Nebrija-Santander Global Chair in Migration and Human Rights

On June 2 and 3, 2025, the international workshop Transdisciplinary Conversations on Migrant Solidarity: Definitional & Experiential Approximations was held in Madrid. This initiative brought together scholars and activists to critically examine the role of solidarity within the context of migration.

Organized by the Nebrija Chair in Migration and Human Rights, in collaboration with institutions such as The New School, Temple Law School, ICREA–Universitat de Barcelona, the Hertie School, and the (B)OrderS Centre, the workshop proposed a transdisciplinary approach to analyzing the challenges, paradoxes, and possibilities that solidarity presents when mobilized as a response to human mobility.

In addition to five thematic panels, the workshop featured a keynote roundtable discussion, The Challenge of Migrant Solidarity(ies), with contributions from Professor Cecilia Bailliet (UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity), Professor Pablo Ceriani (Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families), and Michèle LeVoy (Director of PICUM).

The discussion, moderated by our director Diego Acosta, explored the limits and potential of solidarity as a tool for advancing migrant rights.

On April 23, the Chair of Migration and Human Rights hosted a roundtable focused on circular migration policies, with particular attention to the bilateral project between Guatemala and the Government of Spain in the agricultural sector.

The event featured the distinguished participation of Felipe Muñoz, Director of the Migration Unit at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and Claudia Nineth Peneleu, Vice Minister of Social Security and Employment at the Guatemalan Ministry of Labor, who were visiting Spain as part of the project’s supervision.

During the session, International Relations students engaged the speakers with questions about the protection of labor rights, the cultural challenges of migration, and the use of remittances as investment tools, fostering a rich and thought-provoking dialogue. The event reaffirmed the Chair's commitment to critical reflection and to strengthening the connection between academic research and public policy on migration.

On Tuesday, March 26, the Nebrija Chair on Migration and Human Rights hosted a conference titled "Global Migration Governance: Regional Approaches and Emerging Paradigms." The event featured three distinguished migration experts, currently visiting researchers at the Chair: Dr. Ana Paula Penchaszadeh (CONICET), Dr. Hélène Thiollet (Sciences Po), and Dorothea Biaback Anong (Humboldt University).

During the conference, the speakers provided an in-depth analysis of contemporary migration governance at the international, regional, and national levels. By presenting their research and sharing comparative insights, they fostered a rich discussion on current challenges and emerging opportunities in migration policy.

Last Wednesday, September 25, the Nebrija Global Chair on Migration and Human Rights had the honor of hosting Dr. Adriana Alfonso, a key figure in the negotiation and drafting of the MERCOSUR Residence Agreements in 2002.

During the event, Dr. Alfonso shared her extensive experience and knowledge of these agreements, which have benefited more than 3.6 million South Americans. She conducted a thorough analysis of the achievements and current challenges facing these agreements, 22 years after their adoption.

On March 22, the Nebrija Global Chair on Migration and Human Rights, under the leadership of Professor Diego Acosta, convened a meeting with Dimitry Kochenov, a professor at the CEU Democracy Institute in Budapest and a visiting professor at the University of Chicago; Sarah Ganty, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Human Rights at Ghent University and a visiting professor at the Central European University in Vienna; and Jacopo Martire, a Professor of Law at the University of Bristol. They shared their perspectives on how the European Union shapes the identities of both European citizens and individuals from third countries through its legal framework.

On February 2, the Nebrija Global Chair on Migration and Human Rights was officially introduced. This new initiative is led by Diego Acosta, a professor specializing in European and Migration Law at the University of Bristol.

The newly established Chair, which held its inaugural event at the Madrid-Princesa Campus, welcomed the participation of several distinguished individuals. These included Felipe González Morales, a former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Migrants (2017-2023) and a professor at Diego Portales University in Santiago de Chile; Elspeth Guild, a Professor of Law at Queen Mary University in London and Professor Jean Monnet ad personam; and María Jesús Herrera, the Head of the Spanish Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).