Meet the panelists
Dr. Muireann Ní Raghallaigh is an Associate Professor of Social Work at University College Dublin, Ireland where she primarily teaches on the Professional Masters in Social Work, as well as coordinating an undergraduate module on Refugee Displacement. Muireann previously worked as a social worker with unaccompanied refugee children. Her research is primarily focused on the lived experiences of refugees and international protection applicants, looking at topics such as foster care experiences of unaccompanied refugee children; refugee family reunification; transition from Ireland’s ‘direct provision’ system; and the needs of refugee children. Her current research focuses on the care experiences of unaccompanied refugee children in Ireland and inequality in housing among refugees and international protection applicants across Europe. Connect with Muireann on Linkedin, Bluesky, & University College Dublin.
James Akoon Akot is a dedicated community activist with a passion for social justice and creating positive change in his local community. He has been involved in various grassroots organizations and initiatives that focus on issues such as racial equality, environmental sustainability, and affordable housing. James believes in the power of collective action and community organizing to bring about meaningful change and promote a more just and equitable society. In addition to his activism work, James also has a background in mental health advocacy. He has worked as a counsellor for at-risk youth and has facilitated workshops on mental health awareness and self-care. James believes that access to quality education and mental health resources are essential for building strong, resilient communities.
Dr Tom Vickers is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Work Futures Observatory at Nottingham Trent University, UK. He has been actively involved in research and activism concerning borders, protection and migration for almost two decades, including helping to found Tyneside Community Action for Refugees and the Migration and Asylum Justice Forum. His most recent work has documented and supported the struggles of a highly diverse workforce organising with the GMB Union at Amazon’s Coventry, UK warehouse. Tom explores the themes of migration and the oppression of refugees in his books, Refugees, Capitalism and the British State and Borders, Migration and Class in an Age of Crisis. His research can also be found here. Connect with Tom via his Website and Twitter.
Ala Sirriyeh is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Lancaster University. Her research and teaching specialisms in migration including refugees, young people, and activism centre on questions of inequality, political power, and social justice. She currently holds a British Academy Mid Career Fellowship (2024-25) for a project titled Britain’s Child Migrants. Her recent research has explored the politics of compassion in relation to immigration and asylum, undocumented young activists’ pathways through activism in the undocumented youth movement in California, and the experiences of racially minoritized students engaging in anti-racist activism in universities in England. She is the author of Inhabiting Borders, Routes Home: Youth, Gender, Asylum (Routledge, 2013) and The Politics of Compassion: Immigration and Asylum Policy (Bristol University Press, 2018).