In recent years, states have increasingly externalized migration control measures beyond their territorial borders. Legal scholarship and practice have widely criticized and challenged these practices as breaches of international obligations. While these efforts are important, they can overlook the structural exclusion of refugees subjected to externalization.

This project therefore shifts the analytical lens from questions of compliance with the law to Hannah Arendt’s concept of “rightlessness.” It examines whether international refugee law may enable a loss of a place in the world for people affected by externalization policies. Thus, rather than asking only whether specific practices are lawful, the research explores how the legal framework itself can contribute to exclusion from the pale of the law.

Methodologically, Externalization and Rightlessness follows an iterative approach that combines doctrinal legal analysis with theoretical work on the foundational deficiencies of the law. By examining a range of externalization arrangements across different global contexts, the project seeks to identify and understand the specific legal mechanisms through which rightlessness is produced. This will lay the foundation for reflections on the character and direction of necessary progress.

The three-year research project is led by Adel-Naim Reyhani and is conducted in close cooperation with the Refugee Law Initiative (RLI) at the University of London. It is embedded within the LBI-GMR’s research programme on asylum and migration, aiming to constructively contribute to ongoing academic and policy debates.