30 June 2026
Vulnerable by Legal Design
Today, the deadline expires for applications under Spain’s extraordinary regularization program that made headlines around the world when announced in January 2026. Designed to provide a pathway to legal residence for hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants already present in the country, it is the largest regularization initiative in the country's history. Yet the program raises questions that extend well beyond the Spanish context. In particular, it invites reflection on the relationship between irregular status and vulnerability. Continue reading >>
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05 March 2026
Forays Into Reality
For decades, xenophobia has been relegated to the margins of the UN treaty body system: it was routinely invoked alongside racism but rarely treated as a legal problem in its own right. On February 3, two UN treaty bodies issued two joint interpretative comments on eradicating xenophobia against migrants and others perceived as such. For all their efforts, they dodge the all-important structural tension arising from migration governance: xenophobia is embedded in an international system that recognises the sovereign impulse to police migration not only as a (much critiqued) prerogative but, crucially, as a legitimate objective. Continue reading >>
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04 January 2026
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
The Court of Justice’s judgments in W.S. et al and Hamoudi mark an important shift in accountability at Europe’s borders. The Court made clear that Frontex cannot evade judicial responsibility for fundamental rights violations. The rulings lower evidentiary hurdles for victims of deportations and pushbacks and underscore that remedies against EU agencies must work in practice. Taken together, the cases push back against Frontex’s long-standing structural irresponsibility and reaffirm the rule of law in EU asylum governance. Continue reading >>
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27 May 2025
Dismantling Jus Soli
The principle of jus soli has been progressively dismantled in France through the tightening of conditions governing access to French nationality in Mayotte—the 101st department of the Republic and an archipelago in the Comoros located in the Indian Ocean. This restrictive approach was reinforced by the adoption, on 9 April 2025, of a new legislative measure designed to further limit access to birthright citizenship. The Conseil constitutionnel upheld the constitutionality of the contested provisions in its decision of 7 May 2025. Continue reading >>21 April 2024
Selective, Reactive and Liminal
With a staggering 450 million internal migrants (as of the 2011 census), migration has become integral to the political economy of India. India also has the largest diaspora in the world, numbering 18 million people. The modes, institutions, and ideological underpinnings of migration governance vis-à-vis both internal and international migration have witnessed substantial shifts and continuities ever since the ascendance of the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) led Modi government in 2014. Continue reading >>
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