Master International Migration and Refugee Law VU University Amsterdam

05/05/2022

Thursday 12 May: Student seminar on the situation of refugees from Ukraine in Europe

Almost 5.4 million Ukrainian refugees entered the EU, 7.7 million people are internally displaced. Contrary to the general approach towards refugees, the EU kept its borders open for Ukrainians and invoked the Temporary Protection Directive. What does Directive entail, and how is it implemented across the EU? Does it effectively protect Ukrainian refugees? And what does this mean for non-Ukrainian refugees and migrants?

This seminar is organised especially for VU students by Roos IJkema, student of the VU master International Migration and Refugee Law. During the seminar Lieneke Slingenberg (Professor of Migrants and the Rule of Law at the VU) will first introduce the Temporary Protection Directive. Marcelle Reneman (Assistant Professor of migration law at the VU will speak about the application of the Temporary Protection Directive in the Netherlands. Flavius Iliona-Loga (director at LOGS Romania, working with refugee flows from Ukraine and the Middle East) will shine his light on recent developments. More speakers will be announced later. There will also be plenty of time for questions and debate.

Date: 12 May 2022
Time: 16:00-17:30 hrs
Place: Vrije Universiteit, Nieuw Universiteitsgebouw (New University Building) Room NU 3B-19

Registration is not necessary.

Thursday 12 May: Student seminar on the situation of refugees from Ukraine in Europe Almost 5.4 million Ukrainian refugees entered the EU, 7.7 million people are internally displaced. Contrary to the general approach towards refugees, the EU kept its borders open for Ukrainians and invoked the Tempo...

13/04/2022

Refugees from Ukraine who have escaped warfare are subsequently forced to navigate urgent and complex legal issues in pursuit of state protection and safety. A Filipino parent seeking reunification with their family in Europe faces similar obstacles. Both are confronted with the interrelationships between humanitarian and human rights law, and the interactions between international and domestic legal systems.

Due to the complex interplay between different jurisdictions and fields of law, international migration and refugee law must be analysed from a multitude of angles and disciplines. This specialisation studies international migration from the perspective of international and European law, and focuses on how they function in domestic legal orders.
Learn more: https://vu.nl/en/education/master/law/curriculum?year=1st-year&specialization=international-migration-and-refugee-law

10/03/2022

In a week, Janna Wessels’ book 'The Concealment Controversy. Sexual Orientation, Discretion Reasoning and the Scope of Refugee Protection' (Cambridge University Press, 2021) will be the subject of a hybrid online/on campus seminar of the Amsterdam Centre for Migration and Refugee Law. The seminar will be held at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on Thursday 17 March 2022, 10.00-11.00 AM Central European Time.

There will be contributions by Janna Wessels (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Michelle Foster (Melbourne Law School), Samuel Ballin (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Jenni Millbank (University of Technology Sydney) and Thomas Spijkerboer (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam).

See for more information about the book, the hybrid event and how to register:

Hybrid seminar on Janna Wessels’ book ‘The Concealment Controversy. Sexual Orientation, Discretion Reasoning and the Scope of Refugee Protection’ Janna Wessels’ book The Concealment Controversy. Sexual Orientation, Discretion Reasoning and the Scope of Refugee Protection (Cambridge Universit...

08/03/2022

Expert Opinion ‘Safeguarding the Rights of minor Union citizens: The right to emergency shelter in light of EU law’

The Migration Law Clinic of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has published a new expert opinion, titled ‘Safeguarding the Rights of minor Union citizens: The right to emergency shelter in light of EU law’. The Clinic provides legal advice to lawyers, Non‐Governmental Organisations, and other organisations on complex legal questions of European migration law. The following persons contributed to this expert opinion: Charlotte Carella, Fadi Fahad, Léa Lantelme, Flora Platteuw, Eva van der Wal (students), mr. Isabella Leroy, mr. dr. Dion Kramer (supervisors), mr. dr. Marcelle Reneman (coordinator).

The objective of the expert opinion is to examine whether the decision by the municipality of Amsterdam to refuse (prolonged) access to emergency shelter to a lawfully residing TCN mother and her dependent minor child with Dutch nationality is in conformity with EU law.

The expert opinion first argues that the municipality of Amsterdam was not acting in line with Article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) by refusing to provide emergency shelter to a TCN mother and her minor Union citizen child. Second, the expert opinion contends that the municipality of Amsterdam was not acting in line with Article 21 TFEU by setting a two-year residence requirement (region connection) for emergency shelter.

For more information and access to the expert opinion see here:

Expert Opinion ‘Safeguarding the Rights of minor Union citizens: The right to emergency shelter in light of EU law’ The Migration Law Clinic of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has published a new expert opinion, titled ‘Safeguarding the Rights of minor Union citizens: The right to emergency s...

