Maarten Kos, former IMRL student, has won the Hanneke Steenbergen Scriptieprijs 2019, an annual prize for the best Master’s Thesis in migration law. Maarten’s thesis, which was supervised by Thomas Spijkerboer, examines the question: “To what extent can Italy be held responsible under international law for the human rights violations of migrants intercepted at sea and returned to Libya by the Libyan coast guard through its support of the Libyan coast guard in doing so?’ The jury unanimously decided Maarten to be the winner. According to the jury, “Kos undertook a very impressive and rich research on an extremely urgent problem stemming from cooperation with third states — known to lack human rights safeguards — to stem the influx of refugees and migrants. (…) The thesis is very accessible, as it is very well written with a clear focus and convincing arguments. In conclusion, Kos’ thesis is impressive and a must-read for practitioners and policy makers.” Many congratulations to Maarten! Congratulations also go to former IMRL students Agostina Pirrello and Greta Albertari, who received honorable mention of the jury. Greta and Agostina wrote a legal and philosophical analysis of Italian immigration law (Salvini Act) based on the theater work of Pirandello.

The Thesis of Maarten Kos has been published in the VU Migration Law Series and can be found here.