91”ΔÎ

Skip to Main Content
You are now in the main content area
Idil Atak

Idil Atak

Interim Associate Dean, Academic (January 1 - June 30, 2026); Professor
DepartmentLincoln Alexander School of Law
Areas of ExpertiseIrregular migration, refugee protection, securitization of migration and human rights law

Dr. Idil Atak is a professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law. Before joining 91”ΔÎ, Atak worked as a legal expert in the Turkish Foreign Ministry and as a deputy to the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the Council of Europe. Atak earned her PhD at UniversitĂ© de MontrĂ©al’s Faculty of Law and was a SSHRC postdoctoral fellow at McGill University’s Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. She currently serves as a director-at-large for the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS). Atak was a member of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration’s (IASFM) executive committee and a past president of the CARFMS. She served as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies (IJMBS) from 2017 to 2020.

Books

Graham Hudson and Idil Atak (eds.) Migration, Security and Surveillance: Rescaling Governance at the Global and Local Levels (Oxford: Routledge, 2022).

Idil Atak and James C. Simeon (eds.), The Criminalization of Migration: Context and Consequences (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2018).

Idil Atak, L’europĂ©anisation de la lutte contre la migration irrĂ©guliĂšre et les droits humains. Une Ă©tude des politiques de renvois forcĂ©s en France, au Royaume-Uni et en Turquie (Bruxelles: Bruylant, 2011).

Special Issues of Journals

(2024) 8:3/4. “”, Editorial, International Journal on Migration and Border Studies, Special Issue (with Claire Ellis).

“The Criminalization of Migration” (2018) 4:4 International Journal on Migration and Border Studies Special Issue (with Graham Hudson & Delphine Nakache).

(2015) 17:1 Éthique publique (with Speranta Dumitru).

Papers in Refereed Journals

Data collection and reporting on human trafficking in Canada (2025) Frontiers in Human Dynamics 6:1426605. doi: 10.3389/fhumd.2024.1426605 (with Sasha Baglay).

  (2024) Canadian Journal of Law and Society/Revue Canadienne Droit et SociĂ©tĂ© (with Sara Asalya & Jona Zyfi).

(2024) Intergentes -The McGill Journal of International Law & Legal Pluralism, 1-7 (with François Crépeau).

(2024) Journal of International Migration and Integration, 1-25 (with Sasha Baglay & Varka Kalaydzieva).

“: The Global Compacts' Added Value in Access to Asylum Procedures and Immigration Detention” (2023) 5 Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 1-16 (with Maja Grundler, Pauline Endres de Oliveira, JĂŒrgen Bast, Elspeth Guild, Nicholas Maple, Kudakwashe Vanyoro, Janna Wessels & Jona Zyfi).

“ Advancing Foreign Policy Objectives and the Status Quo?”, Refugee Survey Quarterly (2023), 1-22 (with Claire Linley-Moore & Julie (Ha-Young) Kim).

, Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, (2022) 38(2), 1–13. (with Graham Hudson).

"Les Nations Unies et les enjeux de la migration", (2021) Revue québécoise de droit international, Hors-série, 199-212.

, (2021) 68 Forced Migration Review, 33-35 (with Claire Ellis and Zainab Abu Alrob).

(2021) 34(3) Journal of Refugee Studies, 2593–2612, (with Zainab Abu Alrob and Claire Ellis).

"L’Agence Frontex, la police europĂ©enne aux frontiĂšres au dĂ©fi du respect des droits humains des migrants" (2020) Revue quĂ©bĂ©coise de droit international, Hors SĂ©rie 70 ans de la Convention europĂ©enne des droits de l’homme : L’Europe et les droits de la personne, 369-393 (with Ndeye Dieynaba Ndiaya).

(2019) 31:4 International Journal of Refugee Law, 464-491 (with Graham Hudson and Delphine Nakache). 

(2019) 56 Canadian Yearbook of International Law, 292-327 (with Lorielle Giffin). 

