Esra Kaytaz

The primary inspiration for my research has been my practical experience working with refugees in Turkey starting in 2003. This experience has driven my continued interest in the theorisation of migrant decision-making and of risk in the context of migration, and more recently in migrant health and well-being, migration journeys and the legal consciousness about the asylum system. I strive to produce theoretically well-grounded research that I hope will contribute to improving the treatment of migrants.

Between 2017 and 2019 I was the UK-focused principal researcher for the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) funded project '(En)gendering Migration, Development and Belonging: the experiences of recently arrived Afghans in Europe'. We explored gendered experiences of belonging among Afghan refugees who recently arrived  in Switzerland, Germany, Denmark and the UK. 

As part of the project 'Temporary protection as a durable solution? The 'return turn' in asylum policies in Europe (TemPro)' I am researching durability of residence and protection for refugees in the UK. This project, funded by the research Council of Norway, is a collobartion between anthropologists and legal scholars analysing policy measures and legal developments that have made refugee status more temporary in Norway, Denmark and the UK and the experiences of refugees affected by these trends.