External affiliated members
Jill Alpes
Jill Alpes is a legal anthropologist of migration. At Ughent, her research focuses on the work of international human rights lawyers in brokering evidence on pushbacks from European borders. Over the last ten years, Jill has worked at research institutes in the Netherlands, France, Denmark and Germany, as well as for and in collaboration with foundations and human rights organizations, such as Amnesty, Oxfam, DRC and Picum. Her book “Abroad at any cost: Brokering High-risk migration and illegality in West Africa” (Routledge) challenges narratives of smuggling and trafficking and considers the governance of migration from the perspective of individuals and families in a country of departure in West Africa (Cameroon). Jill’s interest in access barriers to asylum and post-return risks have brought her to carry out field research in Europe (France, Netherlands, Greece, Italy), rural and urban Africa (Cameroon, DRC, Mali, Nigeria, Niger) and the Middle East (Turkey, Lebanon).
Laura Smith-Khan
Dr Laura Smith-Khan is the first external affiliated member of CESSMIR. She is Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of New England, Australia. From 2019 to 2024 she was Chancellor’s Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney. Her research is interested in the participation of marginalized groups in migration processes. In 2022 she won the Max Crawford Medal, the most prestigious prize in Australia for achievement and promises in the humanities. She co-founded the Law and Linguistics Interdisciplinary Researchers’ Network. In her most recent research Dr Smith-Khan is examining the communication, regulation and education of migration advisors. She has conducted extensive research on language and credibility in asylum procedures and public discourse, and has also worked on a groundbreaking multi-country project on disability in forced migration. She is a member of the Language on the Move research group.