“Playing with Lives under the Guise of Fair Play: The Safe Country of Origin Policy in the EU and Canada” (2018) 4:4 International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 345-359 (with Jona Zyfi).

(2018) 56:6 International Migration, 176-190. 

(2018) 37:1 Refugee Survey Quarterly, 1-24 (with Graham Hudson and Delphine Nakache). 

« La mesure relative au â€č pays d’origine dĂ©signĂ©s â€ș : Une analyse des liens entre les politiques d’asile et la migration irrĂ©guliĂšre au Canada » (2018) 171:1 Migration SociĂ©tĂ©, 19-34.

“Global Migration Governance: Avoiding Commitments on Migration, Yet Tracing a Course for Cooperation” (2016) 34:2 Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, 110-143 (with François CrĂ©peau).

Chapters in Books

Idil Atak (2026). “The Criminalization of Migration”, in Alexander C. Diener and Joshua Hegen (Eds.) Oxford Intersections: Borders. 1-20 

Idil Atak (2025). Â« L’article 6 de la Charte Canadienne des Droits et LibertĂ©s : La libertĂ© de circulation et d’établissement » in Errol Mendes and StĂ©phane Beaulac (Eds.) Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Charte Canadienne des Droits et LibertĂ©s (6th Edition, LexisNexis). 619-666.

Idil Atak (2025). « La protection des rĂ©fugiĂ©s au Canada : comparaison des systĂšmes de rĂ©installation et d’asile » in AdĂšle Garnier, Sarah Dubuc and Christina Clark-Kazak (Eds.) La Migration ForcĂ©e au Canada (McGill-Queen's University Press). 261-277

Mireille Paquet, John Shields, Idil Atak, Meghan Joy, and Graham Hudson (2025). â€œMunicipal “Sanctuary” Policies in Canada: A View from Immigrant-Serving Organizations” in Valerie Preston, John Shields, and Tara Bedard (Eds.) Social Resilience and the Urban Migrant Experience (McGill-Queen's University Press). 27-41

(2024). “Refugee Protection in Canada: A Comparison of Resettlement and In-land Asylum Systems” in C. Clark-Kazak & J. Hyndman (Eds.) Forced Migration in/to Canada: From Colonization to Refugee Resettlement (McGill-Queens University Press). 235-249.

(2024). “An International Human Rights Framework for Migration in a Globalising World” in A. Triandafyllidou (Ed.) Migration and Globalisation Handbook (Second Edition, Edward Elgar Publishing).

(2024). « Les Nations Unies et les enjeux de la migration » in S. Paquin et K. Plouffe-Malette (Eds.) Organisations Internationales. Droit et Politique de la Gouvernance Mondiale (Montréal, Presses de la SQDI), 233-243.

“Asylum in the 21st Century: Trends and Challenges,” in A. Triandafyllidou (Ed.). Handbook on Immigration and Refugee Studies, (Oxfordshire, Routledge, 2023), 358-370 (with François CrĂ©peau).

“The Externalization of Canada’s Border Policies: Extending Control, Restricting Mobility,” in E. Martani and Denise Helly (Eds.). Asylum and Resettlement in Canada. Historical Development, Successes, Challenges and Lessons Learned, (Milan, FrancoAngeli Publishing, 2022), 118-140 (with Claire Ellis).

“Refugee System as a Bordering Site: Security, Surveillance and the Rights of Asylum Seekers in Canada,” in G. Hudson and Idil Atak (Eds.), Migration, Security and Surveillance: Rescaling governance at the global and local levels, (Oxford: Routledge, 2022), 25-46 (with Claire Ellis and Zainab Abu Alrob).

“Sanctuary Cities and Covid-19: The Case of Canada,” in A. Triandafyllidou (Ed.), Migration and Pandemics. Spaces of Solidarity and Spaces of Exception (Springer. IMISCOE, 2021), 85-102 (with Mireille Paquet, NoĂ©mie BenoĂźt, Meghan Joy, Graham Hudson and John Shields.

