Ruben Wissing

Ruben is a postdoctoral researcher at the Migration Law Research Group (MigrLaw) of Ghent University, Belgium, affiliated with both the Human Rights Centre (HRC) and the Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees (CESSMIR). He is also connected to the Refugee Law Initiative (RLI) at the University of London. In 2022, he completed his PhD, focusing on refugee protection in Morocco through a multidisciplinary lens.

Ruben's research explores the legal, policy, and practical applications of core principles in the international refugee protection regime – such as non-refoulement, solidarity, asylum and human rights. His work emphasizes inter-state and regional dynamics across Europe and Africa, alongside the lived experiences of migrants.

His scholarship lies at the intersection of doctrinal refugee and asylum law, human rights analysis, socio-legal research, and critical theoretical perspectives. In addition to his research, Ruben serves as a teaching assistant in Law and Society and Global Discourse and Narratives of Crime.

Ruben holds a degree in Law from Leuven and Madrid, and a Bachelor's in Philosophy. He practiced as a migration and asylum lawyer and held roles as a legal officer and policy coordinator in various Belgian non-profits. He also worked as an independent consultant for European NGOs and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).Notably, Ruben co-founded NANSEN, the Belgian Refugee Council.

Planned research at ODID

During my visiting fellowship, I will explore the concepts of 'solidarity' and 'protection' as they were and are understood in refugee protection policies in postcolonial Africa. My research will examine the legal content that states and international organizations attached to these central ideas of the international refugee regime and the inter-state and regional policy practices that emerged from it during the second half of the 20th century. I will also investigate how these historical interpretations and practices are linked to decolonization processes in the Global South. The focus will be on the 1969 OAU Convention Governing Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa and how Pan-African ideals of the time influenced responses to specific situations of forced migration in the 1960s-80s.

The research will involve a literature review and archival research, particularly examining preparatory works of international and regional law, with emphasis on diverging perspectives from the Global South. I will consult archives such as the Betts Collection and the Weis Archive.

Understanding past legal and political responses to refugee protection can help inform more inclusive frameworks today, especially given the tensions between restrictive migration policies and calls for global justice. The research draws on critical legal perspectives, particularly TWAIL, which critiques the colonial origins and power dynamics within international law.