NORMS Deporting Foreigners: Contested Norms in International Practice

• Gebregziabher, Tefera Negash; Paasche, Erlend & Hout, Wil (2026). ‘Human beings should not be deported’: The Horn of Africa’s hegemon contests the EU’s norm to readmit. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. ISSN 1369-183X. s. 1–18. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2026.2633670. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Returning rejected asylum seekers to their origin states is high on the policy agenda of the EU and European governments. Using norms and role theory, this article examines how Ethiopian public officers normatively understand return and readmission as well as their country’s role expectations. We find that while Assisted Voluntary Return is met with relative acceptance, forced return is condemned and viewed as illegitimate. Illustrating the inter-role conflict between Ethiopia and EU countries, four themes are used to frame and delegitimize return and readmission. First, state agents see Ethiopia as a benefactor protecting citizens abroad by non-collaboration on their readmission as well as by actively bringing suffering citizens back ‘home’. Second, Ethiopia’s culture and history of hospitality towards people on the move is contrasted to Europe’s deportations. Third, the legality and morality of readmission is questioned, largely irrespective of formal policy and often invoking human rights as a meta-norm to frame return and readmission as immoral and inappropriate. Finally, European governments’ policy and practice of forced return is generally framed as inappropriate and inhumane. These delegitimizing themes stem from role conceptions of Ethiopia as a regional hegemon and are fed by role enactments on the part of the Ethiopian state.

• Tjønn, Mathias Hatleskog (2025). Norms and Policy in Times of ‘Crisis’: the Evolution of Norwegian Migration Legislation Since the Late 1960s. Journal of Migration History. ISSN 2351-9916. 11(3), s. 350–378. doi: 10.1163/23519924-11030005. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This article examines how the past half-century’s three most important events in Norway’s modern immigration history – all interpreted by contemporaries as ‘problems’ or ‘crises’ – have shaped norms and policy in the field of Norwegian migration legislation. These events – namely, the arrival of the first labour migrants from the Global South to Norway in the late 1960s and early 1970s; the influx of refugees from the conflict in Bosnia in the first half of the 1990s; and refugee arrivals during the 2015–2016 European migrant crisis – all brought shifts towards increased restrictiveness, particularly in relation to migrant returns. Taking up the call to examine how policy norms are socially constructed on the basis of specific historical conditions, this cross-disciplinary article employs a critical and constructivist stance and draws on sociological theory and terminology to show how the ‘problem’ and ‘crisis’ labels informed the outcomes at each juncture.

• Kefale, Asnake; Brekke, Jan-Paul & Brochmann, Grete (2025). The power switch in bilateral return migration management: the case of Norway and Ethiopia. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. ISSN 1369-183X. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2025.2452263. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Why is it so exceedingly difficult for host states to return irregular migrants to their countries of origin? Emphasizing the importance of including the viewpoints of both origin and destination countries, this article argues that there is a ‘power switch’ in the politicized practice of returning migrants from North to South: whereas immigration spells power and control on the destination side, in return processes, the command is reversed, with the Southern state functioning as gatekeeper. Based on interviews with Norwegian, Ethiopian and EU officials placed in Ethiopia, this article focuses on the bilateral return migration corridor between Norway and Ethiopia. Referencing the emerging constructivist strand of international relations studies of migration, we map and analyze the interplay and effects of converging and diverging interests and norms at the local, national, and international levels. The study reveals that while certain norms constrain the deportation of failed asylum seekers and migrants in both countries, there are several conflicting interests and norms between Norway and Ethiopia regarding return. Norway actively promotes return to protect its asylum regime and social welfare system, while Ethiopia benefits from diaspora remittances, seeks to avoid criticism from politically important diaspora communities and stresses national norms of state sovereignty.

• Damsa, Dorina & Ostrand, Nicole Marie (2025). States of Un/Knowing: The Un/Making of the European Deportation Regime. Geopolitics. ISSN 1465-0045. doi: 10.1080/14650045.2025.2493830. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Migration governance in Europe is continuously shaped by various rationalities and actors, including those from state, supra/international, civil society and academic institutions. This article contributes to the epistemologies and methodologies of knowledge and nonknowledge by bringing focus to the fluid, that is, the co-constitutive, relational and contextual dimensions of non/knowledge production. It interrogates how specific governance strategies are enabled, legitimised and foreclosed by different forms of knowing and un-knowing and how interactions between multiple intervening actors continuously inform this process. To illustrate the fluidity of non/knowledge as means to govern migration, we draw on our empirical work on deportation in Europe, a form of state sanctioned violence that is dependent on the co-constitutive relation between knowledge and nonknowledge produced by a variety of actors in evolving contexts. In this article, we join ongoing calls for epistemic justice in the production of knowledge concerning migration and specifically deportations carried out by European states.

