Prior to starting my PhD I could gain research experience as a Project Researcher at the AMIREG (African Migration Root Causes and Regulatory Dynamics) and WAMIG (Political Economy of West African Migration Governance) research projects. Both consider the influence of European stakeholders on the formulation of West African migration policies. Before that I hold the roles of Communication Assitant and Officer at the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE). I have a MA in Migration Studies from the University of Sussex and a BA in International Relations and Organizations from the University of Groningen.

My research considers migrant smuggling governance as ‘borderwork’ (Rumford, 2006), denoting it as a space where diverging logics and rationalities meet, including local informal and formal, national government and external political rationalities (Côté-Boucher et al., 2014). Adopting a multi-scalar lens (Hameiri and Jones, 2017; Laine, 2016)I consider both European funded projects against migrant smuggling and Senegalese initiatives in the field. I focus on their re/negotiation by institutional actors directly involved in these policies and communities affected by them.

Articles

LF Jegen (2023) 'Migratising’ mobility: Coloniality of knowledge and externally funded migration capacity building projects in Niger Geoforum. 146,

K Arhin-Sam, A Bisong, L Jegen, H Mounkaila, F Zanker (2022) The (in) formality of mobility in the ECOWAS region: The paradoxes of free movement, South African Journal of International Affairs. 29 (2), 187-205

Ilke Adam, F. Trauner, L. Jegen & C. Roos (2020). West African interests in (EU) migration policy. Balancing domestic priorities with external incentives. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. 46 (15). 3101-3118.

Chapters

L Jegen (2023), The Role of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Africa/EU Migration, Editors: Adeoye O. Akinola, Jesper Bjarnesen, In: World’s Apart? Perspectives on Africa-EU Migration,  Jacana Media

EM Stambøl, L Jegen (2022), Colonial Continuities and the Commodification of Mobility Policing: French Civipol in West Africa, Editors: Martin Lemberg-Pedersen, Sharla M. Fett, Lucy Mayblin, Nina Sahraoui, Eva Magdalena Stambøl, In: Postcoloniality and Forced Migration, Bristol University Press

Reports

Leonie Jegen & Franzisca Zanker (2022): ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), Migration-control.info Wiki-Report

Leonie Jegen (2020): The Political Economy of Migration Governance in Niger, WAMIG Report, ABI and MEDAM

Leonie Jegen (2020): The Political Economy of Migration Governance in Senegal, WAMIG Report, ABI and MEDAM

Leonie Jegen & Franzisca Zanker (2020). Chapter 4: The Political Economy of Migration Governance in West Africa. In:  Matthias Lücke, O. Sundberg Diez, F.  Zanker & L. Jegen: 2020 MEDAM Assessment Report

Briefs

Amanda Bisong, Leonie Jegen, Harouna Mounkaila (2023). What does the regime change in Niger mean for migration cooperation with the EU?. ECDPM Briefing Note 168

Leonie Jegen, J. Claas  & O. Cham (2020).  Towards mutually beneficial EU-West African migration cooperation? Assessing EU policy trends and their implications for migration cooperation. Clingendael Policy Brief.

Franzisca Zanker, Amanda Bisong, Kwaku Arhin-Sam, and Leonie Jegen (2020):Free movement in West Africa: Juxtapositions and Divergent Interest, MEDAM and ECPDM Policy Brief

Franzisca Zanker, Judith Altrogge, Kwaku Arhin-Sam, and Leonie Jegen (2019): Challenges in EU-African Migration Cooperation: West African Perspectives on Forced Return; MEDAM Policy Brief 2019/5

Leonie Jegen and Franzisca Zanker (2019) European dominance of migration policy in Niger: On a fait les filles avant la mère, MEDAM Policy Brief 2019/3 (en francais)

Ilke Adam, Florian Trauner, Leonie Jegen, Christof Roos (2019): West African Interests in (EU) Migration Policy, UNU Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies

Florian Trauner, Leonie Jegen, Ilke Adam, Christof Roos (2019): The International Organization for Migration in West Africa: Why its Role is Getting More Contested, UNU Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies

Others

Online debate: Multiple (2023) Externalizing the EU Borders: Frontex and Other Security Actors in West Africa,  with Tineke Strik (MEP, The Greens/EFA), Moctar Dan Yaye (Alarmphone Sahara), Saliou Diouf (Boza Fii), Mariana Gkliati (University of Tilburg), Jane Kilpatrick (Statewatch), Leonie Jegen (University of Amsterdam), Hassan Ould Moctar (London School of Economics), Organized by: Rosa Luxemburg Foundation West Africa, Brot für die Welt, migration-control.info

OP-ed: Franzisca Zanker, Amanda Bisong, Leonie Jegen (2022): Free movement in West Africa: the culture of mobility still matters despite challenges, The Conversation

Podcast: Multiple (2021)  The Cooperation Between the EU and West Africa on Migration: a Win-Win-Win Scenario?, with Amanda Bisong, Omar Cham, Leonie Jegen, Melissa Mouthaan,  European Union in Internatioonal Affairs Conference Podcast Series, April 2021

Podcast: Leonie Jegen (2020): Migrationssteuerung durch die EU in Westafrika, Asyl im Dialog: Der Podcast der Refugee Law Clinic Berlin, Podcast

Interview: Franzisca Zanker and Leonie Jegen (2020), Die Europäische Union und afrikanische Staaten haben ein grundlegend unterschiedliches Verständnis von Migration – welche Konflikte bewirkt das?, Online Magazin Forschen und Entdecken, Universität Freiburg, Interview

OP-ed: Leonie Jegen (2020), Visumkrav ar den forster gransen (print only), MANA Antirasistik Tidskrift, November

OP-ed: Leonie Jegen and Franzisca Zanker (2019) Spirited away: The fading importance of resettlement in the emergency transit mechanism in Rwanda, ECPDM Guest Blog

OP-ed: Leonie Jegen and Franzisca Zanker (2019) Op-ed: Libya: Humanitarian Solutions Won’t Solve Political Problems, European Council on Refugees and Exile (ECRE)