Centring migrant voices and perspectives in migration policy and practice

Migration policy making is often driven by political priorities, buttressed by ill-informed assumptions about the motivations and aspirations of those who move and ignoring, marginalising or misrepresenting the voices and perspectives of refugees and migrants themselves. Through the research team’s migrant-centred approach, and extensive engagement with parliamentarians, policy advisors, NGOs, local authorities, social enterprise and the media, this research contributed to significant shifts in narratives and practice at the UYK, EU and global levels.

The MEDMIG project generated new insights into migration across the Mediterranean in 2015, challenging dominant political and media narratives and informing migration policy and practice in Europe and beyond. The findings have:

• Increased representation of migrant voices and perspectives in migration policy making processes in Europe and globally, a process now being taken forward by the GCRF-funded MIDEQ Hub;
• Influenced the policy and practice of international organisations, NGOs and local government;
• Raised awareness of migrant voices and perspectives through the media and private sector engagement;
• Informed the design and delivery of curriculum in British schools through the Maths of Migration (MoM) project led by PositiveNegatives, and through resources developed by the Royal Geographical Society.

Professor Crawley’s MEDMIG-based evidence to the House of Lords, EU Committee’s (2017) Inquiry into Unaccompanied Children in Europe, was cited in the Committee’s final report. The researchers worked closely with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) to produce policy briefings, seminars and a Brussels report launch. MEDMIG is referenced in the European Commission’s 2018 report European migration: dynamics, drivers, and the role of politics and informed the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum due to be adopted in 2020. 

MEDMIG was presented at a side-event at the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York (2015) in partnership with the OHCHR, and Professor Crawley contributed as an expert at UNHCR’s thematic discussions in Geneva (June, October, November 2017) and presented at the High Commissioner’s Global Dialogue in December 2017. GCRF-funding of £20m was subsequently secured to establish the MIDEQ Hub, a global network of scholars in 12 countries which aims to shift the production of knowledge on migration and ensure that the experiences and voices of migrants outside Europe are centred in national, regional and global migration policy making processes. MIDEQ’s international project partners include IOM, OECD, ILO, OHCHR and UNRISD.

Our Team

Professor Heaven Crawley, Professor of International Migration
Dr Katharine Jones, Associate Professor

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Explore our publications.