How did you come to choose your research topic — the right of families of missing migrants to know the truth?

Many factors led me to choose this topic. However, the main factors are hearing about and reading news reports on the struggles of families of missing migrants, as well as discussions about the issue in the course on international migration law during my first year.

What were your research questions and your methodology?

My thesis is concerned with how to address the suffering endured by families of missing migrants due to the uncertainty about the fate and whereabouts of their relatives in irregular migration journeys. In this regard, I examined the extent to which international human rights law can serve as a legal framework to alleviate this suffering, particularly through the recognition of the right of families to know the truth and the role of international migration law in securing this right for the families of missing migrants. To answer this question, I employed a legal doctrinal methodology, examining the content and scope of the right of families to know the truth in the jurisprudence of human rights bodies and several migration law instruments.

Can you tell us about your findings?

After examining the jurisprudence of human rights bodies and various migration law instruments, I found that the right of families of the missing and the disappeared to know the truth about their missing relatives is recognised, albeit implicitly, within the protection from ill-treatment and the right to family life. I also found that, although such recognition is not explicitly made in the context of migration or for families of missing migrants, the guarantees arising from this implicit acknowledgement could apply to these families through the principles of equality and non-discrimination. Furthermore, I found that any such application is limited to situations where individual states exercise jurisdiction and may not necessarily extend to a transnational context, such as that required when addressing the needs of families of missing migrants. Although international migration law could address this gap, the relevant instruments either do not acknowledge the right of families to know the truth or the guarantees connected with it, or they recognise them only in a narrow scope. Therefore, I suggested concluding a new legal framework to address these gaps and ensure families' right to know the truth.

What could be the social and political implications of your thesis?

Currently, the main focus, both in academic literature and the media, is rightly on preventing deaths in irregular migration and on state responsibility for failing to prevent these deaths. My research broadens this focus to include the families of those who disappear and die during irregular migration and emphasises their concerns, the need to recognise these concerns as a serious issue, and the importance of seeking solutions for them. It also questions whether current approaches used by international and civil society organisations to address these families’ concerns are suitable for the needs of families of the missing in a transnational context, and suggests a shift in focus to better address their unique circumstances.

Furthermore, my research holds political importance by raising questions about the impact of securitised border policies from the perspective of families of missing migrants. Many scholars and civil society activists have emphasised the link, if not direct causation, between rising deaths in irregular migration and the lack of legal pathways for migration. My thesis builds on this argument and broadens the scope to include not only the emotional toll but also the socio-economic consequences of not knowing the fate and whereabouts of loved ones. In other words, by arguing that these policies are not only associated with more migrant deaths in irregular situations but also cause severe psychological distress to their families, along with related effects on their socio-economic conditions, the thesis aims to contribute to the political debate about the costs of these policies.

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On 25 June 2025, Fekade Alemayhu Abebe defended his PhD thesis in International Law, summa cum laude, titled “Searching for a Legal Framework to Govern the “Affective Border”: Securing the Right of Families of Missing Migrants to Know the Truth about Their Missing Relatives in International Human Rights Law”. Professor Andrew Clapham (left) presided over the committee, which included Professor Vincent Chetail (right), Thesis Supervisor, and Professor Melanie Klinkner, International Law, Bournemouth University, UK.

Those interested in accessing the thesis can contact Fekade Alemayhu Abebe.

Banner image: image generated with the prompt “A threatening sea with a question mark on it” by Copilot, 9 September 2025.
Interview by Nathalie Tanner, Research Office.