“’A Responsible and Committed City’: MontrĂ©al’s Sanctuary Policy,” in H. Sanders and L. Faret (eds.), Cities Protecting Migrants: Critical Perspectives on Urban Sanctuary and Hospitality in the Americas (London: Palgrave MacMillan Publishing, 2021), 105-130.

“Migrants as Refugees,” in C. Costello, M. Foster and J. McAdam (eds.), The Oxford Handbook on International Refugee Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021), 134-151 (with François CrĂ©peau).

“Toronto’s Sanctuary City Policy: Rationale and Barriers,” in J. Darling and H. Bauder (eds.), Sanctuary Cities and Urban Struggles: Rescaling Migration, Citizenship and Rights (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2019), 105-130.

, in M. Ruiz, C. Menjivar and I. Ness (eds.), Handbook on Migration Crises (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019).

“Legal Status and Vulnerabilities,” in T. Basaran and E. Guild (eds.), Global Labour and the Migrant Premium, The Cost of Living Abroad (London and New York: Routledge, 2018), 10-17 (with François CrĂ©peau).

"Immigration et réfugiés", Fascicule 19 (Revised and Updated. First publication 2011), in Jurisclasseur Québec - Droit constitutionnel, Feuilles volantes (Montreal: LexisNexis, 2018), 82.

“An International Human Rights Framework for Migration in a Globalising World,” in A. Triandafyllidou (ed.), Handbook of Migration and Globalisation (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018), 17-37.

“A Legacy of Fragmentation,” in Th. Cottier and K. N. Schaefer (eds.), Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law (Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017), 494-496 (with François CrĂ©peau).

"La lutte contre migration irrĂ©guliĂšre en Europe et au Canada: Une Ă©tude comparative de l’efficacitĂ© et de l’impact du droit d’asile" in N. Neuwahl (ed.), Coherence and Incoherence in Migration Management and Integration (Montreal: Themis, 2017), 25-53.

Research Reports

“‘Migrants in Vulnerable Situations’ and the Global Compact for Safe Orderly and Regular Migration” (2018) 273 Queen Mary University of London Working Paper Series (with Delphine Nakache, Elspeth Guild and François CrĂ©peau).

“‘Making Canada’s Refugee System Faster and Fairer’: Reviewing the Stated Goals and Unintended Consequences of the 2012 Reform” (2017) 2017:3 Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS) Working Paper Series (with Graham Hudson & Delphine Nakache).

“(No)Access T.O.: A Pilot Study on Sanctuary City Policy in Toronto, Canada” (2017) 1 Ryerson Centre for Immigration and Settlement (RCIS) Working Paper, (with Graham Hudson, Michele Manocchi and Charity Ann Hannan).

SSHRC Horizon 2020, “The Right to International Protection: A Pendulum Between Globalization and Nativization?,” 2020-2023, principal investigator

Early Researcher Award, Government of Ontario, “Balancing Security and Human Rights,” 2019-2024, principal investigator

SSHRC Insight, “Securitization of Migration and Asylum in Canada: A Comparative Analysis of Policy Consequences and Human Rights Impact,” 2014-2020, principal investigator

SSHRC Insight, “Examination of Protection and Assistance Measures for Foreign Nationals Trafficked to Canada,” 2019-2023, co-applicant

SSHRC Insight, “Pathways Into and Out of Irregularity for Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada: A Cross-Jurisdictional Analysis,” 2018-2023, co-applicant

SSHRC Insight, “Sanctuary Cities in Canada: A Socio-Legal Study,” 2018-2023, co-applicant

Best International Thesis Award, Centre d’Études et Recherches Internationales, UniversitĂ© de MontrĂ©al (CÉRIUM), 2012

Degree Institution
LLD (Doctor of Laws) Université de Montréal
MA (Master of Arts, Social Sciences) University of Marmara
BA (Bachelor of Arts, Public Administration and International Relations) University of Bogazici