Simona Vezzoli
Simona Vezzoli is a Research Officer at IMI.
Contact: +44 (0) 1865 281726, simona.vezzoli@qeh.ox.ac.uk
Research focus
Simona's research interests include migration policy, in particular sending countries' perspectives on emigration and the interaction between emigration and immigration policies; sending country policies to engage diaspora communities; and return and reintegration of migrants in their communities of origin.
Her work has covered migration and development initiatives in Mexico, Morocco, Ghana and Serbia. She is currently exploring the history and impact of migration policies, with a focus on the Caribbean region.
Current IMI projects
Simona works on three projects: Determinants of International Migration (DEMIG), Drivers and Dynamics of High-Skilled Migration, and Global Migration Futures (GMF).
Previously she worked on the Transatlantic Dialogues project.
Background
Simona has a BA in socio-cultural anthropology (University of California, Berkeley) and an MA in international policy studies with a specialization in international development (Monterey Institute of International Studies, USA). Her studies have focused on migration and development, and migration policies concerning the regulation of migrant labour. She gained an understanding of applied migration and development projects while working on the Migration for the Development in Africa (MIDA) project at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Rome. While at IOM she conducted research with unaccompanied Afghan minors seeking asylum in Italy. The research documented the journeys of Afghan minors from Afghanistan or Iran to Italy, their motivations and difficulties encountered, and their expectations and it assessed the minors’ desire to pursue the tracing of their family in Afghanistan or elsewhere.
Publications
- Hein de Haas and Simona Vezzoli (2011) 'Leaving matters: the nature, evolution and effects of emigration policies', IMI Working Paper 34.
- Hein de Haas and Simona Vezzoli (2010) 'Time to Temper the Faith: Comparing the Migration and Development Experiences of Mexico and Morocco', Migration Information Source (Washington).
- Hein de Haas and Simona Vezzoli (2010) 'Migration and development: Lessons from the Mexico-US and Morocco-EU experiences', IMI Working Paper 22 (pdf).
- Vezzoli, S. with T. Lacroix (2010) ‘Building bonds for migration and development: Diaspora engagement policies of Ghana, India and Serbia’, a discussion paper for GTZ.
- Vezzoli, S. and S. Castles (2009) ‘The Global Economic Crisis and Migration: Temporary Interruption or Structural Change?’, Working Paper, Paradigmes, No. 2.
