Michael Ruprecht

Supervisor(s): Prof Brad Blitz (Primary) and Dr Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson (Secondary) Funding: UCL Graduate Research Scholarship Email: michael.ruprecht.20@ucl.ac.uk

Climate Change-Induced Forced Migration in Colombia: Trapped Between Inconsistent Public Policy Frameworks and Ineffective International Legal Protection Regimes

My research aims to analyse the impact of climate change and/or climate variability on forced migration dynamics. While most research has concentrated on international, cross-border movements, the focus will be on internally displaced people (IDPs) moving from rural areas to urban centres, and who belong to vulnerable ethnic minorities.

My study will focus on Colombia, and specifically on members of the Afro-Colombian community forcibly displaced from the rural areas of the Chocó Department to the peripheral urban areas of the City of Medellín.

The significance of my research will be to understand how these internal migratory flows navigate between an incomplete public policy framework and ineffective international legal protection regimes. Conceptually, this study will seek to challenge the hegemonic official narrative of the root causes of internal displacement in Colombia, which has always been understood as solely and uniquely linked to the ongoing armed conflict and explained by socio-political tensions and violence.

Selected publications

• Ruprecht, Michael Nabil. 2019. “Colombia’s Armed Conflict and its Refugees: International Legal Protection versus Interregional State Interests”. Colombia Internacional (100) (October-December): 67-90. https://doi.org/10.7440/colombiaint100.2019.04

Experience

• Teaching Assistant (2021 - Present), University College London
• Adjunct Professor (2017 - 2018), University de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia

Qualifications

• BA, University of Melbourne, Australia, 2002 - 2005
• MA, University of Geneva, Switzerland, 2006 - 2008
• LLM, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain, 2013 - 2015

View Michael Ruprecht's UCL Profile