IMI staff members were among the more than 300 original signatories of an open letter, published 20 May on Open Democracy's Beyond Trafficking and Slavery section, which condemns the use of 'slave trade' rhetoric to justify EU proposals for the use of military force against migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean.
Oliver Bakewell, Robin Cohen, Yasser Moullan, Marieke van Houte and Simona Vezzoli* joined other migration experts in signing the letter, which has since received coverage in the Guardian as well as attracting many additional post-publication signatories.
Read the Open Democracy open letter
*Note that these researchers signed as individuals and not on behalf of the universities and other institutions that employ them.