Just as Frontex and national border guards are intensifying their coordination of external border controls, it is time to investigate how, whether and under what conditions, national fundamental and human rights bodies can cooperate and coordinate to provide the necessary counterbalance to the coordination of border controls. Ending the seemingly endless litany of deaths and human rights abuses occurring in or around external border operations of EU and Member State agencies (or through failure to act) is the only principled way forward that is in line with States’ commitments to respect, promote, and fulfill the human rights of migrants and refugees.
A Greek Tragedy in Moria: Asylum Seekers without Durable Solutions
Since the terrible fire at the Moria asylum unit on the Greek island of Lesvos on 8 September the world has been horrified not only by the scale of the disaster but the inadequacy of the response at the local, national, European, and international level. While asylum seekers, with no-where to go, sleep on the […]
PROTECT Expert Forum 13-14 November 2020
Forum title: The Two UN Compacts – Refugees and Migrants: Challenges and Implementation in Europes When: 13-14 November 2020 Where: Online Hosts: Queen Mary University of London Background In 2019 the UN concluded two years of stocktaking and negotiations by adopting the Marrakesh Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (The Marrakesh Compact). The Compact […]
PROTECT partner presentations: The Queen Mary University of London
The Queen Mary University of London is one of PROTECT’s two UK-based teams. The team is led by the distinguished EU law and migration expert Elspeth Guild, joining her are the aspiring law scholar Kathryn Allinson and Nicolette Busuttil. Together, the team has followed the processes surrounding the UN Compacts on Migrants and Refugees closely and explored their potential in advancing the international protection system.
Detention of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants under Corona lockdown risks becoming arbitrary
As the Covid-19 pandemic has tightened its grip on many western states, many refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants continue to be detained in reception and detention centres, without any prospect of release. With asylum processing at a standstill and returns to countries of origin on hold, detention of these individuals risks becoming arbitrary, if not inhumane.