Migrants (especially forced migrants) are a vulnerable population because they are not nationals in the state where they live which make their legal status precarious by definition. Researching these populations creates specific ethical dilemmas due to unequal power relations, vulnerabilities, traumas, language and administrative barriers. While in the past 10 years specific ethical guidelines have been published to help researchers to make ethical decisions in their projects (especially in research involving forced migrants), we still lack more discussions on how to conduct ethical research with these populations regarding environments of increasing hostility toward migrants, use of online resources and tools and South-South migration research. I have been involved with a group of other researchers from Latin America in discussions on ethical research with migrants and refugees in Latin America. This workshop will bring together these researchers to discuss how to make the research with migrants and refugees at the University of Sheffield more ethical. Besides, we will also invite other researchers, PhD Candidates and students from the University of Sheffield (especially members of the Migration Research Group) to present their ideas and experiences on ethics and migration research during the workshop. Therefore, we will have different opportunities to network and learn from each other on how to make our research better.

Impact and evaluation of the event: At the end of the event, we will create a final document on ethical research with migrants and refugees (and we will put together the resources shared during the event). This material can be made available for all people at the University of Sheffield researching migration topics. 

Tentative Schedule

10h-10h15: Welcome and Introductions

10h30-12h15: Panel One: Ethically researching migrants and refugees in Latin America (15 min

presentation and 45 minutes of discussion + QA)

Dr. Marcia Vera-Espinoza (Queen Margaret University), Dr. Patrícia Nabuco Martuscelli (University

of Sheffield), Dr. Natalia Cintra (University of Southampton), Nuni Jorgensen (Ph.D. Candidate at

Queen Mary University of London)

12h30-13h45: Networking Lunch

14h00-15h30: Panel Two: Ethics and Migration Research at the University of Sheffield

15h45-16h00: Final reflections and farewell