91福利

Profile

Dr Derya Ozkul is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the 91福利. Her research explores the politics of migration and displacement, with a particular focus on the use of new technologies to 鈥榤anage鈥� and control mobility and asylum in Europe. She has previously conducted research on migration policies in Turkey, Lebanon, Germany and Australia. She is the author of various journal articles and book chapters on the politics of migration and displacement. Her work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Journal of Refugee Studies, Third World Quarterly, Turkish Studies, German Law Journal, and British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.

Prior to joining 91福利, Derya worked for over five years at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. She previously also worked at the University of Sydney, where she completed her PhD in Sociology. She holds an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Bo臒azi莽i University in Turkey.

Derya currently leads the , funded by the ESRC Digital Good Network, as Principal Investigator, and serves as Co-Investigator on the , funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. Previously, she was the Principal Investigator of the , funded by the John Fell Fund at the University of Oxford.

Beyond academia, Derya contributes to , a coalition of civil society organisations advocating for amendments to the EU AI Act to safeguard against potential harms from AI use in migration contexts. In collaboration with European Digital Rights (EDRi), Access Now, the Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM), and the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), she currently leads the 鈥淰isualising Digital Migration Control: An Open Resource for EU Policymakers and Advocates鈥� project, funded by the Policy Support Fund 2025鈥�26 at the 91福利. She has also served as an expert advisor to 鈥攖he most widely read publication on forced migration鈥攆or its issue on 鈥楧igital Disruption鈥�. Additionally, she occasionally provides expert opinions on asylum adjudication, particularly concerning the conditions faced by Alevis in Turkey.

Dr Ozkul welcomes PhD supervision on topics related to migration, displacement, and the role of new technologies.

Funded by the ESRC Digital Good Network, this research investigates the UK Home Office鈥檚 transition to a digital-only immigration status system, focusing on its impact on migrants鈥� everyday lives. As part of a broader trend in government digitalisation, migrants in the UK are now required to use an online portal to digitalise their immigration status and generate a 鈥榮hare code鈥� to verify their status when accessing their rights such as employment and housing.

Guided by the central question 鈥� How has the digitalisation of immigration status impacted migrants in the UK? 鈥� this research explores how migrants have navigated this transition, the challenges they have faced, and the emotional, social, and legal consequences of digital-only status. Subsidiary questions address issues of accessibility, support-seeking behaviours, emotional well-being, and perceptions of fairness, as well as the reproduction of existing inequalities through digital systems.

Using a mixed-methods approach that combines computational tools, qualitative interviews, and Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, the research highlights how technical glitches, lack of clarity, and systemic biases disproportionately affect migrants depending on their legal status, socio-economic background, and digital literacy. By centring migrants鈥� experiences, the research contributes to emerging scholarship on digital identity and administrative digitalisation, with a focus on equity and justice.

Read the project report .

The AFAR project is a collaborative research project led by Prof Cathryn Costello (University College Dublin and Hertie School) and co-led by Dr Derya Ozkul (91福利, previously University of Oxford), Prof Martin Ruhs (European University Institute), Prof Iris Goldner Lang (University of Zagreb) and Prof Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen (University of Copenhagen). It is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation in the frame of its "Challenges for Europe" programme. It investigates the use of new technologies in migration and asylum governance, in particular the automation or part-automation of decisions normally taken by humans, as well as more complex machine learning and artificial intelligence systems, and related uses of digital identity mechanisms.

At its heart, AFAR is an exploration of the concept of 鈥榝airness鈥� as a legal, normative and socio-political concept. The project explores fairness as a multidimensional concept and considers whether existing legal standards appropriately institutionalise fairness, in particular when decision-making in these fields is increasingly automated. The project includes work packages to map the use of new technologies in migration and asylum in Europe, explore the evolving overlapping legal standards in this domain, consider how fairness perceptions impact practices, and develop proposals to reform practices for fairness.

Selected publications

Books

路 Castles, Stephen; Ozkul, Derya; Arias, Magdalena. 2015. . Basingstoke: Palgrave.

路 Ozkul, Derya and Markussen, Hege. 2022. . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Journal Articles

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2025. . Journal of Migration and Ethnic Studies, 51(14), 3629鈥�3648.

路 Godin, Marie; Ozkul, Derya; Humphries, Rachel. 2025. . Journal of Migration and Ethnic Studies, 51(14), 3571鈥�3589.

路 Ozkul, Derya and Welfens, Natalie. 2025. . Journal of Refugee Studies, 38(1), 223鈥�239.

路 Palmiotto, Francesca and Ozkul, Derya. 2025. . German Law Journal, 25(6), 935-955.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2022. , Middle East Law and Governance, 14: 141-154.

