‘Let them in’ : the road to humanising the EU’s asylum policy

Da Lomba, Sylvie (2023) ‘Let them in’ : the road to humanising the EU’s asylum policy. In: Death and Migration, 2023-10-05 - 2023-10-05, Åbo Akademi University, Institute for Human Rights.

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Abstract

In a thought-provoking talk, Violeta Moreno-Lax asks whether death has become ‘a means of border control’ for the EU and its Member States. I concur that the EU and its Member States bear responsibility for the mounting death toll as people try to reach the EU’s territory for safety. Indeed, the construction of a non-entry regime which illegalises ‘spontaneous arrivals’ (persons who knock at the EU’s door ‘uninvited’ in search of protection), pushes them back and put their lives at risk is anathema to a humane asylum policy. The EU’s hostile environment is in stark - and troubling - contrast with the EU’s swift opening of its borders to refugees fleeing Ukraine as it very promptly activated its 2001 temporary protection framework - for the first time - in the immediate aftermath of the outbreak of war in Ukraine. This paper offers thoughts on whether the triggering of temporary protection for people fleeing Ukraine can prompt a shift towards greater hospitality in the EU’s asylum policy. The paper considers the reconceptualisation of refugees and asylum seekers’ admission to the EU’s territory as the foundation of a humane EU asylum policy.

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