Ph.D. students
Dirpolis Institute
Chiara Scissa
Bio
Thank you for your interest in my profile.
I'm a PhD candidate in Law at the Institute of Law, Politics and Development (DIRPOLIS) at Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies specializing in disaster displacement in international refugee law and EU asylum law. I actively collaborate in the Environmental Migration Hub within the Institute's DREAM Research Area.
Since October 2023, I'm a Consultant on Climate Change and Migration at EuroMed Rights to investigate on the main climate, political and legal challenges to the recognition and protection of human mobility in the context of climate change, disasters, and environmental degradation in the Euro-Mediterranean region. Under this consultancy, I'm preparing a report outlining recommendations to countries of the EU and the MENA region to overcome such obstacles. This report forms part of a project led by EuroMed Rights, which ultimately aims to inform the advocacy actions of the organization in EU fora.
Since June 2022, I have been appointed by UNHCR as Expert in International Protection and Human Rights at the Territorial Commission for the Recognition of International Protection (first-instance competent asylum authority under the Ministry of Interior) in Milan to determine the need for, and if so to provide, international and national protection statuses to claimants in Italy.
Between 2021 and 2022, I was Visiting Researcher at the Institute for Migration Studies at the Lebanese American University (Lebanon), at the Migration, Environment and Climate Change Division of IOM Regional Office in Vienna (Austria), and at the Centre for European and Comparative Legal Studies at the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), where I conducted focus-specific research on disaster displacement in and from Central Asia to the EU and Russia, trafficking in persons, and harmful environmental activities.
Moreover, I serve as external peer reviewer for UNESCO, as Contributor to the UNICEF Guiding Principles for children on the move in the context of climate change, and as Co-ordinating Committee Member of the Interest Group on Migration and Refugee Law of the European Society of International Law.
Prior to that, I served as Human Rights and Migrant Protection Focal Point at UN Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY) and collaborated with numerous universities in the development of EU-funded projects on migration, asylum, sustainable development and human rights, including the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice and the University of Bologna, where I also worked as Supervisor, Tutor and Project Assistant. I obtained my Master's Degree in International Cooperation and the Protection of Human Rights cum laude from the same University.
Research
My PhD project seeks to elaborate an alternative approach to international and EU refugee law in order to make them responsive to current protection needs, including those stemming from disaster displacement, and ultimately serve their purposes. Both displacement due to (potential/occurred) disasters and harmful environmental activities are examined. My research interests also encompass international and EU migration and asylum law and policy, migration governance, trafficking in persons, human and State's vulnerability, climate change, and migrant children's rights.
Publications
Courses
Lectures and conferences.
- 9-10 October 2023. Lebanese American University (Lebanon). Climate-induced displacement in the MENA region. The instrumentalization of natural resources and disasters during conflicts. The 1951 Refugee Convention applied in Syria and Yemen.
- 24 August 2023. Dalhousie University (Canada). Untangling the Climate Change/Migration/Security Nexus. Unique in the EU: Italy's response to protection against disaster displacement.
- 9 July 2023. Environmental and Climate Mobility Network (Vienna). Towards a transdisciplinary understanding of migration and im/mobilities in the context of environmental and climate change. Disaster displacement and trafficking in persons: An emerging nexus.
- 28 June 2023. Council of European Studies Conference of Europeanists (Island). The (sub-)national reception and integration system in Italy: Light and Shadow.
- 16 June 2023. A Sud. Crisi ambientale e migrazioni forzate.
- 27 May 2023. Arci e Articolo 3. Tre incontri per parlare di diritti. Migrazioni ambientali, diritto ad una Terra sicura. Sfide, opportunità e prospettive.
- 11-12 May 2023. European Migration Network - EMN Swedish Presidency Conference, Displacement and migration related to disasters, climate change and environmental degradation. Italy's legal response to climate change and migration.
- 2 May 2023. University of Parma, Cliniche giuridico-sociologiche migrazioni e frontiere. L'accoglienza oggi.