24/02/2022

Online master event VU International Migration and Refugee Law: Saturday 5 March

Are you interested in studying migration and refugee law and their relationship with fundamental human rights law, while maintaining an interdisciplinary approach? Then the master in International Migration and Refugee Law of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is the programme for you! On Saturday March 5th, 2022, the Vrije Universiteit is organising an online master event for prospective students. Lecturers and current students of the International Migration and Refugee Law (LL.M) specialisation will offer information and answer questions attendees have about the programme and student-life in Amsterdam via the chat (11:00 to 2:00 pm CET) and two Zoom sessions (11:00 am and 1:00 pm CET). We highly recommend those who are interested in studying the field of migration and refugee law to join the event.

The full programme and link to registration for the VU master event can be found here:

Visit our VU Online Master's Event on Saturday, 5 March and discover our Master's programmes.

06/12/2021

Meet us tomorrow during the VU Master Event! Tomorrow the master track International Migration and Refugee Law of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam will present itself. There will be short presentations followed by a Q and A via Zoom at 15:30 hrs and 18:00 hrs. From 15:00 hrs until 19:00 hrs an IMRL student will answer your questions via the chat. You can register for the event at: https://vu.nl/en/education/more-about/vu-master-s-event.

Visit our VU Online Master's Event on Tuesday, December 7 and discover our Master's programmes.

27/05/2020

Registration for the IMRL master is still open until 15 July and we more than welcome international students to participate in our program from September. All educational activities will take place online until (at least) 1 November 2020. Until that time, it is therefore not necessary to travel to and live in Amsterdam. Students who prefer to start their master later, may consider to start in February 2021. Registration for this is open until 1 November (non-EU citizens) or 1 January (all other students). See for more information on how the VU deals with Covid-19:

Even though these are uncertain times, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is committed to engaging fully with the delivery of our education programmes. Thinking about studying at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam? That is still very much possible!

19/12/2019

Maarten Kos, former IMRL student, has won the Hanneke Steenbergen Scriptieprijs 2019, an annual prize for the best Master’s Thesis in migration law. Maarten’s thesis, which was supervised by Thomas Spijkerboer, examines the question: “To what extent can Italy be held responsible under international law for the human rights violations of migrants intercepted at sea and returned to Libya by the Libyan coast guard through its support of the Libyan coast guard in doing so?’ The jury unanimously decided Maarten to be the winner. According to the jury, “Kos undertook a very impressive and rich research on an extremely urgent problem stemming from cooperation with third states — known to lack human rights safeguards — to stem the influx of refugees and migrants. (…) The thesis is very accessible, as it is very well written with a clear focus and convincing arguments. In conclusion, Kos’ thesis is impressive and a must-read for practitioners and policy makers.” Many congratulations to Maarten! His thesis is available here: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A596a156a-7010-46dc-893b-be05ebc24766
Congratulations also go to former IMRL students Agostina Pirrello and Greta Albertari, who received honorable mention of the jury. Greta and Agostina wrote a legal and philosophical analysis of Italian immigration law (Salvini Act) based on the theater work of Pirandello.

15/10/2019

The Thoolen NJCM-Thesis Award!

Did you graduate in 2018 or 2019?

Compete for the Thoolen NJCM-Thesis Award! (Deadline: December 1st, 2019)

The best thesis will be published as a book!

This year the Dutch section of the International Commission of Jurists (NJCM) will select the best Master thesis in the field of human-rights.

Any law student with a university or higher professional educational background is welcome to participate, provided that you have (partially) studied in The Netherlands. The thesis must have been written in either the academic year of 2017/18 or 2018/19.

Before submitting your thesis, check whether you meet the requirements as stated in the Regulation for the Thoolen NJCM-Thesis Award. For any additional questions you can contact the NJCM-secretary at: [email protected] / 071-527 7748.



Visit the Thoolen NJCM-Thesis Award webpage for more information about previous award winners, the jury members and the Regulation.



Deadline
The deadline for submitting your thesis is the December 1st, 2019.

12/05/2019

The International Migration and Refugee Law Moot Court Competition was a great success. It was a great pleasure to receive teams and judges from all over the world at the Vrije Universiteit. All students were very well prepared and the oral rounds were of a very high level. Congratulations to the team of Ghent University for winning the competition and to Hong Kong University for reaching the final. We want to thank VUvereniging, Everaert Immigration Lawyers and the Ministry of Justice and Security for sponsoring this event. And thanks to Amnesty International and the District Court of Amsterdam for allowing us to use their building/court room!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6zup5SWI-g