María Belén Espinoza Orrego holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Social Sciences from the Universidad Católic de Valparaíso. Prior to her master’s studies, she worked at the Chilean National Institute of Human Rights, the biggest human rights organisation in the country, conducting research on immigration and statelessness. She pursued an MPP at the Hertie School, specialising in management and organisations. During her studies, she was a member of Hertie Social Response and volunteered at the Moabit refugee camp in Berlin. She did a summer internship in the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch in Berlin and conducted research on populism, extremism and counterterrorism in Germany. Her main areas of interest lie in migration governance, human rights, development policies and international advocacy.
Master’s thesis title
The new phenomenon of mass immigration in Chile: Legal and sociopolitical challenges for a national migration policy plan.