration Research at the University of Warsaw convened researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to tackle a pressing question in migration governance: how can research meaningfully inform return policies?
Read MoreOn November 21, 2025, a Public Forum entitled “Imprisonment and Return: Greece in the landscape of European policies on migrant returns” was organized in Athens to discuss the findings of the GAPs research project: De-centring the Study of Migrant Returns and Readmission Policies in Europe and Beyond…
Read MoreThis week, two peer-reviewed academic articles authored by members of the GAPs research team have been published in the Central and Eastern European Migration Review (CEEMR), further strengthening the project’s scholarly outputs and international visibility. Both publications directly align with the GAPs…
Read MoreOn 27-28 November 2025, the European Sociological Association (ESA) RN35 held the Sociology of Migration Midterm Conference in Athens, Greece, in collaboration with the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The Conference’s theme was Sociology of Migration after the 2015 ‘Migrant Crisis’, focusing on the impact of crises on migration and migration research…
Read MoreOn December 8, 2025, Zeynep Şahin Mencütek, GAPs researcher at BICC, delivered a GLOCAL lecture titled ‘Deportation and Migration Diplomacy in Contentious Times’.at Radboud University. Hosted by Nora Stel, the event brought together more than 25 students and faculty in person, alongside online participants…
Read MoreThe 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.
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