- 11 February 2023. CasaComune. Diritti della Terra / Diritto alla Terra. Migrazioni a carattere ambientale: sfide, opportunità e prospettive.
- 22 November 2022. European University Institute, The Climate Changes, Should EU Migration Law Change As Well? Insights from Italy.
- 28 October 2022. Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Sweden). So innovative yet so overlooked: Italy's legal and judicial responses to migration in the context of climate change.
- 6 July 2022. Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Seasonal School on Climate Change and International Law. Legal and Judicial Responses to Environmental Migration.
- 24 June 2022. Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Summer School on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of Migrant Children in the EU: Migrant Children's Right to Development.
- 23 June 2022. Study Centre for Environmental Challenges of the University of Padua, Multidisciplinary Training Workshop for PhD students on environmental challenges: What are the political and legal solutions to environmental and climate migration?
- 20 June 2022. Lebanese American University. Refugees beyond the headlines. Navigating emerging and protracted challenges: The Role of the EU in managing migration crises in Ukraine and Belarus, with Francesca Biondi Dal Monte.
- 6 June 2022. Fondazione ISMU. Immigrazione e disabilità: Conoscenze, politiche e (buone) pratiche. A che punto siamo?: Quale protezione per le persone con disabilità in contesti di crisi? La prospettiva del diritto della disabilità e di asilo.
- 1 June 2022. Università di Messina, Accoglienza e cittadinanza: una sfida difficile: La crisi ucraina: impatto e ricadute sul sistema di accoglienza.
- 31 May 2022. Scuola Sant’Anna, International Conference on Environmental Migration under the spotlight: Legal and policy responses, individual and collective dimensions of a global phenomenon: Assessing the evidence of forced environmental migration and environmental victimhood: The Omo-Turkana case-study, with Stefano Porfido
- 30 May 2022. Scuola Sant’Anna, International Conference on Environmental Migration under the spotlight: Legal and policy responses, individual and collective dimensions of a global phenomenon: The principle of non-refoulement and environmental migration: A legal analysis of regional protection instruments.
- 30 May 2022. Scuola Sant’Anna, International Conference on Environmental Migration under the spotlight: Legal and policy responses, individual and collective dimensions of a global phenomenon: Legal challenges and gaps in the context of environmental migration, with Francesca Biondi Dal Monte
- 27 April 2022. Sant'Anna School, Giornatà della Solidarietà 2022: La Costituzione come fondamento di una partecipazione consapevole e punto di partenza per il perseguimento degli obiettivi comuni di sviluppo sostenibile dell'Agenda 2030: Unione europea, Italia e immigrazione: Oltre le apparenze.
- 26 April 2022. Sant’Anna School, MARS Seminar, The current and forgotten migration plights: Ukraine, Belarus and Afghanistan: The EU emergency response to the migration plight at the EU-Belarus border.
- 14 April 2022. Associazione Nazionale Mutilati E Invalidi Civili (ANMIC) e Scuola Sant’Anna, I nuovi orizzonti del diritto della disabilità: La condizione del migrante con disabilità in contesti di crisi.
- 12 April 2022. European University Institute – Università di Firenze, EU Talk-Dialoghi sul Futuro dell’Europa: Il nuovo patto su migrazione e asilo – opportunità e profili critici.
- 11 April 2022. Scuola Sant'Anna, La riforma costituzionale in tema di ambiente. Quale impatto su migrazione e asilo?
- 5 April 2022. Università degli Studi di Salerno, Migrazioni internazionali. La crisi dei rifugiati ucraini come banco di prova di riforme mancate: Il Nuovo Patto su Migrazione e Asilo: Quali strumenti di gestione della vulnerabilità e delle attuali crisi migratorie?
- 31 March 2022. Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism: Implementation of the Global Compact for Migration and Global Compact on Refugees
- 28 March 2022. University La Sapienza of Rome, Dialoghi sull’Europa: Il ruolo della Convenzione di Aarhus nel tutelare l’attivismo ambientale dei giovani in UE.