• Ostrand, Nicole Marie (2024). Externalization Beyond “Immigration Risk”? UK Borderwork Creep in Africa and its Cumulative Rippling Effects. International Migration Review. ISSN 0197-9183. s. 1–27. doi: 10.1177/01979183241264988. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This article examines UK “borderwork creep” into ever more sites in states across Africa and considers how it is transformed and produced by practitioners on the ground. The aim is to go beyond research focusing on the EU and Northern and Western Africa to show the more expansive and, in some cases, unexpected reach of UK borderwork. Drawing on interviews, documentary research, and freedom of information requests, I find UK-funded “training” and “capacity building” in 17 African states. This creep, in many cases, is driven less by the UK perceptions of “immigration risk” and more by opportunism based on African counterparts’ interests and the ability of UK immigration liaison officers to establish relationships on the ground. This complicates conventional narratives, and government claims, where externalization is largely seen as a response to perceived “migration crises” and increases in “unwanted” and illegalized mobility. The paper adds to the rich and growing body of research on externalization in Africa by attuning specifically to the productive role of relationships and cumulative dimensions, which have received limited attention to-date. It does so by proposing the metaphor of rippling to better highlight how previous actions and interactions build on each other and spread outward, generating new actions. The result is UK borderwork diffused and distanced from the original goals of externalized migration control.

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• Ostrand, Nicole Marie & Paasche, Erlend (2024). Co-organised ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ostrand, Nicole Marie (2024). Presented preliminary research findings at the Centre for Migration, Diversity and Justice, Vrije Universiteit Brussels. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ostrand, Nicole Marie & Paasche, Erlend (2024). Co-organised two-day workshop at Vrije Universiteit Brussels, bringing together researchers from NORMS and another project to develop a special issue proposal for Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ostrand, Nicole Marie (2024). Presented paper at the 65th International Studies Association's Annual Conference. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ostrand, Nicole Marie (2024). Participated in half-day workshop on migration policy implementation, Vrije Universiteit Brussels. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Tjønn, Mathias Hatleskog (2024). Får ukrainske flyktninger bli i Norge? 205(26), s. 29–29. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  I dag, som på 1990-tallet, uttrykker regjeringen en dobbelthet når den snakker om midlertidig kollektiv beskyttelse av flyktninger.

• Tjønn, Mathias Hatleskog; Erdal, Marta Bivand & İçduygu, Ahmet (2024). Migration Management, Development and Integration Policies: How Poorly Recognized Policy Links Challenge the Navigation of Dilemmas and Limit the Realization of Opportunities. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Migration management, development processes in countries of origin, and integration in societies of settlement are intertwined components of social change, and thus also require recognition through policy linkages. Taking empirical links between the phenomena of migration management, development and integration, and their disconnects, as a point of departure, this paper discusses how the separation of policy fields exacerbates disconnects. The paper draws on research conducted within the MIGNEX research project, where we explored the links between migration management, development and integration empirically, and as these are articulated within different policy fields, finding as many links, as disconnects. The analysis drew on select policy instruments and programs primarily but not limited to within the EU. We develop a model which systematizes and can provide a conceptual and analytical tool for use in approaching the possible goals, considerations or prospective links (or disconnects) in concrete policy and empirical contexts of interest, considering the triangle of policies on migration management, development and integration. Systematizing the interface of migration management, development and integration underscores the existence of contradictions and disconnects, but arguably also points to links that may be fostered and actively capitalized on.

• Brochmann, Grete & Brekke, Jan-Paul (2024). De krevende asylreturene. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Tjønn, Mathias Hatleskog (2024). Om floskler og fortiden. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Hvordan påvirker fortiden vår forståelse av nåtiden og fremtiden? Migrasjonshistoriker Mathias Hatleskog Tjønn reflekterer over historiens rolle og samarbeidet mellom historie og samfunnsvitenskap.

• Paasche, Erlend (2023). Impact of cash incentives for reintegration assistance. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Paasche, Erlend (2023). What is sustainable reintegration? Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Paasche, Erlend (2023). NORMS presentation. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Tjønn, Mathias Hatleskog (2025). Refugee return: Voluntary or forced? Historical parallels between Bosnian and Ukrainian refugee reception in Norway. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. ISSN 9788277638638. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Norway has received a record number of Ukrainian refugees since 2022 and has granted them temporary protection, similar to when the Bosnians arrived in the first half of the 1990s. This raises questions about integration and repatriation, as almost half of these Ukrainians are now expressing a desire to stay, regardless of the Norwegian government’s commitment to return them once it is safe to do so. In 1996, Norway's approach to simultaneous integration and return was eventually overturned when the Bosnians were permanently settled after four years of temporary protection. With the present war still ongoing, the two-track approach will likely be challenged once again.

• Ostrand, Nicole Marie (2025). Externalised migration control: the myth of a targeted and effective approach. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. ISSN 9788277638676. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Summary of this policy brief: Given the growing emphasis on externalised migration control in Europe, where individual states and the EU attempt to stem ‘unwanted’ and irregular mobility before it reaches their territorial borders, it is important to examine claims of efficacy and efficiency. This is especially the case given the significant human and financial costs of this approach. Drawing on my research from the UK, I argue that it is time to rethink this strategy and reject taken-for-granted claims that externalisation works.

• Vrålstad, Ellen (2025). Legitimizing pushbacks? Questioning the EU’s response to migrant instrumentalization. Institutt for samfunnsforskning. ISSN 9788277638690. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Policy brief introduction: Countering ‘instrumentalized migration’ has become a key objective of European Union (EU) migration policy. Recent legislative measures adopted at the EU level allow Member States to derogate from standard asylum obligations when faced with instrumentalized migration flows. These legislative measures have been justified through claims that instrumentalized migration poses a threat to the stability and security of the Union and its Member States. But does instrumentalized migration genuinely pose a security risk? And are derogations from asylum standards a good solution?

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