Migration Dynamics, Informal Financial Flows and Economic Crime

Swiss partners

• HES-SO: Olivier Beaudet-Labrecque (main applicant), Cristina Cretu-Adatte

 MENA partners

• IHEC Carthage : Hafedh Ben Abdennebi (main applicant), Rabii Ben Amara

Presentation of the project

This project supports an emerging collaboration between the Institute of economic crime investigation (ILCE, Neuchâtel) and the Tunisian IHEC Laboratoire ECSTRA (Tunis) on migration, informal financial flows and transnational economic crime.
Initiated during a scientific conference in Paris in 2025, the collaboration currently includes a joint study on the economic practices and financial transfer mechanisms involving West African migrants in Tunisia.

As part of this collaboration, a two-day international conference will be held at IHEC Tunis on 21-22 January 2027. The event will bring together researchers, early-career scholars, law enforcement and judicial authorities, financial intelligence units, migration-related organisations and policy actors from Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and Europe. Discussions will focus on migration dynamics, informal economies, illicit financial markets and cyber-enabled economic crime. The conference will combine keynote lectures, thematic panels and networking activities, with contributions selected through a call for abstracts.

French will be the working language, with hybrid participation options to facilitate accessibility.

The project also includes a joint scientific article and conference proceedings published through the ILCE series Chroniques de l’ILCE, strengthening Switzerland–MENA collaboration and dialogue on underexplored regional security and economic challenges.