Access to social rights of non-removable TCNs in the European Union : destitute in the limbo of toleration

Abstract

Throughout the European Union, a group of migrants live in protracted destitution, without access to basic economic, social and cultural rights. This is the result of the legal limbo they live in. Although being in an irregular administrative situation in the Union, they cannot be sent back to their countries of origin due to legal or practical impediments. Therefore, they remain in the territory of the Member States under different toleration statuses. However, toleration does not mean regularisation, but a liminal or atypical status where non-removable migrants find themselves trapped, sometimes for decades. The aim of this thesis is to analyse on the one hand the kind of obstacles that throw third-country nationals (TCNs) into a situation of non-removability [the causes], and on the other, what the status granted to them when they are found to be unreturnable is [the consequences]. A study of the relevant European Union migration law will be conducted, as well as of the national responses to the issue. All this will be then contrasted with the obligations set by the human rights legal framework, to see whether the current legislation and practices concerning non-removability are compatible with the respect of human dignity.