Ongoing Projects

MIGNEX, Aligning Migration Management and the Migration-Development Nexus, funded by EU Horizon 2020, (September 2018 – September 2023)

  • Principal Investigators: Ayşen Üstübici, Ahmet İçduygu
  • Researchers: Pınar Ensari, Ezgi Elçi
  • Funder: Horizon 2020 – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-2020)

Overview: Two of the most influential ideas in migration research and policy are ‘migration management’ and ‘the migration–development nexus’. In Europe no less than in other regions of the world, each of these notions has spawned substantial research. But the connections between the two remain elusive. Addressing migration challenges requires an approach that aligns the two research fields and translates the linkages into policy implications. This is the challenge at the heart of MIGNEX. To our knowledge, MIGNEX is the largest European-funded research project on migration. This feature attests to the complexity and potential impact of the project. (Other research initiatives with larger budgets have addressed migration as one of several topics, been programmes rather than focused projects, or had other forms of funding.) The project will run for five years from September 2018. Primary field research will take place in ten countries of origin and transit: Afghanistan, Cabo Verde, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Tunisia, and Turkey. Data collection will encompass policy reviews, key informant interviews, focus groups, and a large sample survey. Much of the data collection will be focused on 25 research areas spread across the ten countries, allowing for identifying mechanisms at the local level.

  • Project Website: MIGNEX
  • Newsletter: MIGNEX has been producing a quarterly newsletter with updates about the project’s activities and results, since June 2019. Sign up here.
  • End-User Panel: The End-User Panel provides a means for MIGNEX to engage with a large and varied group of end users, who contribute their views in targeted and time-efficient ways. The panel includes the policy community, academic community, civil society and private sector. Apply here to join the MIGNEX End-User Panel.

Partners: The project is carried out by a consortium of nine institutions:

  • Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Norway – Coordinator
  • Danube University Krems, Austria
  • University of Ghana, Ghana
  • Koç University, Turkey
  • Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan
  • University of Maastricht, Netherlands
  • Overseas Development Institute (ODI), United Kingdom
  • University of Oxford, United Kingdom
  • Samuel Hall, Afghanistan (subcontractor)

Project Papers

Ensari, P., Üstübici, A., Kavur, N. and Ekhtiari, M. (2023) Migration-relevant policies in Turkey.
MIGNEX Background Paper (v2). Oslo: Peace Research Institute Oslo.

Üstübici A., İçduygu A., Ergün K., Ekhtiari M., Cangönül M., Thenot E., Adhanom T., Vlamis C.,
Aslam S., Fallon A. (2023) Comparative experiences of transit migration management.
MIGNEX Background Paper. Oslo: Peace Research Institute Oslo.