The EU moves toward further restricting asylum. The new pact agreed on 20 December, even refuses a proposed age limit for the detention of irregular arrivals, or family protections. Yet, refugees continue to cross unconventional paths as they face wars, political volatility, persecution and the worsening effects of climate disasters.
The so-called ‘warm welcome’ Ukrainian refugees got in 2022 was, indeed, a special case, but the bar had already been very low, researcher Olena Yermakova points out. Policy advisor Martin Wager sees cheap political gains governing European policies, even against obvious needs and interests.
Refugees play a defining role in European life and politics. While the EU brags about its commitment to upholding human rights, it at the same time executes repressive measures against them. This polarity is mirrored in how differently Ukrainian refugees are treated to asylum seekers arriving from other countries. While the former were given temporary protection status fleeing Russia’s aggression, the latter must undergo ever-stricter procedures as their chances of obtaining a protected status erodes.
In this episode, we discuss these conditions of asylum alongside anti-immigration policies, discrimination, and their legal implications with our guest speakers.
Martin Wagner is the Senior Policy Advisor for Asylum at the International Center for Migration Policy Development. He specializes in European and international refugee, human rights, and anti-discrimination law. Wagner has authored several studies on European asylum systems and has experience in providing legal assistance, monitoring law enforcement, as well as capacity-building projects in various countries.
Olena Yermakova is an interdisciplinary researcher focusing on Central and Eastern European migration. She was awarded a junior visiting fellowship in the „Ukraine in European Dialogue” program at the Institute of Human Sciences (IWM) Vienna. Yermakova continues her research into Ukrainian labor migrants in Poland at the Research Centre for the History of Transformations at the University of Vienna.
We meet with them at The Alte Schmiede Kunstverein, Vienna. Find sources, more information and related reads in Eurozine.