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 21-30 of 36 total results
When Emergency Measures Become the Norm: Post-coronavirus prospects for the Schengen zone
Most EU Member States closed their borders to travel from neighboring countries in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. While internal borders in the Schengen zone largely reopened in time for summer holidays, there is a lingering sense they could snap shut anew. Though the reflexive introduction of border controls speaks to an inherent lack of trust between states, the 2015-16 migration crisis offers lessons on how to begin to rebuild trust, as this commentary explores.
Measuring Up? Using monitoring and evaluation to make good on the promise of refugee sponsorship
COVID-19 disruptions offered policymakers a timely opening to build monitoring and evaluation systems to strengthen and scale refugee sponsorship programmes.
Using Evidence to Improve Refugee Resettlement: A monitoring and evaluation road map
European resettlement programmes lack robust monitoring and evaluation systems. This road map offers steps to build evidence-based frameworks that improve refugee outcomes.
The COVID-19 Pandemic Suggests the Lessons Learned by European Asylum Policymakers After the 2015 Migration Crisis Are Fading
As European asylum systems are tested again by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has injected the need for social distancing during processing and in reception centers, it appears lessons learned during the 2015-16 migration and refugee crisis may be fading. Chief among them: A number of Member States have phased out their buffer capacity. This MPI Europe commentary explores the diametrically different approaches taken to asylum during the pandemic.
Expert Podcast: Meeting Seasonal Labor Needs in the Age of COVID-19
What happens to agriculture and food security when pandemic travel restrictions block seasonal migrant workers?
Chasing Efficiency: Can operational changes fix European asylum systems?
Since Europe's 2015–16 migration crisis, EU countries have tested operational asylum reforms, yielding mixed but instructive results.
The Future of Refugee Resettlement: Made in Europe?
Europe's refugee resettlement capacity has grown dramatically, with resettlement places more than doubling since 2014, even as European countries have become an emerging center for innovation. As Europe accounts for a rising share of resettlement worldwide, will European policymakers claim a leadership role in shaping the global resettlement agenda or fall into this position by default?
Refugee Sponsorship Programmes: A global state of play and opportunities for investment
As refugee resettlement falls globally, private investment in sponsorship programmes can catalyse new pathways and sustain existing ones.
Legal Migration for Work and Training: Mobility options to Europe for those not in need of protection
Five EU countries offer legal work channels for low- and middle-skilled migrants, but slow procedures, weak protections, and skills mismatches limit effectiveness.
Money Wise: Improving how EU funds support migration and integration policy objectives
EU funding for migration and integration remained faulty ahead of the 2021–27 budget cycle, with the 2015-2016 migration crisis exposing gaps in inclusion, coherence, and evidence use.
