Conference aims

Economic and political crises combined with massive migrant and refugee flows have resulted in further reluctance to recognize international law as a legitimate source of national policymaking. Reactions to migrant and refugee flows have started changing the regional and national political landscapes in large parts of the world, giving leeway to nativist refugee and asylum policies. The Global Compact on Refugees and the Global Compact on Migration were launched in a politically turbulent global context that poses serious challenges to their implementation. Impediments are anticipated in connection with efforts to link the two UN global compacts with existing sources of refugee law, global multilevel governance of refugee protection, public recognition of the right to international protection, and not the least, with current regional and national protection policies.

The PROTECT Consortium invites to a debate about the possible consequences of the United Nations’ Global Refugee Compact and the Global Migration Compact on international refugee protection. In this conference, while marking and celebrating the launch of PROTECT, we will discuss and seek ways of answering the following questions:

Is it realistic to expect that the Global Compacts can be implemented as anticipated under the current political circumstances?
Under which conditions is a successful implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees possible?
What are the possible links between the two Global Compacts and other sources of refugee law?
Which global governance architectures are needed to respond to the requirements of the Global Refugee Compact?
How will the two compacts affect the public recognition of the right to international protection?
How can the European Union contribute to the Global Compact processes?