GAPs: Decentring the study of migrant returns and readmission policies in Europe and beyond

CERC Migration is participating in the GAPs project,  a Horizon-Europe funded (external link, opens in new window)  comprehensive study on the drivers of migrant return policies and the barriers or enablers in international cooperation on returns. The project examines the disconnects between the expectations of return policies and their actual outcomes by de-centering the dominant, one-sided understanding of “return policymaking.” 

Three innovative concepts guide the project: 

• return migration infrastructures are considered to analyze governance fissures,
• return migration diplomacy is examined to understand how relations among the EU, its members states and third (or transit) countries hinder or facilitate cooperation on returns, and
• a trajectory approach uses a socio-spatial and temporal lens to understand migrant agency.
  

The project involves multi-disciplinary, qualitative, and quantitative comparative research in 11 countries.