The tragic images of the Russian airstrikes against the Ukrainian cities and the Ukrainian people fleeing their country under the pressure of the invasion shattered the European Unions’ decades-long illusion of uninterrupted peace. The European people seem to have finally awoken to the EU’s rightful geopolitical role and responsibilities. They have welcomed with solidarity the […]
Asylum
This week, on 18 December, the world marks the 31st International Migrants Day. Migration is one of humanity’s oldest strategies to improve people’s living conditions. In today’s world, almost four out of every hundred human beings are migrants and, in one way or another, all of us are the product of the mobility decisions of […]
The brutal enormity of the Afghan crisis with the return of the Taliban to Kabul has shaken the world. Following the withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban’s subsequent rapid takeover of the country and the collapse of the Afghan government in mid-August, a political, humanitarian and security crisis has unfolded. Right […]
At the end of September, the European Commission has presented a proposal for a new asylum and refugee policy. It is very detailed with a lot of legal regulations. But it does not address the crucial points for an effective solution that corresponds to the challenges on the ground, international law and, above all, human […]
In March 2020, a number of academics in charge of different EU funded projects concerned with migration sent an open letter to the European Commission (EC). By addressing the President of the EC and the commissioners for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Home Affairs, and Crisis Management, about 50 prominent scholars lamented policymakers’ neglect […]
With its ‘New Pact on Migration and Asylum’, the European Commission has taken on one of the most divisive and controversial issues within the bloc. And one that puts its own human rights record most prominently on the spot. The outcome are elaborate proposals, heavy on procedure but weak on moral principles and values, and […]