Latvia, Russia

Dr Aleksandra Ancite-Jepifánova holds a PhD in law from Queen Mary University of London and is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Centre of Law and Society at Cardiff University. She is also a Research Affiliate with the Refugee Law Initiative, University of London. Previously she was a (postdoctoral) Fellow of re:constitution, a programme of the Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien, and a Visiting Researcher at the Amsterdam Centre for Migration and Refugee Law at VU Amsterdam. She has taught courses and given guest lectures at numerous institutions, including London School of Economics (LSE), Queen Mary, and the University of Amsterdam.

Her research interests lie broadly in European and comparative migration, asylum and nationality law, particularly focusing on the nexus between migration, security and human rights. Her PhD thesis (under contract with Brill) critically examined the concept of marriages of convenience in EU and UK law in so far as it concerns EU citizens’ right to family reunion with non-EU nationals. Her current project focuses on the situation at the EU’s border with Belarus and Russia, particularly where it concerns access to the asylum procedure and compliance with the Rule of Law. Her study approaches the issue from a comparative socio-legal perspective and builds on extensive fieldwork in Poland, Latvia and Lithuania. She is also interested in developments in migration and nationality laws in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the implications of EU migration and asylum regimes for Iraqi nationals, particularly of Kurdish/Yezidi background.