**Dr Helen Hintjens is Assistant Professor in Development and Social Justice at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague**. For more than 30 years she has studied the comparative asylum policies of EU member states in the context of broader post-colonial relationships and ideas. Her particular interests are in pro-asylum advocacy networks and activists, the politics of selective urban surveillance of undocumented rejected asylum seekers, and networks of 'cities of sanctuary', as well as resistance to deterrence-based measures of destitution, detention and forced deportation.  Her regional focus on the countries of the African Great Lakes region, especially Rwanda and Eastern DRC, and the relations of francophone Africa with EU member states. She works on peace-building, including through music and the arts, in Rwanda and the wider region.   She has conducted research into urban health needs and strategies in The Hague and Rotterdam with colleagues from ISS and EUR, Dr Karin Astrid Siegmann and Professor Richard Staring.