Relocation of asylum seekers has been at the heart of fierce controversies over the past decade. When the refugee crisis erupted in Europe in 2014-2016, the large inflows of asylum seekers shed light on the inadequacy of a system that everyone knew to be wobbly: the Dublin Regulation. Said Regulation aims to determine which EU member state is responsible for a given asylum claim lodged in the block. It relies on a hierarchy of principles that most often ends up in attributing responsibility to the member states whose border has been irregularly crossed. For mere geographical reasons, the states that happen to be located at the external borders of the EU are the ones bearing much of the responsibility. While this system somehow works so long as influxes are low, the sizeable increases of the years 2014-2016 clearly unveiled its limits; with Italy and Greece struggling to deal with the situation and calling for solidarity from their fellow member states.
PROTECT partner presentations: The University of Bergen
The University of Bergen on the southwestern coast of Norway is the leading partner of Protect. The university houses the initiator and project leader of Protect, Professor Hakan G. Sicakkan, as well as the rest of PROTECT’s Coordination and Management Office and Bergen-based researchers. This article dives into the research interests and contributions of the Bergen team.