Reshaping [legal] spaces : from security to social cohesion in EU asylum policy
Reshaping [legal] spaces : from security to social cohesion in EU asylum policy
Date
2023
Authors
Gardeweg, Gianna
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Abstract
The societal construction of migration as a security
problem (De Genova, 2017) has led to increasing
human rights violations at the EU’s external borders. In
light of the reforms underway in the Asylum Procedures
Regulation and the Regulation on the Management of
Asylum and Migration, the paper challenges the official
justifications of EU asylum policy and puts forward
two hypotheses: First, the measures taken by the EU to
achieve security do not fulfil their proclaimed purpose,
and second, they prevent residents from questioning
and reshaping the path taken. In doing so, it pursues two
goals: First, to support socio-spatial practitioners create
spaces that promote societal equality, and second, to
help actors in the legislative process understand the
impact of their decisions and create laws that promote
justice. To this end, the journey of a person from a
West African country to the EU is followed from predeparture
to post-arrival. In this way, ‘law-bricks’ –
existing legislation when applied to space and people
– that hinder the creation of just spaces are identified.
The next step proposes a real-world lab to test an EUwide
private sponsorship reception mechanism and to
define evidence-based law amendment proposals that
transform the current asylum system.
Description
Second semester University: KU Leuven
Keywords
European Union,
migrations,
asylum,
security,
migration policy,
equality,
social cohesion