BRIDGES Working Papers 3 (February 2022)

Information campaigns aim at discouraging potential migrants from leaving their countries irregularly. This paper systematically reviews academic research on these campaigns and presents some avenues for further research. It is shown that (EU-funded) information campaigns have gained importance and become more diversified in terms of communication tools and actors involved. Future research projects may focus more on how information campaigns relate to the narratives and information landscape that influence the decision-making of potential migrants, the role of local actors in implementing these campaigns and the way narratives and frames are actually built up in countries of origin and transit. To better understand the effects of information campaigns, we need to understand and compare alternative and counter-narratives taken up or even produced by potential migrants.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5925129