Anoji Ekanayake

Visiting Toronto Metropolitan University

Winter 2026

Anoji Ekanayake is a researcher based in Sri Lanka, Qatar and Australia with experience in migration and displacement research. She earned her PhD from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, where her research focused on the return, reintegration and remigration of Sri Lankan migrant workers from the Gulf region. Her scholarly contributions have been published in leading migration-related journals, such as Comparative Migration Studies, Journal on Migration and Human Security, Migration Studies and Refugee Survey Quarterly. 

Anoji currently serves as a contract-based Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the Australian National University, where she collaborates with Dr. Matt Withers on a project investigating high-skilled migration from Sri Lanka. She also serves as a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Migration Research and Development (CMRD) in Sri Lanka. Previously, she was affiliated with the Gender, Justice and Security Hub at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK.

Research focus while a Bridging Divides Future Leaders Fellow

During her Bridging Divides fellowship, Anoji will investigate the digital entrepreneurial activities of South Asian migrant women in Australia and Canada, focusing on their lived experiences as they engage in digital business ventures. Her research will examine the digital tools and platforms these women utilise to sustain their enterprises, as well as the challenges and opportunities they encounter. Through her collaboration with Bridging Divides researcher Richa Shivakoti at TMU, Anoji aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue on migration, gender and digital economies.

Selected publications

Ekanayake, A. (2024). Navigating Social Reintegration: Experiences of Sri Lankan Migrant Workers Returning from the Gulf. Migration Studies. https://doi.org/10.1093/migration/mnae044 (external link) 

Ekanayake, A. (2024). Drivers of return of Sri Lankan migrants in the skill spectrum from the Gulf region. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 33(2) 303-329. https://doi.org/10.1177/01171968241267750 (external link) 

Ekanayake, A., & Amirthalingam, K. (2022). Impact of migration of Sri Lankan professionals to Qatar on skill acquisition and brain drain. Migration and Development, 11(3), 450–468. https://doi.org/10.1080/21632324.2020.1787106 (external link)  

Ekanayake, A., & Amirthalingam, K. (2021). The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Sri Lankan migrants in Qatar. Comparative Migration Studies, 9(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-021-00246-0 (external link)