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Experts, not vulnerable: Centring dignity in research with irregularised migrants

Leila Giannetto https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4204-9078, Abubaker Khan, […], Yagoub Kibeida, Sandra King-Savic https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8207-8562, Usman Mahar, and Caitlin Procter https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8055-4921 [email protected]+3View all authors and affiliations

https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941251377261

Abstract
References
Biographies

Abstract

Discussions on the conduct of research among individuals who reside in a place without legal status – widely referred to as irregular migrants – have long engaged with the ethical dilemmas that this work entails. Typically, this is done in relation to the perceived vulnerability of research participants. This article is the product of a collaborative reflection on methodological aspects of qualitative research with a population widely perceived and described as ‘vulnerable’. We aim to foreground dignity methodologically to better understand how irregularised migrants both encounter and struggle against the label of vulnerability; how, perhaps, research can play a role in acknowledging the dignity of individuals who have repeatedly experienced ‘vulnerabilisation’ in their migration journeys. Re-positioning individuals often framed as ‘vulnerable’ instead as ‘experts’, we put forward a methodological roadmap to critically engage with the concept of vulnerability in migration research.

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Biographies

Leila Giannetto is Research Fellow at the Migration Policy Centre of the European University Institute, where she works on the Protecting Irregular Migrants in Europe (PRIME) project.

Abubaker Khan is a trained nursing assistant and social care worker specialising in geriatric care.

Yagoub Kibeida is former Executive Director of Mosaicorefugees, and currently serves as Founder and President of the Global Aid Connection, an organization dedicated to humanitarian aid, peace-building, and development on an international scale.

Sandra King-Savić is a researcher at the University of Zürich and lecturer at the University of St. Gallen.

Usman Mahar is an independent researcher.

Caitilin Procter is a part-time Professor at the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute with a secondary appointment in the Department of Social and Political Sciences, as well as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow at the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding at the Geneva Graduate Institute.

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