Maja Janmyr

Maja Janmyr is a Professor of International Migration Law at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo. She holds a PhD in International Law from the University of Bergen (2012) and became a Full Professor at the University of Oslo in 2018. She currently leads the ERC-funded BEYOND project (2021-2026) examining international refugee law beyond states parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention. Janmyr also serves as Senior Visiting Fellow at the Lebanese American University in Beirut and holds memberships in the OSCE List of Experts and the Advisory Board of the Gerda Henkel Foundation's Program on Forced Migration.

Her research focuses on Lebanon and the broader Middle East through historical and socio-legal approaches to international law. She examines how refugees and migrants engage with legal norms and institutions, and how international refugee law is interpreted in local contexts. Her work spans refugee protection in Lebanon, UNHCR's human rights responsibilities in refugee camps, Norway's readmission agreements, and Nubian activists' mobilization for recognition in Egypt.

Janmyr's recent publications reveal a strong emphasis on non-signatory states to the 1951 Refugee Convention, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia. Her work demonstrates how international refugee law 'happens' even in countries that haven't formally ratified the convention, examining UNHCR operations, domestic legal frameworks, and refugee agency in these contexts. She has pioneered visual storytelling approaches to refugee research, notably through her graphic novel Cardboard Camp: Stories of Sudanese Refugees in Lebanon (2023).

Scientific Awards:

• Fridtjof Nansen medal of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (2022)
• University of Oslo's Award for Young Researchers (2021)
• Chr. Michelsen Prize for outstanding development research (2018)
• Meltzer Prize for Young Researchers (2014)

Janmyr has secured substantial research funding including an ERC Starting Grant (€1.5M) for the BEYOND project and participation in multiple Horizon 2020 and Research Council of Norway projects. She serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Refugee Law and regularly reviews for international funding institutions including the ERC. Her scholarly engagement extends to public commentary through op-eds in major international outlets and active participation in global refugee governance forums including the OSCE and the Global Compact on Refugees process.