Almost everyone thinks that the current EU system of rules governing asylum seekers and refugees is problematic. The system has failed to harness the bloc’s collective resources to address, in a just manner, the challenge posed by the sudden influx of migrants in 2015 and the continued arrivals since. And it is no doubt ill-prepared for the future of regular and irregular flows to Europe. But what would be a better system and why? In September 2020, the European Commission released its ‘New Pact on Migration and Asylum’. The pact includes a reform package to Dublin regulations; significantly, it purports to strike the right balance between responsibility and solidarity. But many commentators are skeptical that the new pact brings anything new to the table, and, in many areas, may be a step back.
The aim of this workshop is to bring together top legal and policy-oriented scholars with political philosophers working in related areas to discuss what a just system of rules for EU asylum seekers and refugees would look like. In particular, participants are encouraged to reflect on the question of what a fair distribution of responsibilities for the protection of asylum seekers and refugees requires in Europe. The aim of the workshop is to be bold in its proposals and principles, in the realization that ‘to achieve the possible we must sometimes reach out for the impossible’ (Weber). The workshop is funded by an ERC Grant, no. 771635, ‘Solidarity in the European Union’ (EUSOL) and is in collaboration with RefMig
This is a pre-read workshop. The papers will be presented but only very briefly. Please register to receive the papers before the workshop. The papers will be uploaded around the 24th of May. Registration is free but limited to 15 places.
Program
Monday 7 June
9:20-9:30 Welcome
9:30-10:10 David Owen (Southampton), Between Solidarity and Self-interest: Models for European Asylum Policy
10:20-11:00 Francesco Maiani (Lausanne), Fair sharing in the Common European Asylum System: what means for what doctrine?
11:10-11:50 Jennifer Allsopp (Harvard) and Cathryn Costello (Oxford), Smuggling Prohibitions Versus Duties of Humanity: ‘Crimes of Solidarity’ in Comparative Constitutional Law
Lunch
12:50-13:30 Esin Küçük (Lancaster), (Un)fairness in Sharing Asylum Responsibilities in the EU: A Legal Analysis
13:40-14:20 Sara Amighetti (Zurich) and Siba Harb (KCL), What Grounds for Sharing Responsibilities
Tuesday 8 June
9:30-10:10 Eleonora Milazzo (EUI), Asymmetric Interstate Solidarity and Return Sponsorships
10:20-11:00 Mollie Gerver (Essex), Asylum Substitutes
11:10-11:50 Leila Hadj Abdou (Vienna) & Eszter Kollar (KU Leuven), "Deterring bad faith migrants or constraining good faith refugees? The claims of rejected asylum seekers"
Lunch
12:50-13:30 Jesús Fernández-Huertas Moraga (UC3M) and Martin Hagen (CUNEF), Can market mechanisms solve the refugee crisis?
13:40-14:20 Andrea Sangiovanni (KCL), The Ethics of Tradable Refugee Quotas
14:20-15:00 Conclusion