Biography

Between 2006 and 2011 I have worked as a Ph.D. researcher and lecturer at the Law Faculty of the VU University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. My dissertation concerned integration requirements in immigration law, in particular the Dutch Act on Integration Abroad. In my thesis I investigate the reasons why this Act was introduced and its objectives with regard to immigrant integration. I moreover examine how integration as a condition for the admission of immigrants relates to the legal standards set by international and EU law, including human rights treaties and the EU migration directives.
As a lecturer, I have taught courses in constitutional law and migration law and supervised several M.A. theses on topics related to my Ph.D. research.
During my time at the VU University I was also an active member of the Migration and Diversity Centre, an interdisciplinary network of researchers working on issues related to migration, integration and citizenship.
My research interests include (European) migration law, human rights law, constitutional law and political theory on citizenship and integration. Moving away somewhat from questions concerning admission and expulsion, in my future research I wish to concentrate on the position of migrants within the national community. In studying this issue I would like to combine theoretical debates on multiculturalism and citizenship with a legal assessment, focusing on the human rights dimension. One particular topic that I would like to address is the concept of ethnicity and the prohibition of ethnic discrimination in relation to policies on immigrant integration.