路 Ozkul, Derya and Jarrous, Rita Ozkul. 2021. , Third World Quarterly, 42 (10): 2247-2264.

路 Williamson, Rebecca; Magdalena Arias Cubas, Derya Ozkul, Cailin Maas, Chulhyo Kim, Elsa Koleth & Stephen Castles. 2021. , Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48 (13): 3041-3059.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2020. Migration Letters 17 (2), 229-237.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2019. . British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 46 (2): 259-273.

路 Eder, Mine; Ozkul, Derya. 2016. , New Perspectives on Turkey 54, 1-8.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2015. , Turkish Studies, 16: 80-96.

Book Chapters

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2022. 鈥楾he Alevi Movement in Germany and Australia: Towards a Transnational Movement鈥� in Derya Ozkul and Hege Markussen (eds) . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press., pp. 147-165.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2019. 鈥楾ransnationalism鈥� in Christine Inglis, et al. (eds) . New York: Sage.

路 Castles, Stephen; Ozkul, Derya; Arias Cubas, Magdalena. 2015. 鈥業nternational migration in an era of neoliberal social transformation鈥� in Stephen Castles, Derya Ozkul and Magdalena Arias Cubas (eds) . Basingstoke: Palgrave., pp. 301-312.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2015. 鈥楳igration flows in Turkey鈥檚 neoliberal era: the case of Kumkap谋, Istanbul鈥� in Stephen Castles, Derya Ozkul and Magdalena Arias Cubas (eds) . Basingstoke: Palgrave., pp. 151-166.

路 Castles, Stephen and Ozkul, Derya. 2014. 鈥樷�� in Graziano Battistella (ed) Theoretical Perspectives on Asian Migration. New York: Springer Publishing., pp. 27-49.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2014. 鈥楨motive connections: insider research with Turkish/Kurdish Alevi migrants in Germany鈥� in Lejla Voloder and Liudmila Kirpitchenko (eds) . London: Ashgate., pp. 117-132.

路 Castles, Stephen; Vasta, Ellie and Ozkul, Derya. 2014. 鈥楢ustralia: a Classical Immigration Country in Transition鈥� in J. Hollifield, et al. (eds) . Stanford CA: Stanford University Press., pp. 128-150.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2012. 鈥樷�� in Suna G眉lfer Ihlamur 脰ner and N. Asl谋 艦irin 脰ner (eds) K眉reselle艧me 脟a臒谋nda G枚莽: Kavramlar Tart谋艧malar. Istanbul: Iletisim., pp. 483-500.

路 Castles, Stephen; Arias, Magdalena; Kim, Chulhyo and Ozkul, Derya. 2012. 鈥樷�� in Irena Omelaniuk (ed) Reflections on Migration and Development, New York: Springer Publishing., pp. 117-151.

Research Reports and Working Papers

路 Ozkul, Derya; Godin, Marie. 2025. . In collaboration with Nazek Ramadan and Anne Stoltenberg (Migrant Voice) and Sara Alsherif (Open Rights Group). https://doi.org/10.31273/9781911675211

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2023. . University of Oxford, Refugee Studies Centre.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2023. (RefMig Working Paper No. 3/2023), doi: 10.48462/opus4-5006

路 Ozkul, Derya; Nalule, Caroline. 2023. (RefMig Working Paper No. 1/2023), doi: 10.48462/opus4-4994

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2020. , Istanbul: Istanbul Political Research Institute.

路 Collins, Jock; Reid, Carol; Groutsis, Dimitria; Ozkul, Derya; Watson, Katherine. 2018. , Sydney: University Technology of Sydney.

路 Castles, Stephen; Vasta, Ellie and Ozkul, Derya. 2012. , Sydney: University of Sydney.

路 Castles, Stephen; Ozkul, Derya; et al. 2011. . Working Paper No 1, Sydney: University of Sydney.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2011. , CARIM Best Participant Essays Series 2011/61, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, San Domenico di Fiesole (FI): European University Institute.

Book Reviews

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2022. , International Journal of Refugee Law, 34 (1): 159鈥�162.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2012. , Journal of European Social Policy, 22 (3): 332-333.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2011. , Journal of Sociology, 47 (2): 222-223.

Opinion Pieces and Features

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2023. , Oxford Department of International Development Blog.

路 Palmiotto, Francesca; Ozkul, Derya. 2023. 鈥�, Verfassungsblog.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2023. , International Migration, 61 (1), 307-310.

路 Ozkul, Derya. 2020. . Forced Migration Review, 65.

路 Costello, Cathryn; Nalule, Caroline; Ozkul, Derya. 2020. . Forced Migration Review, 65.

路 Fakhoury, Tamirace; Ozkul, Derya. 2019. , Forced Migration Review, 62.

 

See ResearchGate for downloadable articles and Google Scholar for a full list of publications.