- 23 March 2022. Scuola Sant’Anna, Instant seminar. La protezione delle persone in fuga dall’Ucraina: Scenari europei e nazionali.
- 18 March 2022. Next Generation Research. La prospettiva della Next Generation sul Next Generation EU: Un’analisi interdisciplinare del PNRR italiano. Dal diritto allo studio al trasferimento tecnologico with Claudia Schettini.
- 10 March 2022. Training course - DEMETRA project, Scuola Sant'Anna and ASGI "Il contrasto allo sfruttamento lavorativo: attori, strumenti e percorsi di tutela". Sfruttamento lavorativo e modelli di intervento: scenario internazionale e scenari nazionali a confronto.
- 9 March 2022. DIRPOLIS Institute's Quick Reaction Seminar "The War in Ukraine: an International Law Perspective": Forced migration flows, within and beyond Ukraine: The duties of States of reception.
- 28 February 2022. Winter School "Environmental Migration in International Legal and Policy Frameworks" organized by DIRPOLIS Institute and Institute for Migration Studies at Lebanese American University: The Impact of Climate Change on Migration Patterns.
- 24 February 2022. FAIR PLUS Advanced Course "The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum. Proposals, state of negotiations and impact on the Italian legal order": The other vulnerable groups in the Pact on migration and asylum.
- 3 February 2022. Lebanese American University - Institute for Migration Studies’ “Movement and Safety” Webinar Series: Environmental Migration at the International Level: What's there, what's not, what's needed?
- 17 December 2021. MARS Seminar: Quali standard di protezione per le migrazioni ambientali? Alcune riflessioni a partire dalla recente giurisprudenza (sovra)nazionale.
- 14-15 December 2021 Sirio Advanced Training Course "Immigrazione, asilo e accesso ai servizi”: Immigrazione e asilo: fonti internazionali e diritto dell’Unione europea
- 8 November 2021. ADiM Young Researchers Lab – Peer to Peer Discussions: Il principio di non respingimento e la migrazione ambientale nel diritto internazionale
- 8 September 2021. Pre-ESIL Annual Conference "The Evolution of the Principle of non-refoulement in International Law: What Role for New Types of International Law-Making?”: The Principle of Non-refoulement in the Context of Environmental Degradation
- 23 June 2021. Jean Monnet Module MARS Summer School "Family life and rights of migrant children in the European Union": The impact of Covid-19 on families, children’s rights and their well-being
- 31 May – 4 June 2021. Shaping Fair Cities International Summer School on Migration & Sustainable Development: Environment, climate change and migration: What is the nexus?
- 15-16 April 2021. Pre-conference ESIL Interest Group Event “Understanding solidarity under international and EU refugee law: between a rock and a hard place?”: Relocating the “most” vulnerable only: The latest symptom of EU irrecoverable solidarity
- 17 March 2021. FocusEnvironment Research Group - Sant'Anna School: Recognition and protection of environmental migrants in international law: A long-lasting swing between urgency and postponement
- 25 February 2021.“A confronto diretto con la giurisprudenza”: La solidarietà alimentare in tempi di Covid-19
- 3-4 November 2020. UNICEF and IOM’s Symposium Climate Mobility and Children: Climate change, displacement, and children’s rights: The case of Syria
News
News.
3 August 2022: Winner of the New Voices Prize awarded by European Journal of Legal Studies for the best article of 2021/2022
January 2022: Nominated Expert in Migration Law by the University of Pisa (2022-2024).
Interviews in Newspapers.
18 August 2023: "Emergenza migratoria. Una soluzione? Vie legali di accesso", in Il Tirreno.
21 September 2022: "Profughi climatici. Zero tutele per chi scappa dagli ecocidi. Intervista a Chiara Scissa", in Lavialibera.
14 April 2022: "Strumenti giuridici esistenti a livello internazionale, europeo e nazionale per la tutela dei migranti ambientali. Intervista a Chiara Scissa", in Large Movements.