Abstract
The complex interplay between religion and migration has been a persistent issue throughout history. This connection traces back to the modern era, when religious wars led to the persecution of various religious minorities, compelling them to migrate. In response, international regulations emerged to protect these minorities and were initially designed to preserve international peace and to promote trade. However, these norms also inadvertently supported the rights of migrating religious minorities from a modern human rights perspective (e.g. the 1555 Augsburg Treaty). In today's world, religion has resurfaced as a key identifier, resulting in renewed issues at the intersection of migration and religion. The academic focus has been either on religious freedom or on the broader human rights of migrants, lacking an intersectional perspective. While migration issues have received considerable attention in international law literature, freedom of religion, including its internal and external forums, has been mainly explored through the lens of international norms in the UN human rights system and regional human rights frameworks. These studies often overlook contributions from other disciplines that could enrich international law-based solutions. A new approach is therefore needed, one that bridges different aspects of the migration-religion relationship and engages with various disciplinary perspectives. The significance of examining the migration-religion nexus becomes evident in the context of international refugee law, particularly concerning religious persecution, and in the social inclusion of migrants of all faiths in countries of destination. Balancing States’ sovereignty in religious regulation with individual rights, especially within Europe in light of the broad range of migrants’ background, continues to challenge policymakers. The use of technology and AI has further complicated this scenario. Additionally, the intersection of migration and religion plays a role in violent extremism, radicalization and new forms of racism, such as Islamophobia. These considerations underscore the need for innovative solutions that address the interplay between States and the multicultural dynamics within societies experiencing increasing migratory flows. Achieving this task requires a comprehensive and systematic study of the migration-religion relationship within an international law framework, while also drawing on insights from other relevant disciplines. MiReIL aims to contribute to this challenge. To this end, the project will organise five Conferences (one in each participating University plus a final Conference reuniting all members of the project) and trainings to different stakeholders as well as an Open Access Special Issue in a well-known Journal. Results: Migration and Religion in International Law: Research-based Proposals for Inclusive, Resilient, and Multicultural Societies (MiReIL) The MiReIL project aimed at identifying and addressing the multifaceted issues arising from the interplay between religion and migration under international law for developing innovative solutions that are beneficial for both the progression of academic knowledge and the tangible societal impact in increasingly diverse European communities. By recognizing that the international law perspective alone is not sufficient for reaching a comprehensive investigation of this topic, the project aimed also at incorporating insights from other disciplines, like domestic law, economics, and political science. From a substantial perspective, a unique "temporal approach" guided the entire research project and was based on the typical journey of migrants, meant both as people seeking asylum or having refugee status as well as economic migrants. This approach included a twofold perspective: that of the country of origin and the one of the countries of destination, providing a comprehensive view of the migration experience in religious matters. The project employed also a legal-historical methodology to specifically investigate the international norms that have protected religious minorities in the history of the international Community. From a theoretical perspective, intersectionality served as a common theoretical framework across different research units and experts. The project was structured around several working packages (WPs): (WP1): Religious freedom in migrants’ countries of origin; (WP2) Religion as a ground of persecution; (WP3) Persecution of religious minorities and mass migration; (WP4) Religious freedom in migrants’ countries of destination; (WP5) Non-discrimination and social inclusion of religious migrant minorities in Europe. Key contributors to this project have been international law scholars from four renowned academic institutions, i.e. University of Trieste, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, University of Rome - La Sapienza, LUISS University, who are known for their expertise in this domain. The research units have collaborated with experts from other academic fields and practitioners throughout the project's duration, emphasizing the necessity of a multidisciplinary approach to address the complexity of religion and migration as social phenomena. They have also organised training activities concerning the interaction between religion and migration to the benefit of both legal practitioners (lawyers, judges, consultants), who have an increasing interest in these topics, and those who work in close contact with migrants, who show a growing need to better understand and handle the latter’s religious background. Dissemination and academic exchange was nurtured by the organisation of three academic workshops, respectively at the University of Roma La Sapienza, at LUISS and at Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, and a general conference at the University of Trieste. The main output in terms of publications of the project was an edited collection of essays, which was published in English and open access as a Special Issue for the Journal (Fascia A) Freedom, Security & Justice: European Legal Studies (https://www.fsjeurostudies.eu/index.html). The Special Issue offers the first comprehensive, multidisciplinary exploration of the complex relationship between migration and religion through the lenses of international, European, constitutional, administrative and private international law, with additional insights from economics. Another significant output was a second Special Issue released by the Italian Review of International and Comparative Law on Migrants' Religious Freedom in a Multilevel Legal System: Challenges and Perspectives in the Italian Context (https://www.iriclaw.com/Article/Archive/index_html?ida=14&idn;=11&idi;=-1&idu;=-1). The results reached by the project are a reference point for the political, social and institutional debate in this field. Further information about the project, its objectives and the results can be found in the MiReIL official website (https://sites.google.com/uniroma1.it/prin-2022-mireil/home-page?authuser=0) or by contacting directly the MiReIL Principal Investigator (PI) - Prof. Giuseppe Pascale (gpascale@units.it, University of Trieste) - or the Co-PI, Prof. Carmelo Danisi (carmelo.danisi2@unibo.it, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna).
Dettagli del progetto
Responsabile scientifico: Carmelo Danisi
Strutture Unibo coinvolte:
Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche e Sociali
Coordinatore:
Università degli Studi di TRIESTE(Italy)
Contributo totale Unibo: Euro (EUR) 61.056,00
Durata del progetto in mesi: 24
Data di inizio
28/09/2023
Data di fine:
30/11/2025
