EU Immigration and Asylum Law and Policy Droit et Politique de l'Immigration et de l'Asile de l'UE

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by Kees Groenendijk, Radboud University  and Boldizsar Nagy, Central European University    

The Hungarian Parliament adopts an Act calling for a review of the legality of Council Decision (EU) 2015/1601

Earlier this year, Hungary decided to free itself from the arrival of asylum seekers by erecting a fence at its external border and curtailing the refugees’ rights, as reported in an earlier blog entry. Its more recent decision, attacking the relocation system as enshrined in Council Decision (EU) 2015/1601, targets solidarity among EU Member States and may have wider repercussions if considered in context. Continue reading »

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by Jean-Baptiste Farcy, Research and Communication Assistant for the OMNIA Project

Turkey, a historical land where the East is said to meet the West, is the only country separating war-torn Syria and Iraq from the external borders of the EU. The Turkish coast is just a stone’s throw away from the Greek Dodecanese Islands, which have become, for many refugees, the port of entry into the EU. It is therefore no surprise that Turkey, due to its geographical position, has a key role to play in managing the current refugee crisis. Turkey knows it is a key player on this issue and now the EU arguably needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the EU. Yet, the question is: how will Turkey stem the flow? Continue reading »

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by Valeria Ilareva, Foundation for Access to Rights – FAR  

In order to transpose the recast Reception Conditions Directive 2013/33/EU, Bulgaria amended its national asylum law to introduce detention of asylum seekers for the first time as of 1 January 2016. Until now, the Bulgarian legislation has not formally envisaged detention of asylum seekers, but in practice, asylum seekers have been detained as irregular immigrants. Detention currently happens under the Return Directive 2008/115/EC prior to giving asylum seekers access to the asylum procedure. Therefore, the new detention regime under the asylum law (Directive 2013/33) will complement the period of detention of asylum seekers, which starts to run under the regime of immigration law (Directive 2008/115). The focus of this article is the differentiation and interaction between the two distinct legal regimes of detention of persons who seek asylum. Continue reading »

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by Evelien Brouwer, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 

The current arrival of large numbers of refugees and migrants to Europe is an important test of European states’ capability to cooperate and to apply shared rules of asylum and migration law based on the principles of solidarity and mutual trust. ‘Dublin’ and ‘Schengen’ are two important mechanisms of this cooperation which seem no longer self-evident. Since September 2015, EU Member States including Slovenia, Germany, Hungary, Austria and the Netherlands reintroduced or reinforced border controls at the internal borders of the Schengen area. Continue reading »

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by Boldizsár Nagy, Central European University  

Hungary has lost touch with reality in several ways in recent months. It pretends people arriving into Europe are not refugees. It acts as if any EU Member State can free itself from the obligations flowing from international and EU law. It behaves as if its words and deeds were in harmony. This entry will look at the legislative changes of recent months in Hungary as well as at the discursive attitudes of the dominant political forces. Continue reading »

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by Boldizsár Nagy, Central European University 

La Hongrie a perdu le sens des réalités de différentes manières au cours des derniers mois. Elle prétend que les migrants arrivant en Europe ne sont pas des réfugiés. Elle agit également comme si les États membres de l’Union européenne pouvaient s’acquitter de leurs obligations découlant du droit international et européen. La Hongrie se comporte comme si ses paroles et ses actes étaient en harmonie. Les réformes législatives récemment adoptées en Hongrie ainsi que le discours prôné par les forces politiques dominantes sont l’objet de cet article. Continue reading »