Jinan Bastaki
Associate Professor of Legal Studies
Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi
Education: LLB London School of Economics and Political Science; LLM University of California - Berkeley; PhD University of London
Research Areas: Public International Law; Forced Displacement; International Refugee Law; Citizenship; Borders
Jinan Bastaki is Associate Professor of Legal Studies. She holds an LLB from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an LLM from the University of California (Berkeley), and a PhD from the University of London (SOAS).
Bastaki is an international law scholar who focuses on forced displacement, human rights, refugee law, and citizenship. She is particularly interested in the lived experiences of those impacted by the law, how the law regulates access and belonging, and what those experiences reveal about the law itself. In 2018, her paper on nationality-based detention of migrants won the International Institute of Humanitarian Law and the International Committee of the Red Cross's best essay prize. Her work has appeared in major publications, including the Journal of Refugee Studies, Citizenship Studies, Refugee Survey Quarterly, and others. She also frequently writes for international law blogs and has contributed a number of chapters in edited volumes.
Prior to her appointment at NYUAD, Bastaki was an Associate Professor of International Law at UAEU and Assistant Dean for Research and Graduate Affairs. She was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Oxford's Center for Socio-Legal Studies (2022), as well as the Refugee Studies Center (2025), and has taught modules related to refugee law for the International Institute of Humanitarian Law.