Call for papers “One year on from the EU’s Asylum and Migration Pact: Critical Reflections“, organised by HIDDEN
Title: One year on from the EU’s Asylum and Migration Pact: Critical Reflections
Organizer: HIDDEN COST Action
Date and Location: Thursday, 10 April 2025 | University of East London (UEL USS Campus,
Moot Court US.1.18) | in person | 09:00-17:00.
Abstract
We invite submissions for an upcoming workshop that will examine the EU’s new Asylum and Migration Pact one year after it was adopted by the EU legislators. Widely criticized by NGOs, such as the International Rescue Committee, who have argued that it will ‘normalise the arbitrary use of immigration detention, including for children and families, increase racial profiling, use ‘crisis’ procedures to enable pushbacks, and return individuals to so called ‘safe third countries’ where they are at risk of violence, torture, and arbitrary imprisonment’ (PICUM, 2024), the Pact presents ten new legislative files that are intended to reform the EU’s complex asylum and migration system. This workshop aims to offer critical reflections on its key policy objectives from both academics working in the related fields of migration and asylum policy as well as key stakeholders who are working at a policy level and with those directly affected. Given the far- reaching potential consequences of the Pact, locating this event in post-Brexit Britain offers the opportunity to critically reflect on the global impact of EU policies. The papers may answer, but not be limited to, one of the following areas:
• Asylum Management and the EU’s new political vision:
The Pact was developed in the wake of the 2015 asylum ‘crisis’. What does the Pact reveal about new approaches to migration management and the EU’s evolving identity? How will the concept of solidarity, in Article 56 of the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation (AMMR) work in practice? Will it ease the burden on frontline states, and will financial contributions make a difference? What role will identity documents have in decision making processes for managing migration?
• Technology, harmonisation and efficiency:
The harmonisation of procedures is a cross-cutting policy objective, evident in the Asylum Procedures Regulation, the Screening Regulation and the Return Border Procedures Regulation. How will returns be streamlined? How will the new regulations contribute to efficient border processes? Will the screening measures effectively differentiate between the vulnerable and those who pose security risks? How might technology be used to speed up processes? Will it be more or less capable in assisting in cases where translation is needed for an applicant?
• External Cooperation with Third Countries
The EU will pursue external partnerships with third countries as part of its comprehensive approach to managing migration. Will the ‘route-based’ approach be able to improve conditions in countries of origin and reduce the need for migration? How will the EU leverage its political influence in finding partners? How well have previous initiatives worked? Will third countries be pressured into accepting deals?
• Protecting Fundamental Rights and Ensuring Compliance:
The Pact purports to safeguard fundamental rights. How will legal concepts, such as Safe Third Country, as well as measures to detain at the border, be used in conformity with individual rights? How can exceptional measures, contained in the Crisis and Force Majeure Regulation, be reconciled with the right to seek asylum and non-refoulement? What accountability gaps exist for EU agencies such as Frontex and the EU Asylum Agency? Particularly important to consider in this stream of the workshop are individual responses to the new EU Pact by those most vulnerable to its dictates.
We welcome a range of interdisciplinary approaches and theoretical perspectives, including but not limited to political science, law, history, migration and citizenship studies, NGOs and relevant stakeholders working with migrants. The findings from the conference will be published in a special edition of an academic journal.
Submission Guidelines:
Please submit your abstracts via email to: r.bhandari@uel.ac.uk with the subject line Stakeholder Reflections Conference Abstract. The deadline for submissions is Sunday, 15 December 2024. We will notify you before Christmas if you have been selected. Abstracts should be no more than 300 words and should clearly outline the research questions and key findings or arguments. Submissions should also include the author’s name, affiliation, and contact information.
For inquiries about the event, please contact one of the organizers Dr Romit Bhandari: r.bhandari@uel.ac.uk
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
The PDF is available at the following link:
