We would like to congratulate Dr. Thomas Swerts who has received the Vidi grant for his research on irregular immigration and urban migration infrastructures. Swerts has received the grant to research how urban migration infrastructures facilitate irregular migrant mobility. The grant of 800.000 by the Dutch Research Council (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO) enables researchers to develop their own research line and build a research group.
About the research
Irregular migration has become a political priority in Europe. While European and national policies criminalize migrants who are 'in transit' to a further destination, cities and local actors are taking a more inclusive stance. However, local responses to 'transit migration' suffer from a double knowledge gap about the field of institutional and non-institutional actors providing local services to undocumented migrants and the conditions of migrants on the ground. This project addresses this deficit by comparing urban migration infrastructures in three European transit hubs and demonstrating how these infrastructures facilitate the entry, transit, settlement and exit of undocumented migrants.
Swerts is also part of our Team Science research group on inclusive Urban Digital Twins.
This is really a fantastic achievement - well done!