Is irregular migration really a recent phenomenon? Drawing on colonial archives, Y. Benhadda traces #lhrig, a Maghrebi term for irregular border crossing, back to colonial Morocco, challenging dominant narratives of crisis and unprecedentedness in today’s migration debates.

doi.org/10.1093/migr...

This historicising exercise is at the core of my research programme which I will be continue working on during my upcoming 8-months fellowship at MECAM - University of Tunis. mecam.tn/yazid-benhad...

This paper is a continuation of my paper published earlier this summer in IPS. academic.oup.com/ips/article/...
Both papers share the same aim: historicising contemporary migration governance by empirically tracing its practices back to colonial times.

It sheds light on how the French colonial administration in Morocco governed this phenomenon by taking a punitive approach towards this practice. This echoes the punitive logic by which the EU continues to deal with the phenomenon in our times.

New publication 🚨
This paper explores how Moroccan colonial migrants challenged the passport regime imposed by the French colonial administration - similarly to how many Moroccans and North Africans continue to do so today. academic.oup.com/migration/ar...

Really happy to share that I have successfully defended my PhD yesterday! Thanks to my supervisors @irenefmolina.bsky.social and @briegp.bsky.social for their support throughout the journey and to examiners Martin Thomas and @fionaadamson.bsky.social for their generous and constructive feedback.

Thank you, Alex!!

Shukran Kevork!

Thanks Catherine!!

@cais-exeter.bsky.social, @sfb138.bsky.social, @exeterspspa.bsky.social

Happy to share that my first publication is out on IPS! 🥳 In this paper, I offer a new approach to securitization which aims to anchor contemporary securitization processes targeting postcolonial populations in colonial history. Check it out:
academic.oup.com/ips/article/...

📣 EWIS 2025 WORKSHOPS 📣

✅ (WS U) The Maghreb in World Politics and IR: From Scholarly Liminality to Centring the In-Between

Call for abstracts for our @europeanisa.bsky.social #EWIS25 workshop on 'The Maghreb in World Politics and IR: From Scholarly Liminality to Centring the In-Between' (Krakow, 2-4 July)

Convened by @yazidbenhadda.bsky.social and myself

👉 eisa-net.org/wp-content/u...

Submission deadline: 11 February

Been looking forward to this! Very excited to continue working on security, the colonial, and North Africa during my time in Marburg!