PhD candidates
Isabelle Swerissen
Isabelle is a PhD candidate in the SHARES Project. 
She is writing her thesis on the topic of the relationship between responsibility allocation arrangements and the protection of refugees. Her research seeks to answer the question if, and under what conditions, states may implement responsibility allocation arrangements. The preliminary findings of the research show that, while the arrangements are in principle not contrary to international law, they must meet strict conditions. These conditions relate the level of refugee protection offered, ties of refugees with certain countries and disproportionate protection burdens resting on certain countries.
Isabelle has degrees in Public International Law (2009) and International Relations (2010) from the University of Amsterdam. In the course of an academic exchange, she spent a semester at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia (2007). During her studies, she was a para-legal at Böhler lawyers (now Prakken d’Oliveira Human Rights Lawyers), worked as a research-assistant in the field of international refugee law and completed several interships, both in the Netherlands and abroad.
Blogposts by Isabelle Swerissen
- Olympic Games turned Blame Games: Responsibility for Abuse of Migrant Workers in Sochi
- How We Can Do Something: Sharing the Responsibility to Protect Syrian Refugees
- Syrian Refugees, Allocation of Responsibility and the Right to Choose: Beggars Can’t Be Choosers (or Can They?)
- On Human Shields: Balancing the Responsibilities of Attackers and Defenders?
- Dublin and Beyond: ‘Each According to Its Abilities’?
- The MSS Case: Shifting Burdens and Evading Responsibilities?