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The Mediterannean Refugee Desaster and the EU
The Mediterannean Refugee Desaster and the EU
Wednesday, 13 July 2016: 09:00-10:30
Location: Hörsaal 07 (Main Building)
RC31 Sociology of Migration (host committee) Language: English
On the one hand, the EU claims to be an “area of freedom, security and justice” and defines a joint and integrated policy and polity for refugees and asylum seekers. On the other hand, the actual situation of those asking for asylum and protection from persecution is reflected not only in thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean, in tens of thousands of persons entering the EU irregularly and in hundreds of thousands trying to do the same, but also in substantially varying volumes and rates of asylum applications and acceptances (even for the same countries of origin) and in contrasting practices of accommodation, determination procedure and appeal/return mechanisms.
Obviously, there is a considerable gap between the talk, that is: the official declarations and norms of a Common European Asylum System (CEAS), and the action, that means: the actual behaviour of the EU and national agencies with an unsustainable outcome for the affected people.
How could this gap between talk and action be explained in a scientific way? Is the EU willing but only failing in turning into action its talk? Are the member states willing to share responsibility, burden and resources? Is there a European Asylum System in the making? Which role do EU agencies, NGOs, nation states and organised networks of traffickers play? Papers are welcome from political sociology, sociology of migration, of organisations, of social movements and of transnationalisation.
Session Organizer: