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3
- Convenor:
-
John R. Campbell
(School of Oriental & African Studies)
- Location:
- Khalili Lecture Theatre
Short Abstract
Long Abstract
Accepted papers
Session 1
The myth of Fortress Europe: how European cooperation has strengthened refugee protection in Europe
Eiko Thielemann
(LSE)
Nadine El-Enany
(European University Institute)
Paper short abstract
not used
Paper long abstract
It is commonly concluded in the refugee literature that European cooperation in general, and moves towards a common European asylum and refugee policy in particular, are having a negative impact on protection regimes in Europe, making it more difficult for forced migrants to reach Europe and to benefit from asylum. This paper challenges the 'Fortress Europe' thesis on both theoretical and empirical grounds. At the theoretical level, it is argued that the establishment of common EU asylum rules has ended the 'race to the bottom' in protection standards. At the empirical level, the paper argues that while there is ground for criticism of certain EU provisions, these generally reflect shortcomings in international refugee law rather than a breach of global standards on the part of the EU. At the same time, other aspects of EU law have led to the upgrading of domestic refugee provisions in the Member States and can be regarded as setting standards that are higher than established international norms. Finally, an analysis of aggregate UNHCR data for the period 1985 to 2007 suggests that in terms of the overall number of asylum seekers and refugees accepted in the EU, the broader picture that emerges over the past two decades is one of long-term continuity, a picture that further undermines the 'Fortress Europe' thesis. Overall it will be demonstrated that despite its shortcomings, European cooperation on asylum and refugee policy has strengthened, not undermined, refugee protection in Europe.
Under the borders, the people
Anna Morvern
(Immigration Adviser)
Paper short abstract
not used
Paper long abstract
I will look at developments in UK immigration law and border control, within the broader European context, to track the transformation of the refugee into an unwelcome figure, whose exclusion and expulsion can now legitimately be effected by almost any means. In examining developments in the law, I follow the methodological reasoning of Giorgio Agamben in his reflections on the building of the concentration camps, in 'What is a camp?', where he contends that careful analysis of the political-juridical structure of the camps is necessary to understand at all the horrors committed there. Although my focus is on changes to legislation and language, I consider the political context within which the figure of the refugee has become so degraded and, again inspired by Agamben, in his diagnosis that the refugee is no more but no less than a 'border concept', consider possibilities for citizens and refugees to create a better world to come.
Rescuing refugees in an era of illegal migration and security threats
Ilse van Liempt
Paper short abstract
not used
Paper long abstract
This paper addresses the question of how to protect refugees in a political context of rising suspicion and increasing policy measures aimed at controlling and countering the presence of 'illegal immigrants'. I will in particular look at the shifts that have taken place in the understanding and framing of human smuggling and how that has affected the way refugees are perceived and treated. Human smuggling is by no means a new phenomenon; there have always been people who for all sorts of reasons were not in the position to travel via ordinary routes. However, it is only fairly recently that human smuggling has undergone a process of criminalization. Since the beginning of the 1990s human smuggling entered the penal code of different European countries. In the year 2000 a Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea came into being. This Protocol was part of the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime what marked the beginning of framing human smuggling as a 'global criminal business' where huge amounts of profits are made. Despite the fact that the majority of refugees are smuggled into Europe and this situation is acknowledged in article 31 of the 1951 Geneva Convention, refugees who enter countries with the help from smugglers are nowadays often perceived a 'threat' to society. In this paper I argue that state's current static and criminal view of what human smuggling is may easily lead to the violation of article 31 of the Geneva Convention. Moreover this particular security lens has huge effects for how states (and the public) nowadays perceive asylum seekers and refugees.