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Prof. Dr. Ellen Desmet

Professor of Migration Law

Academic Title Prof. Dr.
Email ellen.desmet[@]ugent.be
Phone +32 (0)9 264 69 13

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Prof. Dr. Ellen Desmet's Bio

Ellen Desmet is an Associate Professor of Migration Law at the Faculty of Law and Criminology of Ghent University. She founded and heads the Migration Law Research Group (MigrLaw). Her research is situated at the intersection of migration law, human rights and legal anthropology. She teaches migration law and ‘Law and Society’, and coordinates the migration law component of the Human Rights and Migration Law Clinic.

Ellen Desmet complemented her law studies (KU Leuven) with a master in Cultures and Development Studies (KU Leuven) and a master in Development Cooperation (Ghent University). She holds a PhD in Law from the KU Leuven (2010) and previously held positions at the Children’s Rights Knowledge Centre, the Law and Development Research Group of the University of Antwerp and the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University.

Prof. Dr. Ellen Desmet's Featured Research Projects

Migrant and refugee rights

Human rights of non-removable migrants

Migrant and refugee rights

Gender-(in)sensitivity in the European asylum procedure

By Lore Roels & Prof. Dr. Ellen Desmet

Migrant and refugee rights

REFUFAM – The Integration of Refugee Families in Belgium

By Roos-Marie van den Bogaard & Prof. Dr. Ellen Desmet

Gender equality, sexual and reproductive rights, LGBTIQ Rights

SOGI asylum claims

By Liselot Casteleyn & Prof. Dr. Ellen Desmet

View all research

Prof. Dr. Ellen Desmet's Publications

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Prof. Dr. Ellen Desmet's Professional Positions

Associate Professor of Migration Law, Ghent University (Oct. 2021 – present)
Assistant Professor of Migration Law, Ghent University (Oct. 2016 – present)
Post-doctoral fellow, Ghent University, Human Rights Centre (2012–Sept. 2016) – 50%
Post-doctoral fellow, University of Antwerp, Law and Development Research Group (2012– Sept. 2016) – 50%
Lecturer in anthropology of law (subst.), KU Leuven, Law Faculty (2012)
Senior research and policy advice officer, Children’s Rights Knowledge Centre (KeKi) (2010 – 2012)
Voluntary post-doctoral fellow, KU Leuven, Institute for Migration Law and Legal Anthropology (2010 – 2012)
PhD researcher, KU Leuven, Institute for Migration Law and Legal Anthropology (2005 – 2009)

Prof. Dr. Ellen Desmet's Education

University Degrees

Doctor in Law, KU Leuven, Belgium, 2010
Master in Development Cooperation, Ghent University, magna cum laude, 2004
Master in Cultures and Development Studies (CADES), KU Leuven, magna cum laude, 2003
Licentiate in law, KU Leuven, magna cum laude, 2002
University of Stellenbosch, South Africa (LL.M., one semester)
Candidate in law, KU Leuven, Department of Kortrijk (KULAK), magna cum laude, 1998

Prof. Dr. Ellen Desmet's Sideline activities/memberships

Associate editor of Legal Pluralism and Critical Social Analysis, 2022 – present
Executive body member of the Commission on Legal Pluralism, 2022 – present
Board member of the Vereniging voor de Sociaal-Wetenschappelijke Bestudering van het Recht (VSR – Dutch-Flemish Law and Society Association), 2021 – present
Board member of Myria – Federal Migration Centre, 2021 – present
Board member of Unia – Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities, 2021 – present
Promoter of the interdisciplinary research consortium ‘UGent Human Rights Network’, 2020 – present
Promoter of the interdisciplinary research consortium ‘Crime, Criminology and Criminal Policy’ (CCCP), 2017 – present
Board member of NANSEN – the Belgian Refugee Council, 2016 – present
Promotor of the Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees (CESSMIR), 2016 – present
Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the International Journal of Children’s Rights, 2015 – present
Member of the Ghent Rolin-Jaequemyns International Law Institute(GRILI), 2015 – present
Member of the Steering Committee of the Scholars at Risk Network, Ghent University, 2014 – present