Postgraduate Researchers

PhD Research Student - School of Social Science, Law and Education, TU Dublin

Project Title: Understanding Irregular Migration: Lived Experiences of African Asylum Seekers and the Effectiveness of EU Migration Policy, the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF)

Project Abstract: 

Over the past decades, there has been an increase in the number of asylum seekers applying for international protection in the EU. In 2015, more than one million people crossed the Mediterranean Sea, risking their lives to reach European soil. African asylum seekers and other irregular migrants are now at the forefront of the political debate on immigration in Europe. Although human migration is not a novel phenomenon in our world today, how people migrate, where people migrate to, the routes people migrate by, and the consequences of their migration have generated diverse perspectives on migration, particularly irregular migration. This study examines factors that cause African asylum seekers to flee their homes to seek international protection in the EU. In addition, the study evaluated current EU policies on migration, such as the European Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF), to determine whether the instrument has achieved its goal. The purpose is to provide a better understanding of the phenomenon under investigation through the lived experiences of African asylum seekers. It used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to capture the subjective experiences of African asylum seekers who have encountered EU policies first-hand. The research participants are asylum-seekers who originated from countries benefiting from the EUTF development projects and are currently seeking asylum in the EU, particularly in Ireland. The research employed gatekeepers, the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) and the Movement of Asylum-Seekers in Ireland (MASI) to recruit participants, and the snowball method of data collection to increase the number of participants. Ten study participants above 18 years of age were selected for the study. The research began by examining human migration and the classification of people's movements under international and domestic law, in contemporary state structures. The study examines the EU policies that aim to reduce the number of African asylum seekers in the EU, with a particular focus on the EUTF. It proceeds to consider these policies in light of the lived experiences of asylum seekers who have encountered them first-hand. The study concluded by suggesting that development aid is not a suitable instrument for preventing the arrival of African asylum seekers in the EU. It made recommendations on how the EU could reform its approach in this area. 

Supervisors: Dr Gene Carolan