EuroMedMig Doctoral Lectures: Silvia Morgades (21st April 2026)
EuroMedMig Doctoral Lectures: Silvia Morgades (21st April 2026)
Doctoral Lecture
“Borders Control and SAR Obligations in the Mediterranean: Between Human Rights and Security”
Date: Tuesday, 21 April 2026
Time: 18:30–20:00
Place: Aula Mediterrània, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) & Online
Speaker: Silvia Morgades (GRITIM-UPF)
Chair: Mahmoud Mansour (GRITIM-UPF)
Link to the session (online): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIx5KzFb-Qs
Synopsis
This lecture addresses the complex relationship between border control policies and search and rescue (SAR) obligations in the Mediterranean, focusing on the tensions between human rights commitments and security-driven approaches.
Drawing on international and European legal frameworks, the session explores how states navigate their responsibilities to protect migrants at sea while simultaneously reinforcing border control mechanisms. It critically examines how legal obligations related to rescue, asylum, and non-refoulement are interpreted and implemented in practice, often within a context of increasing securitisation.
The lecture will also discuss how these tensions shape contemporary migration governance in the Mediterranean, highlighting the legal, political, and ethical dilemmas faced by states and institutions. Particular attention will be given to the implications for migrants’ rights and the broader challenges of ensuring accountability and compliance with international law.
Bio
Dr. Silvia Morgades-Gil is a Serra Húnter Associate Professor of Public International Law at the Department of Law, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), and a member of GRITIM-UPF. She teaches EU Law, Asylum and Refugee Law, and International Migration Law at UPF and CEI-International Affairs.
Since 2019, she has been a Research Affiliate at the Refugee Law Initiative (University of London). She holds a PhD from UPF, for which she received the Extraordinary Doctoral Prize, as well as the 2008 Human Rights First Prize from the Generalitat de Catalunya. She has conducted postdoctoral research at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and the Graduate Institute (IHEID) in Geneva.
Her research focuses on international migration law, refugee protection, and human rights, and she has published extensively in leading academic journals. She is also the author of the monograph De refugiados a rechazados (Tirant Lo Blanch, 2021).
🔗 ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1255-9285