Geertrui Daem
Biography
Geertrui Daem is a PhD researcher at the Institute for Private International Law and the Migration Law Research Group. She is also a member of CESSMIR (Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees) and the Human Rights Centre. Daem obtained a Master's in International Law from Ghent University and Aix-Marseille, and she also holds an additional Master's in Conflict and Development Studies. Her research project, "Refugees in Identity Crisis – Interactions between Private International Law and Refugee Law," empirically investigates the complex legal problems refugees encounter regarding the recognition of their personal status. The research is conducted under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Ellen Desmet and Prof. Dr. Jinske Verhellen.
She began her career as an immigration lawyer before moving to Algeria and Kenya, where she worked as a Refugee Status Determination and Resettlement Officer for UNHCR. Subsequently, she applied her expertise in migration law at several Belgian NGOs, including Flemish Refugee Action and the Belgian Refugee Council. Prior to taking up her research position, she served as an immigration expert for the Flemish Government's Agency for Civic Integration. Since 2018, she has been a teaching assistant for the Migration Law Clinic within the Migration Law Research Group. In October 2021, she commenced her PhD research. Her primary interests lie in migration law, private international law, and human rights law.
Research project
Imagine a Somali boy who cannot prove his minority status to qualify for a guardian because he lacks a birth certificate. Or consider an Afghan couple seeking asylum, whose Iranian marriage certificate indicates a religious marriage that took place in Iran when the girl was 16. A Syrian refugee wishes to prove his fatherhood, but his child, born in a Lebanese refugee camp, does not have a birth certificate. How should their personal status be recognized in the context of migration? These scenarios highlight a complex legal issue related to the cross-border recognition of personal status. Refugees not only need to present authentic documents, but the content of these documents must also be accepted.
Both issues are important hurdles in a refugee context. Since the interactions between private international law and migration law are insufficiently considered, refugees and their families not only suffer from difficult living conditions but also from identity crises as they are trapped in a serious legal limbo; e.g. married in Iran, but not in Belgium. For instance, they may be considered married in Iran but not in Belgium.
This research aims to empirically investigate these pressing legal issues within the Belgian context. To this end, asylum authorities, administrative and judicial authorities will be interviewed, and roundtables with lawyers will be organized. An online survey targeting these stakeholders will provide additional insights into the legal challenges refugees face regarding their personal status.
Through this methodology, the research aims at mapping the legal problems related to refugees' personal status. In a subsequent phase, the research will explore how this mapping and increased awareness of the interactions between migration law and private international law can lead to better coordination of these legal frameworks, ultimately enhancing the protection of refugees.