Call for Applications for Thematic Conference on “Rethinking Forced Displacement in Africa” from 26-28 March 2026 at LASPAD, St. Louis, Senegal (Application deadline: 15 January 2026)

Although Northern countries often claim to be struggling with migration crises, the majority of forced displacement occurs in the Global South. When analysed in this context, migration from the Global South is viewed as a ‘problem’ requiring an urgent and exceptional policy response (Brachet, 2009; Boyer & Mounkaila, 2020). Displaced people fleeing conflicts and natural disasters are apprehended as security threats by Western countries and denied protection. However, beyond this framework, forced migration requires us to carefully re-examine current global dynamics and the social, cultural and political reconfigurations that characterise our societies (Kamdem, 2024). 

Unfortunately, the ‘global refugee regime’, which is intended to provide solutions, largely depends on the political interests and financial contributions of Northern states. This results in many crucial aspects of forced migration being neglected, including climate refugees, cross-border and internal displacement, sources of inequality and secondary movements. Restrictive categories are increasingly used to include or exclude certain people. One limitation for displaced persons is their access to basic social services (Hamani & Baudais, 2025). While refugees receive sustained humanitarian attention, internally displaced persons receive less and must make do with whatever resources the state can mobilise with the support of its local partners. Clearly, host populations are neglected within the aid system, which in turn leads to opposition to the settlement of people fleeing crises, and increases tensions. This reflects and reinforces the idea that migration experiences – and migrants – can easily be differentiated. However, this is not the case (Crawley and Setrana, 2020). 

In Africa, it is crucial to reconfigure the concept of forced displacement because the continent hosts large-scale population displacement. According to the African Centre for Strategic Studies, nearly 40 million Africans were forcibly displaced as a result of conflict in 2023 alone. This includes internally displaced persons, refugees and asylum seekers. Over 77% of these individuals fall into the first category (African Centre for Strategic Studies, 2023). West and Central Africa has experienced prolonged displacement and long-standing conflicts around the Lake Chad basin, as well as the new crisis in Sudan, and political instability and worsening insecurity in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The displacement crisis in the Sahel is one of the most neglected worldwide, receiving limited humanitarian attention (NRC, 2024). As insecurity spreads to the coastal countries of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Togo (UNHCR, 2024), forced displacement is becoming an increasingly pressing issue in West Africa. The massive influx of refugees is prompting serious concern and calls for responses to ensure they receive adequate humanitarian protection. 

The increasing insurgencies along the west African borders, challenge the ‘paper borders’ (Lefebvre, 2018) and ‘digital racial borders’ (Achiume 2021) that hierarchise and filter mobilities. The influx of large populations in situations of insecurity reveals the complex meanings and practices associated with borders (Bennafla, 2002; Hamani, 2020). Although borders are artificial, they can be done and undone every day. In contexts of (in)security, they may be more or less powerful tools of governing im-/mobilities and protection. 

Conference Objectives and Themes 

The conference is organised within the framework of the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa’s (MIASA) outreach programme. MIASA is based at the University of Ghana in Legon, Ghana, and the conference is hosted by the Laboratory for the Analysis of Societies and Powers / Africa – Diasporas (LASPAD) at the University Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis, Senegal. The conference is organised in cooperation with the Laboratory for Studies and Research on Social Dynamics and Local Development (LASDEL) in Niamey/Niger and Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany. 

The conference aims to bring together different multidisciplinary perspectives on the subject of ‘forced displacement’, with the objective of analysing emerging and complex forms of displacement in Africa. More broadly, the conference will study the social changes underway in the Sahel and beyond in connection with the current waves of displacement. The conference invites empirically rich and theoretically grounded studies papers. 

Specifically, the conference will facilitate productive discussions on the complexity of forced displacement in Africa; displacement processes and durable solutions; the actors involved; the logic and strategies of displaced persons; and the various forms of displacement governance (including state-based forms). Forced displacement poses challenges to states, communities and non-state actors alike. It also raises issues of understanding, which researchers, lecturers and doctoral students are invited to address in their papers on the following topics: 

Axis 1: Forced Displacement, Mobility and Migration. This axis will examine the interconnections and distinctions between these three types of movement. It will focus on their content, conceptualisation and definitions, as well as their implications and scope for further research. Specifically, it will analyse how forced displacement builds on traditional migration patterns in communities affected by crises. 

Axis 2: The transition from citizen to refugee status, statelessness and vice versa. Presentations under this heading will explore the sociological, political, institutional and legal distinctions and processes inherent in this transition. The ways in which displaced persons access basic social services will also be addressed. 

Axis 3: Intra-African regional mobility and immobility in the context of displacement. This axis shifts the focus of migration analysis from Europe to Africa. The movement and integration of migrants and displaced persons within the subregion is of scientific interest. 

Axis 4: The humanitarian protection and solidarity practices of displaced persons. Managing displacement requires various aid mechanisms to be deployed by state and non-state actors. The axis aims to analyse the interactions between these mechanisms, focusing on their links, how they are used, and the types of inequalities they cause. We will also examine the positive or negative effects of reduced humanitarian aid on the governance of displacement in Africa. Additionally, we will investigate how displaced persons build solidarity and cohesion in the absence of humanitarian assistance. 

Axis 5: The multifaceted border crisis. This axis focuses on the various dimensions of the border crisis in Africa, drawing on Lefebvre’s distinction between ‘sand borders’ and ‘paper borders’. It considers how borders can serve as places of refuge or as sites of economic and personal reconstruction in contexts of insecurity. The emphasis will be on the meaning of borders in contexts of insecurity. 

Application 

• An abstract of your paper in English or French (500 words). In this abstract, please describe your topic and explain how it relates to one or more of the above axes. Also, please describe your disciplinary perspective, whether you have used primary or secondary data, and the current phase of your research. 

• A CV (max. 2 pages) containing information about your academic profile, such as your disciplinary background, research interests and regions, your current academic position and institutional affiliation, and especially your research projects and publications relevant to the topic. 

• Applications should be send as a single Pdf to: scholze@em.uni-frankfurt.de, or marschol@web.de 

• Submission deadline: 15th January 2026 

• Any enquiries should be directed to scholze@em.uni-frankfurt.de 

Selection & Participation 

• Applications will be reviewed by the committee of conveners until End of January 2026, 

• The conference will be bilingual (English-French), simultaneous translation will be provided, 

• All costs (including flight ticket, accommodation, catering, transport, visa fees etc.) for those selected will be covered by MIASA, 

• All arrangements for your travel and stay in Senegal will be made by the Goethe University in collaboration with LASPAD. 

The conference is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) through MIASA. 

Conveners: 

Dr Ayrton Aubry, LASPAD, St. Louis, Senegal 

Dr Faisal Garba, Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town, South Africa 

Dr Hamani Oumarou, University Abdou Moumouni Niamey, Director LASDEL, Niamey, Niger 

Dr Ibrahima Kane, LASPAD, St. Louis, Senegal 

Dr Laura Lambert, ERC Project “Doing Digital Identities”, Leuphana University, Lueneburg, Germany 

Dr Marko Scholze, Coordinator MIASA Outreach Program, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany 

Prof Mary Boatemaa Setrana, Research Chair Forced Displacement, Director, Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana