Dr Agnieszka Radziwinowiczówna, an ERC Starting Grant laureate, will carry out her project at the UW’s Centre of Migration Research. She will investigate why deportations to countries considered dangerous – previously suspended due to wars or other threats – are once again becoming possible and acceptable. This is the first ERC grant for research into contemporary migration to be carried out in Poland.

On 3rd September, Dr Agnieszka Radziwinowiczówna was awarded an ERC Starting Grant to carry out the project “Redefining the concept of the deportation regime: Deportations to dangerous countries re-legitimised” (acronym: REDIRECT), worth 1.5 million euros.

The project will begin in February 2027 and run until January 2032.

Deportations and the limits of sovereignty

The project concerns the resumption of deportations to countries to which they had not been carried out for years due to wars or other threats. In recent years, some countries have once again opted for such measures, presenting them as evidence of regaining control over borders and migration policy. Examples include deportations to Afghanistan from Germany and to Venezuela from the United States.

The aim of REDIRECT is to explain why and how such deportations are once again becoming possible and politically legitimised. The researcher will examine this phenomenon across four dimensions: legal, political, discursive and social. The analysis will cover Poland, Germany and the United States, as well as deportations to Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela.

“The starting point for my project is the paradox surrounding deportation and sovereignty. I would like to shift the interpretation of deportation away from the assumption that it reinforces sovereignty towards a more open-ended view, namely that this relationship need not be so straightforward, and indeed that in some situations it may pose a threat to the sovereignty of the deporting state,” explains Dr Agnieszka Radziwinowiczówna.

This is because deportation does not depend solely on the decision of a single state. Carrying it out may require negotiations and cooperation with the country of origin or third countries, as well as with international organisations and other entities. REDIRECT aims to show how these interdependencies affect states’ ability to exercise their sovereign authority.

Three countries, four deportation routes

As part of the project, comparative research will be carried out in Poland, Germany and the United States. The team will analyse the scale and trends in deportations, as well as their legal, political and social contexts.

The researchers will draw on statistical data, legal and archival documents, as well as political and media materials. They will also conduct interviews with representatives of institutions and organisations involved in the deportation process, as well as with individuals at risk of deportation. Part of the research will be carried out in collaboration with migrant organisations.

A key element of the project will be the analysis of political and media discourse, as well as social media discourse, alongside public opinion surveys in Poland, Germany and the USA.

“This will enable us to examine how deportations are portrayed and justified, and how public support for carrying them out is changing,” says the researcher.

The project will combine qualitative and quantitative methods. These will include, amongst others, legal and archival analysis, in-depth interviews, discourse analysis, process tracing and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). The data collected will enable us to reconstruct the processes leading to the re-legitimisation of deportations and to identify the legal, political, social and diplomatic factors that facilitate this.

A new perspective on the deportation regime

One of REDIRECT’s key objectives is to challenge the notion that deportation is primarily a tool for strengthening state sovereignty. The project frames it as a transnational and multi-level process, dependent on the relationships between states, institutions and other actors involved in the deportation process.

The researcher also proposes the concept of “re-legitimised deportations”. This refers to situations in which deportations previously suspended or challenged due to danger in the destination country are once again being presented as permissible and justified.

REDIRECT aims to help identify which legal, political and social changes enable such a process and what role, amongst other factors, shifting attitudes towards human rights and the growing influence of populism play in it.

“REDIRECT proposes a new, transnational and multi-scalar approach that allows deportations to be situated within intersecting geographies of power,” emphasises Dr Agnieszka Radziwinowiczówna.