This Practitioners’ Handbook on the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) and EU and Member States’ Commitments under the UN Global Compact on Refugees and the UN Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration identifies CEAS provisions which fulfil the Compacts’ requirements as well as those that diverge therefrom. Through this exercise, the Handbook highlights […]
Roadmap to a human right-based refugee protection system
According to the UNHCR 2021 Global Trends Report, 1 in every 78 people has been forced to flee worldwide because of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order – leading up to more than 100 million people being forcibly displaced by May 2022. Pursuant to UNHCR: “As new refugee situations emerge and intensify, and as existing ones reignite or remain unresolved, there is an acute need for durable solutions at increasing scale. The Global Compact on Refugees notes that one strategic priority for the humanitarian community is to identify and support durable solutions that enable refugees to rebuild their lives and live in safety and dignity.” But how far has the international refugee system come in responding to the needs of the refugees? The PROTECT project marks #WorldRefugeeDay by sharing our insights to this question and by sharing our roadmap to a human-rights based refugee protection system. All of which is based on intensive data collection and analysation during the two years of the project.
The legal effects of a non-binding instrument: the Marrakech Compact, EU development funds, and poli...
Recently, however, our attention was drawn to a leaked 2019 document produced by the European Commission’s legal service, titled ‘The legal effects of the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration by the UN General Assembly.’ This document suggests that the MC has ‘legal effects’ on EU development policy. The document […]
Safe Passage for Afghans? The EU’s response towards Afghans at risk in light of the Global Compacts
The EU’s (lack of) response to the situation in Afghanistan The EU’s most recent response to the situation in Afghanistan consisted of a “High-Level Forum on providing protection to Afghans at risk,” hosted by the European Commission on 7 October 2021. Judging from the press briefing given by EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson […]
Why are you a Refugee? Afghans and the US Identity Database
One of the questions which arises constantly in the context of data protection debates and discussion in Europe is why so much protection is needed and why so much attention is given to state use of our data when we have nothing to hide. This argument comes up again and again in political and academic […]
Accessing a Fair Asylum Procedure: Failures at the external borders of the European Union
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.
What now for the 1951 Convention?
From our perspective, the most important development which the Global Compact on Refugees constitutes as regards the 1951 Convention is the alignment of refugee rights with human rights. The GCR commitments link together refugee protection and human rights in a UN instrument which, while not legally binding, sets out the common will of the international community.