Russell Allen Stone

• Stone, Russell Allen; Hamza, Mo; Gammeltoft-Hansen, Thomas & Kavak, Sinem (2026). Forced migrants’ agency in first countries of asylum: towards a more holistic Understanding of decisions about secondary movement by Syrian refugees in Turkey and Lebanon. Comparative Migration Studies. ISSN 2214-8590. 14. doi: 10.1186/s40878-026-00532-9. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article examines forced migrants’ decision-making over time on movement from first country of asylum. Building on 150 in-depth interviews with Syrian refugees (A note on terminology: the term refugee is used colloquially by our participants, other scholars, the legal profession, and international actors to denote most Syrian migrants, yet it often means different things to its users. While many of our participants may be refugees, it is beyond our competence to judge and is not a term that describes their legal standing in Turkey or Lebanon. As such, we often use the term forced migrants as all our participants (and all refugees) can be described as forced migrants, whether they are refugees or not.) in Turkey and Lebanon (85 in Turkey and 65 in Lebanon) conducted in 2022–2023, we develop a tri-partite conceptual framework that integrates spatio-temporalities, migration infrastructure, and forms of capital. Methodologically, the study uses purposive, stratified sampling and semi-structured interviews, with coding for social, cultural, economic, and symbolic capital and mapping against local legislative, social, and temporal conditions. Our findings show that decision-making is iterative and situational, rather than a simple cost–benefit calculation or a linear trajectory. Spatio-temporal positions determine which infrastructures are visible and how urgent onward movement feels; migration infrastructures—formal and informal, digital and clandestine—translate possibilities into concrete routes and risks; and migrants’ varying capitals shape who can access regularized, document-based pathways versus hazardous, informal channels. Higher starting or converted capital often correlates with a preference for legal, document-dependent strategies and greater willingness to wait and convert capital; lower capital correlates with urgency, recourse to smugglers, and shorter latency between failed attempts and retrying. Digital platforms mediate both safe and exploitative practices, while administrative opacity and high transaction costs distort access to formal routes. The paper offers a dynamic, meso-informed account of secondary movement that foregrounds infrastructure as a relational system that shapes incentives and risk. Policy implications, therefore, call for interventions that reconfigure migration infrastructure, expand affordable, regular pathways, increase institutional transparency, and reduce markets for exploitative intermediaries to lessen harm and broaden durable onward-movement options.

• Kavak, Sinem; Hamza, Mo; Gammeltoft-Hansen, Thomas & Stone, Russell Allen (2024). Refugee agency in secondary mobility decision-making: a systematic literature review. Frontiers in Human Dynamics. 6. doi: 10.3389/fhumd.2024.1376968. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Decisions made by millions of refugees about where to go, how to make a living and how to secure a future are fundamental drivers of secondary movements. While a substantial body of literature addresses factors contributing to migrants’ decision-making, a comprehensive understanding of the central role of refugees in secondary mobility decision-making, including agency and strategies employed, remains underexplored. This is partly due to the belief that refugees are constrained by external and structural factors and cannot exercise agency, which we challenge. This article provides a systematic analysis of the literature on refugees’ secondary mobility decision-making processes. Using a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology, it presents an in-depth analysis of 40 peer-reviewed, English-language research articles selected from the Web of Science and Scopus databases published before September 2022. The article critically examines the drivers, prevailing dichotomies and conceptual frameworks surrounding refugee categorization, agency, and mobility. By synthesizing a wide range of literature, our paper presents emerging alternative concepts and frameworks that shed light on the complex dynamics of decision-making.

• Matthew, Scott & Stone, Russell Allen (2022). Nordic Norms, Natural Disasters, and International Protection Swedish and Finnish Practice in European Perspective. Nordic Journal of International Law. ISSN 0902-7351. 91(1), p. 101–123. doi: 10.1163/15718107-91010005. Full text in Research Archive

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• Tica, Sabina; Kjos, Hannah Løke; Birkvad, Simon Roland; Ahmed, Uzair; Sunnemark, Erik Ludvig & Hjelle, Karoline Blix [Show all 11 contributors for this article] (2024). Skal vi forske bak lukkede dører? Full text in Research Archive

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