Thomas McGee

Thomas McGee is completing his PhD on ‘Syria’s Changing Statelessness Landscape - 2011 as Critical Juncture: Protracted Situations and “Ticking Time Bombs”’ at Melbourne Law School’s Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness. He holds a BA in Modern and Medieval Languages from the University of Cambridge and MA in Kurdish Studies from the University of Exeter. Speaking Arabic and Kurdish, Thomas is the MENA Regional Coordinator at the Global Citizenship Observatory (GLOBALCIT) through the European University Institute. He has also worked for UNHCR, and various humanitarian and development organisations. Thomas’ academic work has been published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, International Migration Review, Middle East Journal of Culture and Communication, Citizenship Studies, Genocide Studies International, Statelessness & Citizenship Review and the Kurdish Studies Journal.

Planned research at ODID

Working with Matthew J Gibney, Thomas will spend his time at the Refugee Studies Centre developing his PhD work on the implications of citizenship stripping practices on Syria’s statelessness landscape. Specifically, he is considering the how the increase in citizenship revocation practices by other states as a national security measure following the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS) has shaped experiences and discourses of statelessness in Syria, and the impacts for those who have been impacted by statelessness in the country on a protracted basis.