Alice Szczepanikova specializes in migration integration policies and their human rights implications, making research relevant to policymakers and practitioners, and developing and exploring innovative learning and training tools that raise awareness of complex issues and foster collaboration. She completed her studies at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, the Central European University in Hungary, and at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. She has worked extensively as a researcher and principal investigator at various research institutions, including the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and the Free University of Brussels in Belgium, as well as a civil servant for the Czech government and the European Commission. She is now the Migration and Freedom of Movement Adviser at the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights at the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Comprehensive migration management is a complicated cross-cutting policy issue. While states indisputably have the right to control entry at their borders, they must also adhere to international human rights standards, including the right to seek international protection and non-refoulement. Many OSCE participating States - including Bosnia and Herzegovina - are struggling to develop capacities and safeguards when responding to the challenges related to these migration flows. As a result, non-state actors have taken a stronger role in migration management, playing an increasingly important and often precarious role in providing humanitarian assistance to people on the move, supporting them in accessing relevant legal procedures and in monitoring and documenting law and human rights violations at borders and beyond. Dr. Szczepanikova will discuss new challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities faced by non-state actors and their dynamic role in migration management.