Dr Daniele Saracino is a lecturer the Department of Government at the University of Essex. He is an editor of the Forced Migration Studies Blog and chairs the working group 'Europe' of the German Network for Forced Migration Studies. His research focuses on the European Union’s political system and functioning, the EU's asylum and border control policies, and the salient questions of solidarity and the rule of law. He has led research projects on migration governance in Southern Africa as well as on the migratory movements from Africa to Europe during the Arab Spring.