Research Project
Research topic: Tackling Emerging Forms of Forced Displacement: Could a Framework Convention be the catalyst in broadening the refugee definition?
Acronym: TEFFD-Framework
This study examines the potential of a Framework Convention to expand the refugee definition and address modern displacement challenges, including socio-economic factors, environmental degradation, and climate change. It seeks to establish a more inclusive legal framework that enhances global protection and burden-sharing mechanisms. The research has two main objectives: (i) assessing the feasibility of a Framework Convention/Protocol to broaden refugee protections, and (ii) evaluating coordinated mechanisms for equalizing the global refugee burden. Using a mixed-method approach, the project integrates qualitative and quantitative analysis, including the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) to track displacement patterns. Expert interviews and stakeholder mapping will further assess the potential impact of legal reform. By critically engaging with international refugee law, this study contributes to ongoing debates on migration governance, advocating for a broadened refugee definition that reflects contemporary displacement realities. Its findings aim to shape policy discussions at a time when global consensus on refugee protection is weakening, and states are increasingly prioritizing migration control over humanitarian obligations.
Research Interests
- Refugee definition
- EU asylum acquis
- Africa refugee policy
- Crimmigration
- Border externalization
- Migration decolonial dialogues
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Academic background
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2019 - 2023: Uniwersytet Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie (UKEN), Poland
Doctorate in Political Sciences and Administration
Dissertation topic: Economic refugees: an analysis of persecution and cross border displacement in the new global era.Supervisors: Prof. dr hab. Joanna Bar (Jagiellonian University, Poland) & Prof.
Dr. Ellen Desmet (Ghent University, Belgium)-
2016 - 2019: University of London, United Kingdom
Master of Public International Law (LL.M.) with a focus on migration (merit)
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2009 - 2014: University of South Africa, South Africa
Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
Thesis title: The intersection of civil disobedience and the rule of law (distinction)
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1998 - 2000: University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Diploma in Education Professional teaching diploma: with a focus on the theory and practice of education and a special study of the education of children at the secondary level.
Professional Background
- From 05/2025: Universität Münster, Germany Post-Doctoral Fellow: COFUND "Migration, Diaspora, Citizenship" Research Topic: Tackling Emerging Forms of Forced Displacement: Could a …Framework Convention be the catalyst in broadening the refugee definition? Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Stefanie Kemme
- 2024-2025: Uniwersytet Komisji EdukacjiNarodowej w Krakowie: UKEN, Poland PhD Workshop Anti-Discrimination Workshop: An intersectional Approach: (Winter Semester 2024/2025).
- 05/2024 – 10/2024: Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW, Sydney, Australia Mentor (ONLINE) Providing academic and professionalsupport to early careerscholars who have experienced displacement and are studying or researching refugee and forced migration studies.
- 10/2022 - 2015: Uniwersytet Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie, Poland Lecturer for 3rd Year BA students in (Political Science (Full time), International Relations (Full-time), International Relations (Part-time)) taking optional course: European Migration Law and Policy.
- 02/2022- 06/2022: Jacobs University Bremen (now Constructor University), Germany Teaching Assistant to Prof. Jacob Fruchtmann. Teaching Media, Culture and Digitization & Introduction to Sociology.
- 03/2022- 06/2022: Uniwersytet Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie, Poland (ONLINE MS TEAMS) Lecturer for 3rd Year BA students in (Political Science (Full time), International Relations(Full-time), International Relations (Part-time)) taking optional courses: European Migration Law and Policy; Politics of Globalization; Sub-Saharan Africa: politics, conflict and change.
- 07/2021 – 08/2021: Europa School of English and IP International Projects, Germany Höchstim Odenwald and Regen-Summer Camp Centers Teaching the English Language (B1-C2) to High School students from Germany, France and Spain.
- 2017- 2019: Management College of Southern Africa (MANCOSA), South Africa East London Campus, Part-time Lecturer of Labour Law and Academic Writing to undergraduate students.
- 2011 - 2016: St BenedictIntermediate School, South Africa Educator: Teaching the English Language to Grades 7-9.
- 2001-2007: Various Secondary Schoolsin Zimbabwe Educator: Teaching the English Language to Forms 1-4.
External functions
- Editorial Team member at the International Encyclopedia of Laws, Kluwer Law Online, (Migration Law) under the supervision of Professor Ellen Desmet of Ghent University.
Memberships
- Member of the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network (GAIN), (since Oct 2024).
- EU4UA Ambassador Program: Helping Ukrainian refugees to find emergency accommodation in Europe (Aug 2023-Feb 2024).
- Research Affiliate at the Migration Law Research Group at Ghent University (since Jan 2021).
- Research Affiliate at Refugee Law Initiative (University of London): Member in the Working Group on Externalization (since Oct 2019).
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Publications
Research Articles (Journals)
Mutsvara, S., (2022) When the periphery comes to the centre: Mapping out the securitarian approach to migration in Poland, Annales Universitatis Paedagogicae Cracoviensis. Studia de Securitate. 12 (2), DOI 10.24917/26578549.12.2.11
Kugonza, G., & Mutsvara, S. (2022). Psychosocial Support and Protection for Refugee and Host Communities in Uganda: A Needs Assessment, Afrika Focus, 35(1), 5-18 DOI: 10.1163/2031356X-35010002
Mutsvara, S., (2021). SEL Concept: A discursive review on texts describing social and emotional learning skills. Academia Letters, Article 1287 DOI:10.20935/AL1287
Research Article (Book Contributions)
Mutsvara, S. (2024). Border Identity: Impact of Evolving Ethnicities on Refugee Policy and Protection in Uganda. In: Kowalkowski, S., Kaźmierczak, D., Paul, S. (eds) Civil Protection Systems and Disaster Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. DOI 10.1007/978-3-031-60167-5_7
Mutsvara, S., (2023). Reflexive Narrative on Identity and Exclusion of the Zimbabwean Child in the Diaspora: The Odd-Looking Fellow, in Global Migration and Diversity of Educational Experiences in the Global South and North (eds) Shoba Arun, Khawla Badwan, Hadjer Taibi, Farwa Batool, Routledge. DOI 10.4324/9781003343141
Mutsvara, S., & Kugonza, G. (2022) Refugee Camps in East Africa: A curse of lost heritage and cultural identity of the Banyarwanda in Uganda, in Żukowski, A (ed.) Współczesne wyzwania Afryki. Klimat,demografia i polityka, pg. 135-157 ISBN 978-83-66259-32-4
Non-Scientific Contributions (Selected Newspaper articles)
Mutsvara, S., (2020, 7 April) Political rhetoric linking migration to coronavirus stokes up xenophobia. Guardian Liberty Voice, USA.
