Rethinking EU Policy Towards Refugees and Asylum Seekers in a Time of Emergency

Abstract

As violent conflicts intensify and the COVID-19 pandemic persists, refugees and asylum seekers fleeing Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and most recently eastern Europe are desperately attempting to make their way to the EU. The EU’s geographical proximity to these regions along with its resources and relative stability present it with an opportunity to fulfill its humanitarian duty by welcoming refugees and helping them rebuild their lives. The EU has instead responded to the current refugee emergency with deterrence policies rooted in rampant xenophobia and is consistently failing to uphold the international legal rights of refugees and asylum seekers established by the 1951 Refugee Convention. The EU and its Member States—most of whom have ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention—are turning their backs on already vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers through externalization, negligence in addressing dangerous migration conditions, inadequate support for refugees in the midst of a public health crisis, uneven distribution of responsibility amongst Member States, and insufficient long-term resettlement and integration support. For the European Union to holistically protect the safety and international legal rights of refugees and asylum seekers, it must respond to refugee emergencies with human rights and sustainability at the center of its policies.