Cameron Thibos

Dr. Cameron Thibos is a programme manager, researcher and journalist who specialises in translating complex topics into accessible, impactful materials for policy, practitioner and general audiences. 

From 2014 to 2025, he was co-founder and managing editor of the award-winning project Beyond Trafficking and Slavery on openDemocracy. This platform provided clear, accessible analysis of the political, economic and social root causes of global exploitation to inform responses to forced labour and human trafficking. He has also worked as a consultant researcher at the University of Bath and as a research associate at the European University Institute in Florence. His expertise lies in the political economies of labour and migration, and he holds a DPhil in International Development from the University of Oxford.

What motivates me at Open PEA

Coming of age in the American Midwest at the start of the War on Terror taught me about the consequences of an uninformed society. As George W. Bush shifted from revenge in Afghanistan to regime change in Iraq, and Tony Blair warned of weapons that would never be found, my friends shipped off to war and many Americans cheered. I found it all very hard to believe. I held onto the hope that if only Americans knew more – about the Middle East, the global oil economy, and the absurd ‘clash of civilisations’ – they wouldn’t support this catastrophe. 

Twenty-five years on, I now know much more about how the world (and public opinion) works. But I still maintain that access to information is a prerequisite for challenging those in power. That is what makes actionable knowledge so valuable, and why it is often jealously guarded. It is hidden behind academic paywalls; in arcane language, opaque formats and unwieldy retrieval systems; and in confidential or proprietary reports.

I joined Open PEA because it seeks to enable change by democratising the closed world of high-impact political economy analysis. Its commitment to quality, open access and plain language products – to producing PEA as a public good – makes it a worthwhile endeavour to build. 

Selected publications

Thibos, C. (ed) (2026) Beyond Trafficking and Slavery: 2025, openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. (ed) (2025) Beyond Trafficking and Slavery: 2014-2024 Vols. 1-4, openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Thibos, C., J. Quirk and E. Cockbain (2025) 'Ten years on, have we moved Beyond Trafficking and Slavery?', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. and A. Salihoğlu (2025) 'Disposable yet indispensable: refugees in the global economy', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. and Refugee Action (2024) 'Asylum in the UK: a front line for racial justice', Refugee Action. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. and M. Pawson (2024) 'Experts demand safe routes to UK after 400 people die at the border', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. (2023) 'Why have the Tories abandoned migrant victims of modern slavery?', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Sanchez, G. and C. Thibos (eds) (2022) 'The violent, hopeful world of children who smuggle people', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Howard, N., J. Quirk and C. Thibos (eds) (2021) 'Palermo Protocol 20th anniversary special: what is exploitation?', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Quirk, J., N. Howard and C. Thibos (eds) (2021) 'Palermo Protocol 20th anniversary special: are we better off on the inside?', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. and N. Howard (2021) 'Trafficking as the moral filter of migration control’, in E. Carmel, K. Lenner, and R. Paul (eds) Handbook on the Governance and Politics of Migration, (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar), 148-160. ⧉ 

Shih, E. and C. Thibos (eds) (2020) 'The fight to decriminalise sex work', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Mouan, L., S. Massey and C. Thibos (eds) (2020) 'After the "migration crisis": how Europe works to keep Africans in Africa', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Weeks, K. and C. Thibos (2019) 'Feminist politics and a case for basic income', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. and J. Quirk (eds) (2019) 'The future of work', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Lebaron, G., N. Howard, C. Thibos and P. Kyritsis (2018) 'Confronting root causes: forced labour in global supply chains', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. (2017) ‘Imputing diaspora: an examination of Turkish political rhetoric in Germany’, Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, 19:2-3, 170-194. ⧉ 

Di Bartolomeo A., S. Kalantaryan, J. Salamonska and C. Thibos (2017) ‘Introducing emigration and diaspora policies in integration studies’, in A. Di Bartolomeo, S. Kalantaryan, J. Salamonska and P. Fargues (eds) Migrant Integration between Homeland and Host Society Volume 2 (New York: Springer), 9-27. ⧉ 

Weinar, A., M.V. Desiderio and C. Thibos (2017) 'Governance of integration and the role of the countries of origin – a global perspective', in A. Weinar, A. Unterreiner and P. Fargues (eds) Migrant Integration Between Homeland and Host Society Volume 1 (New York: Springer), 225-251. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. (2015) 'Border games and their pawns', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. (2015) 'The will of Idomeni', openDemocracy. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. (2015) ‘Stalemate in the Armenian Genocide debate: the limits of diasporic political engagement’, in Diasporas Reimagined: A Collection of the Oxford Diasporas Programme. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. (2015) ‘Expert survey report on migrant integration’, INTERACT Research Report 13, RSCAS, EUI. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. (2014) ‘35 years of forced displacement in Iraq: Contextualising the ISIS threat, unpacking the movements’, Migration Policy Centre Policy Brief 2014/04, RSCAS, EUI. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. (2014) ‘Half a country displaced: the Syrian refugee and IDP crisis’, in Mediterranean Yearbook 2014 (Barcelona: Institut Europeu de la Mediterrània). ⧉ 

Thibos, C. (2014) ‘One million Syrians in Lebanon: a milestone quickly passed’, Migration Policy Centre Policy Brief 2014/03, RSCAS, EUI. ⧉ 

Thibos, C. (2014) 'Is what we hear about migration really true?: questioning eight stereotypes (core messages)', Migration Policy Centre, EUI. ⧉ 

Zetter, R., H. Ruaudel, S. Deardorff-Miller, E. Lyytinen and C. Thibos (2014) ‘The Syrian displacement crisis and a regional development and protection programme: mapping and meta-analysis of existing studies of costs, impacts and protection’, for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

Thibos, C. (2014) Competitive identity formation in the Turkish Diaspora, unpublished doctoral thesis, Department of International Development, University of Oxford.