Mutsvara, S., (2018, 3 November) Caravan Migrants on Collision Course with White Nationalism. Guardian Liberty Voice, USA.
Other Non-Scientific Publications
Mutsvara, S., (2022) Race, Diversity and Inclusion, in Untold Stories Forgotten Places of Memory Educational Material pg.63-67, Humanity in Action Poland (ed) Larysa Michalska
Mutsvara, S., (2022) Rasa, Różnorodność, inkluzywność [w.] Nieopowiedziane Historie Zapomniane miejsca Pamięci Materiały Edukacyjne s. 69-74, Humanity in Action Polska (ed.) Larysa Michalska
Mutsvara, S., & Kugonza, G. (2020, April 30). The curse of the Andaman Sea Crisis: Policy implications for Africa on Mixed Migration Flows. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/ebt9z
Mutsvara, S., (2018) From Apartheid to Xenophobia: Exploring exclusion, persecution and displacement in the post-apartheid era, Munich, GRIN Verlag, ISBN (eBook) 9783668748965
Mutsvara, S., (2013) The intersection of Civil Disobedience and the Rule of Law, Munich, GRIN Verlag, ISBN (eBook) 9783668469662
Work in Progress
Harvesting Labour: Participatory Action Research with Immigrants in Poland.
Participatory Action Research (PAR) with immigrants working in the postal service sector at INPOST in Krakow, and seasonal workers at BLUEAMBER Blueberry Plantation, in Kobylanka, Szczecin. The PAR was carried out from 01/08/2023 to 24/09/2024 (421 days), with 88 percent of the time spent at INPOST (Krakow).
Bar, J., & Mutsvara, S. (UPCOMING) Faces of Zimbabwe's internal conflict: rationale, course and breakthrough chances, The Jagiellonian University Press
Scientific Talks
Speaker in the Opening Panel of the 2024 Annual General Conference of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) (20 June 2024) Thon Hotel EU, Brussels, Belgium: Panel Discussion: “Tackling Global Displacement: What role for Europe?”
Human rights-based approaches to development (HRBAD - 26 April 2023) A joint initiative of the Law and Development Research Group, University of Antwerp and the Flemish Interuniversity Research Network on Law and Development (law&dev): “Economic refugees: an analysis of persecution and cross border displacement in the new global era” (PhD Dissertation)
Seminar on the Border (22 April 2023): Organised by Researchers on the Border / Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw, The European Irregularized Migration Regime in the Periphery of the EU: from Ethnography to Keywords (ERIM, HRZZ), The Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research Zagreb and Laboratory for Critical Migration and Border Regime Research, University of Göttingen: “Who is a genuine refugee? The efficacy of a Framework Convention in regulating the refugee definition.”
Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference 2023, (4-6 April 2023) Ulster University, Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland: “Who is a genuine refugee? The efficacy of a Framework Convention in regulating the refugee definition.”
Guest Lecture at the Mountains of the Moon University, Uganda. Lecture entitled “When the periphery comes to the centre: the sociology of migration from the South”. (27 August 2022)
The 4th International Doctoral Research Conference (5-6 May 2022) The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków, Poland: “When the periphery comes to the centre...”
The Visegrad countries and Africa: history and contemporaneity, (26 April 2022) organized ONLINE by Stellenbosch University, Jagiellonian University and University of Óbuda: “Pole and Hungarian: Comrades in arms to a securitarian migration policy”
VI Kongres Afrykanistów Polskich: ONLINE (20-22 April 2021): “Refugee camps in East Africa: A curse of lost heritage and cultural identity”
Local Dimension of Children’s Migrations and Its Impact on EU Integration Policy International ONLINE Conference, (4-5 December 2020) “The Odd-looking Fellow: An Autoethnographic Narrative on Identity and Exclusion of the Zimbabwean Child in the Diaspora”
Muslim Migrants in Europe-Overcoming Stigma Conference, Halina Niec Legal Aid Centre Kraków: Poland, (8-9 October 2020) “Poland Refugee Policy: The implications of the ECJ judgment in Commission v Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic on immigration, integration and refugee protection”
The Migration Conference 2020 North Macedonia Online, (8-11 September 2020) “Economic refugees: An analysis of persecution and displacement in the new global era”
ESPMI Podcast Series: Supporting Emerging Scholars and Practitioners in Migration Research Chaired by Themrise Khan (20 March 2020): “How the academia can support students from the Global South”
Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law Emerging Scholars Network Annual Workshop 2019 (27 November 2019) “Economic Refugees: An analysis of persecution and displacement” in the new global era Sydney, Australia (video link from South Africa)
Challenging Boundaries Claiming Rights Conference Cape Town, Canon Collins Trust, (1-3 June 2018) “Neoliberalism: Deciphering the boundaries of poverty in Southern Africa”