Identifying the Displaced: Reconstructing the Fragmented Identities of Missing Migrants through Jewellery

Identifying the Displaced is a multidisciplinary exploration into the forensic value of personal effects in the migration context, through close collaboration with international experts in design, forensic anthropology, and forensic pathology. The heart of the project is an online database of more than 500 personal belongings recovered with unidentified migrants who have lost their lives along the ‘River of Death’, a particularly treacherous migratory route separating Turkey and Evros, North Greece.

Partners include: Dr Jan Bikker (The Platform for Transnational Forensic Assistance, Forensic Missing Migrants Initiative; FMMI); Professor Pavlos Pavlidis (Democritus University of Thrace); Mr Harry Lawson (Independent Documentary Filmmaker).

Having been adopted by project partners, the database has thus far contributed to the provisional identification of 5 long-term unidentified missing migrants, recommendations for policy and practice, enhanced opportunities for identification and repatriation, and increased awareness of the increasingly politicised yet simultaneously diminished refugee crisis at large. Additional outputs include a documentary film, showcased internationally at 9 conferences/exhibitions (Brazil, London, Loughborough, Toronto, Vancouver, Moreton-on-Marsh, Dublin, Liverpool, Cromarty), 5 dedicated film screenings (Berlin, Barcelona, Brazil, Vancouver, Macau), 1 journal article, 12 press features, 2 documentaries, 2 podcasts, 1 radio show, 1 magazine article; and major profiles by The New York Times, BBC Radio 4, CRACK Magazine, The Sunday Times, a short film by UK Research and Innovation, and a live appearance on BBC Crimewatch Live. A dedicated BBC Radio 4 documentary, co-written by Dr Maclennan, was nominated for a TORC Award for Excellence at the annual Celtic Media Festival 2025; runner-up in the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR)’s ‘Outstanding Early Career Research Impact Prize’ (2023); shortlisted for The University of Dundee’s ‘Transforming Global Lives Award’ (2023); and named as one of UKRI’s ‘101 Jobs Changing The World’ (2022). The project is currently being considered for a Research Excellence Framework Impact Case Study by The University of Edinburgh towards REF2029. Outcomes are also being incorporated into the current EU Cost Action CA22106: Migrant Disaster Victim Identification (MDVI; 2023-2027)