Hanne Beirens
Hanne Beirens is former Director of Migration Policy Institute Europe, where she specialised in European Union policies related to asylum and migration, human trafficking, labour migration, and youth. She is an MPI Europe Fellow.
Prior to joining MPI as Associate Director in 2015, Dr. Beirens worked as a Lead Managing Consultant for ICF Consulting, where she focused on impact assessments, feasibility studies, and evaluations for the European Commission, with a particular focus on EU asylum and migration policy.
Earlier, Dr. Beirens worked as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Applied Social Studies of the University of Birmingham, evaluating services, organisations, and community-based initiatives pursuing the integration of asylum seekers, refugees, and third-country nationals. She also has worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and as an independent consultant for the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO).
She holds a master's degree in race and ethnic relations (with distinction) and a PhD in sociology and ethnic relations on the participation of minors in armed conflict, both from the University of Warwick (UK).
Explore Content by Hanne Beirens
Showing 11-20 of 36 total results
The UK-Rwanda Agreement Represents Another Blow to Territorial Asylum
The United Kingdom’s controversial deal with Rwanda to relocate certain asylum seekers there—not for offshore processing for possible settlement in the United Kingdom but as a permanent destination—will have far-reaching implications, possibly destabilizing the norms and architecture of the post-World War II protection system, this commentary argues.
Briefing on Ukraine: Avenues to Safety and Meeting Immediate Needs
This discussion focused on the first-ever implementation of the EU Temporary Protection Directive in response to the 2022 Ukrainian crisis, prospects for the integration of the displaced, and lessons from the 2015-2016 refugee crisis.
Is Europe Prepared for a Possible Large-Scale Ukrainian Displacement Crisis?
Tested by the 2015-16 refugee crisis, are EU Member States better prepared for large-scale displacement of Ukrainians? This MPI Europe commentary examines preparedness for the possible inflow of Ukrainians, who already have visa-free access to the bloc.
Putting Migrant Reintegration Programmes to the Test: A road map to a monitoring system
EU-funded assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) programmes lack robust monitoring. This road map proposes frameworks for economic, social, and psychosocial outcomes.
Social Innovation for Refugee Inclusion (SI4RI): Sowing innovation in the cracks of crisis
This conference explored how the diverse landscape of partnerships, social enterprises, participatory models, and community-led initiatives spearheading social innovation for inclusion has fared during COVID-19, and how this ecosystem could emerge strengthened from the pandemic.
Opening More Avenues for Protection for Refugees
From a global review of refugee resettlement and complementary pathway programs, experts offered recommendations on how stakeholders can most effectively support the growth of resettlement and complementary pathways.
Refugee Resettlement and Complementary Pathways: Opportunities for growth
Resettlement reaches fewer than 1 percent of refugees annually. To scale protection, labor, education, and sponsorship pathways are being used but face persistent barriers.
The International Community Must Develop a Well-Coordinated Protection Strategy for Afghan Refugees
There is no doubt that many Afghan citizens will need protection in the weeks and months ahead. What remains shrouded in uncertainty, however, is the magnitude of need and where to offer that protection. This commentary discusses how the international community can develop a coordinated strategy to protect those fleeing persecution and support host societies in Afghanistan's immediate neighborhood.
The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum—A Bold Move to Avoid the Abyss?
The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum represents a last-gasp effort by European leaders to devise a plan that keeps all 27 countries at the table, at a time when growing numbers are refusing to accept asylum seekers under the existing redistribution mechanism. Can the pact’s concept of solidarity à la carte work? The pact may well be the last step before an abyss in which each country determines the fate of migrants and refugees, practically guaranteeing future conflict.
Greece’s Moria Tragedy: The crash test for the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum
The fires that devastated the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos have further raised the stakes for the soon-to-be unveiled EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. If Moria persists as a concept—with asylum seekers prevented from onward movement elsewhere in Europe—this becomes an integral pillar of future EU asylum practice, whatever is written on paper, as this commentary explores.
