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Idil Atak

Idil Atak

Interim Dean, Academic; Professor
DepartmentLincoln Alexander School of Law
Areas of ExpertiseIrregular migration, refugee protection, securitization of migration and human rights law

Dr. Idil Atak is a professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law. Before joining TMU, Idil worked as a legal expert in the Turkish Foreign Ministry and as a deputy to the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the Council of Europe. Idil earned her PhD at Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Law and was a SSHRC postdoctoral fellow at McGill University’s Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. She currently serves as a director-at-large for the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS). Idil was a member of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration’s (IASFM) executive committee and a past president of the CARFMS. She served as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies (IJMBS) from 2017 to 2020.

Books

Graham Hudson and Idil Atak (eds.) Migration, Security and Surveillance: Rescaling Governance at the Global and Local Levels (Oxford: Routledge, 2022).

Idil Atak and James C. Simeon (eds.), The Criminalization of Migration: Context and Consequences (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2018).

Idil Atak, L’européanisation de la lutte contre la migration irrégulière et les droits humains. Une étude des politiques de renvois forcés en France, au Royaume-Uni et en Turquie (Bruxelles: Bruylant, 2011).

Special Issues of Journals

“The Criminalization of Migration” (2018) 4:4 International Journal on Migration and Border Studies Special Issue (with Graham Hudson & Delphine Nakache).

« Penser l’ouverture des frontières » (external link)  (2015) 17:1 Éthique publique (with Speranta Dumitru).

Papers in Refereed Journals

 “Vulnerability of Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants in Toronto” (external link)   (2024) Canadian Journal of Law and Society/Revue Canadienne Droit et Société (with Sara Asalya & Jona Zyfi).

 (PDF file) “Facilitating Mobility Means Banking on the Considerable Agency of Migrant Workers and Reducing Their Precarity” (external link)  (2024) Intergentes -The McGill Journal of International Law & Legal Pluralism, 1-7 (with François Crépeau).

“Understanding Gaps in Supports forTrafficked Migrants in Canada: A Discursive Approach” (external link)  (2024) Journal of International Migration and Integration, 1-25 (with Sasha Baglay & Varka Kalaydzieva).

Reviewing the Reviews (external link) : The Global Compacts' Added Value in Access to Asylum Procedures and Immigration Detention” (2023) 5 Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 1-16 (with Maja Grundler, Pauline Endres de Oliveira, Jürgen Bast, Elspeth Guild, Nicholas Maple, Kudakwashe Vanyoro, Janna Wessels & Jona Zyfi).

Canada’s Implementation of the UN Global Compacts on Migration and Refugees: (external link)  Advancing Foreign Policy Objectives and the Status Quo?”, Refugee Survey Quarterly (2023), 1-22 (with Claire Linley-Moore & Julie (Ha-Young) Kim).

“Montreal’s Sanctuary Policy for Non-Status Migrants: Opportunity and Obstacles” (external link) , Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, (2022) 38(2), 1–13. (with Graham Hudson).

"Les Nations Unies et les enjeux de la migration", (2021) Revue québécoise de droit international, Hors-série, 199-212.

“Expanding Canada’s Borders” (external link) , (2021) 68 Forced Migration Review, 33-35 (with Claire Ellis and Zainab Abu Alrob).

“Expanding Refugee Ineligibility : Canada’s Response to Secondary Refugee Movements” (external link)  (2021) 34(3) Journal of Refugee Studies, 2593–2612, (with Zainab Abu Alrob and Claire Ellis).

"L’Agence Frontex, la police européenne aux frontières au défi du respect des droits humains des migrants" (2020) Revue québécoise de droit international, Hors Série 70 ans de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme : L’Europe et les droits de la personne, 369-393 (with Ndeye Dieynaba Ndiaya).

“Policing Canada’s Refugee System: A Critical Analysis of the Canada Border Services Agency” (external link)  (2019) 31:4 International Journal of Refugee Law, 464-491 (with Graham Hudson and Delphine Nakache). 

“Canada’s Treatment of Non-Citizens through the Lens of the United Nations Individual Complaints Mechanisms” (external link)  (2019) 56 Canadian Yearbook of International Law, 292-327 (with Lorielle Giffin). 

“Playing with Lives under the Guise of Fair Play: The Safe Country of Origin Policy in the EU and Canada” (2018) 4:4 International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 345-359 (with Jona Zyfi).

“Safe Country of Origin: Constructing the Irregularity of Asylum Seekers in Canada” (external link)  (2018) 56:6 International Migration, 176-190. 

“The Securitization of Canada’s Refugee System: Reviewing the Unintended Policy Consequences”  (external link) (2018) 37:1 Refugee Survey Quarterly, 1-24 (with Graham Hudson and Delphine Nakache). 

« La mesure relative au ‹ pays d’origine désignés › : Une analyse des liens entre les politiques d’asile et la migration irrégulière au Canada » (2018) 171:1 Migration Société, 19-34.

“Global Migration Governance: Avoiding Commitments on Migration, Yet Tracing a Course for Cooperation” (2016) 34:2 Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, 110-143 (with François Crépeau).

