Nudging migrants around: migrant transit across jurisdictions in the context of a frozen conflict

This article introduces the concept of nudging around to capture the lateral mobility of irregular migrants in contexts of jurisdictional ambiguity. Drawing on the case of Cyprus, an island simultaneously shaped by its role as a transit point and by a decades-long frozen conflict, we show how irregular migrants are not simply pushed back or moving forward, but are redirected across overlapping and contested jurisdictions: the Republic of Cyprus (RoC), the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the UK-administered Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) and the UN-controlled buffer zone. Based on semi-structured interviews with policymakers, civil society representatives and international organisations, the paper identifies four interrelated dynamics that structure this process: oscillation between mobility and immobility; reliance on incomplete or misleading information; the effects of international responses; and the vulnerabilities generated by broader crises, such as COVID-19. The contribution of the article is twofold. First, it conceptualises nudging around as a distinct form of mobility within frozen conflicts, complementing but differing from pushbacks, forced returns or linear transit. Second, it expands the literature on frozen conflicts and migration governance by foregrounding how their dynamics shape the trajectories of third-country nationals, a group largely absent from existing research.