Publications and Public Engagement
These publications grew out of Viola’s research on EU migration policy, border externalisation, asylum, return, and the social consequences of illegalised mobility. They are closely connected to the collaborative work developed with YAIM, while not all are co-authored with the group.
Academic publications
Landmark ICC trial on Libya migrant abuses must lead to more scrutiny of EU complicity
In this opinion peace on The New Humanitarian the senior legal advisor of ECCHR Allison West and Viola discuss their work of gathering testimonies and registering victim for the upcoming trial of the former Libyan security official Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri at the ICC and what this trial could entail in unveiling the complicity and responsibilities of the EU and European member states in the violation of migrants rights. The collaboration with ECCHR happened thanks to the stories YAIM members shared with Viola and on the podcast, which created the possibility for their registration as victims for some of them.
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Social Connections and Ethical Entrapments: On Doing Anthropology of and Through the Border Regime
Viola Castellano (2025), Anthropological Theory.
This article examines how social relationships produced through the border regime can reveal its unequal and often contradictory workings. It reflects on the ethical and methodological challenges of researching illegalised migration, with particular attention to The Gambia and journeys towards Europe.
On the Ethics of Talking About Illegalized Routes with Potential Migrants: An Interview with Viola Castellano
Anthropological Theory Commons.
An interview on the ethical and political questions that arise when discussing dangerous and illegalised migration routes with people whose mobility is constrained by restrictive visa regimes.
Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration in The Gambia: Aid Workers and Returnees as Implementers and Contesters of Humanitarian Borderwork
Viola Castellano, in Transnational Mobility and Externalization of EU Borders: Social Work, Migration Management, and Resistance. Bloomsbury.
This chapter examines IOM-assisted voluntary return and reintegration programmes in The Gambia as a form of humanitarian borderwork. It considers how returnees and aid workers navigate, implement, negotiate, and sometimes contest programmes that present return as assistance while also serving wider European migration-management and border-externalisation objectives.
“Time Is on Me”: Entangled Temporalities Between Italy and The Gambia
Viola Castellano (2024), Journal of International Migration and Integration, 25, 1153–1168.
Drawing on the post-asylum trajectories of Gambian people living in Italy, this article examines how precarious legal status, insecure work, family expectations, and transnational obligations shape experiences of time. It explores how waiting, delayed aspirations, and the pressure to support relatives in The Gambia continue to structure life after the asylum process.
(Un)ruly Relationalities
Viola Castellano (2024), Focaal.
This article explores the informal and unauthorised relationships that emerged between Gambian asylum seekers and asylum workers in Italy. It considers how these relations shaped people’s lives during and after the asylum process.
Public Engagement
L’Europa vista dal Gambia
IrpiMedia, 2025.
The Gambia is mainland Africa’s smallest country, yet it has a political and social history shaped by profound transformations: from the legacy of British colonial rule and a long period of authoritarian government to the current challenges of democracy and migration. In this episode, Viola Castellano discusses these changes in light to recent border policies with Irpimedia.
Gambia: Politiche di Confine e Rimpatri
Radio Blackout, 2023.
An interview with Viola Castellano on border policies, return, and the externalisation of European migration control in The Gambia.
Landmark ICC trial on Libya migrant abuses must lead to more scrutiny of EU complicity
In this opinion peace on The New Humanitarian the senior legal advisor of ECCHR Allison West and Viola discuss their work of gathering testimonies and registering victim for the upcoming trial of the former Libyan security official Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri at the ICC and what this trial could entail in unveiling the complicity and responsibilities of the EU and European member states in the violation of migrants rights. The collaboration with ECCHR happened thanks to the stories YAIM members shared with Viola and on the podcast, which created the possibility for their registration as victims for some of them.
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Radio Broadcast in Gambia
During the spring and summer 2026 YAIM members proposed to various Gambian radios to broadcast the podcast series Backway to Europe. In August 2026, the episodes were broadcasted by the Kaira Nyining Community Radio, a prominent grassroots radio station broadcasting on 107.9 MHz from Kuloro village, located in the Kombo East District of the West Coast Region in The Gambia.The station plays a vital role in regional civic engagement, education, and development. It is deeply integrated with local non-governmental community initiative.
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Book of Shame
Refugees in Libya.
A publication and advocacy project by Refugees in Libya which was co-authored by Viola documenting experiences of abuse, abandonment, and violence affecting refugees and people on the move in Libya and across related migration-control systems.