Chapters in Books

“Asylum in the 21st Century: Trends and Challenges,” in A. Triandafyllidou (Ed.). Handbook on Immigration and Refugee Studies, (Oxfordshire, Routledge, 2023), 358-370 (with François Crépeau).

“The Externalization of Canada’s Border Policies: Extending Control, Restricting Mobility,” in E. Martani and Denise Helly (Eds.). Asylum and Resettlement in Canada. Historical Development, Successes, Challenges and Lessons Learned, (Milan, FrancoAngeli Publishing, 2022), 118-140 (with Claire Ellis).

“Refugee System as a Bordering Site: Security, Surveillance and the Rights of Asylum Seekers in Canada,” in G. Hudson and Idil Atak (Eds.), Migration, Security and Surveillance: Rescaling governance at the global and local levels, (Oxford: Routledge, 2022), 25-46 (with Claire Ellis and Zainab Abu Alrob).

“Sanctuary Cities and Covid-19: The Case of Canada,” in A. Triandafyllidou (Ed.), Migration and Pandemics. Spaces of Solidarity and Spaces of Exception (Springer. IMISCOE, 2021), 85-102 (with Mireille Paquet, Noémie Benoît, Meghan Joy, Graham Hudson and John Shields.

“’A Responsible and Committed City’: Montréal’s Sanctuary Policy,” in H. Sanders and L. Faret (eds.), Cities Protecting Migrants: Critical Perspectives on Urban Sanctuary and Hospitality in the Americas (London: Palgrave MacMillan Publishing, 2021), 105-130.

“Migrants as Refugees,” in C. Costello, M. Foster and J. McAdam (eds.), The Oxford Handbook on International Refugee Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021), 134-151 (with François Crépeau).

“Toronto’s Sanctuary City Policy: Rationale and Barriers,” in J. Darling and H. Bauder (eds.), Sanctuary Cities and Urban Struggles: Rescaling Migration, Citizenship and Rights (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2019), 105-130.

“The Criminalization of Migration in Canada and its Unintended Consequences.” (external link) , in M. Ruiz, C. Menjivar and I. Ness (eds.), Handbook on Migration Crises (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019).

“Legal Status and Vulnerabilities,” in T. Basaran and E. Guild (eds.), Global Labour and the Migrant Premium, The Cost of Living Abroad (London and New York: Routledge, 2018), 10-17 (with François Crépeau).

"Immigration et réfugiés", Fascicule 19 (Revised and Updated. First publication 2011), in Jurisclasseur Québec - Droit constitutionnel, Feuilles volantes (Montreal: LexisNexis, 2018), 82.

“An International Human Rights Framework for Migration in a Globalising World,” in A. Triandafyllidou (ed.), Handbook of Migration and Globalisation (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018), 17-37.

“A Legacy of Fragmentation,” in Th. Cottier and K. N. Schaefer (eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law (Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017), 494-496 (with François Crépeau).

"La lutte contre migration irrégulière en Europe et au Canada: Une étude comparative de l’efficacité et de l’impact du droit d’asile" in N. Neuwahl (ed.), Coherence and Incoherence in Migration Management and Integration (Montreal: Themis, 2017), 25-53.

Research Reports

“‘Migrants in Vulnerable Situations’ and the Global Compact for Safe Orderly and Regular Migration” (2018) 273 Queen Mary University of London Working Paper Series (with Delphine Nakache, Elspeth Guild and François Crépeau).

“‘Making Canada’s Refugee System Faster and Fairer’: Reviewing the Stated Goals and Unintended Consequences of the 2012 Reform” (2017) 2017:3 Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS) Working Paper Series (with Graham Hudson & Delphine Nakache).

“(No)Access T.O.: A Pilot Study on Sanctuary City Policy in Toronto, Canada” (2017) 1 Ryerson Centre for Immigration and Settlement (RCIS) Working Paper, (with Graham Hudson, Michele Manocchi and Charity Ann Hannan).

SSHRC Horizon 2020, “The Right to International Protection: A Pendulum Between Globalization and Nativization?,” 2020-2023, principal investigator

Early Researcher Award, Government of Ontario, “Balancing Security and Human Rights,” 2019-2024, principal investigator

SSHRC Insight, “Securitization of Migration and Asylum in Canada: A Comparative Analysis of Policy Consequences and Human Rights Impact,” 2014-2020, principal investigator

SSHRC Insight, “Examination of Protection and Assistance Measures for Foreign Nationals Trafficked to Canada,” 2019-2023, co-applicant

SSHRC Insight, “Pathways Into and Out of Irregularity for Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada: A Cross-Jurisdictional Analysis,” 2018-2023, co-applicant

SSHRC Insight, “Sanctuary Cities in Canada: A Socio-Legal Study,” 2018-2023, co-applicant

Best International Thesis Award, Centre d’Études et Recherches Internationales, Université de Montréal (CÉRIUM), 2012

Degree Institution
LLD (Doctor of Laws) Université de Montréal
MA (Master of Arts, Social Sciences) University of Marmara
BA (Bachelor of Arts, Public Administration and International Relations) University of Bogazici