122 Europe and the refugee crisis

Friday, April 15, 2016: 2:00 PM-3:45 PM
Ormandy West (DoubleTree by Hilton Philadelphia Center City)
Europe is currently facing the largest inflow of refugees since the Second World War. Civil wars, dictatorship and the terror of the so-called Islamic State have forced an unprecedented number of people to leave their homes, and, whilst neighbouring countries such as Jordan or Turkey still bear the mammoth share, more refugees than ever before have also turned to the European Union in hope of a life in peace and relative prosperity. These new migrations challenge Europe’s resilience, maybe more so than the financial crisis. The Schengen system is at the verge of falling apart, with some countries having reintroduced border checks within the EU. The Dublin III regulation, according to which the member state through which a refugee first enters the EU is responsible for their asylum procedure, is practically defunct. The EU Commission’s proposal to introduce a fair distribution of asylum seekers through a quota system is far from finding the majority support of member states. Is European integration seriously threatened by these developments? To what extent has the political economy of integration, and especially of Eastern accession, contributed to contemporary conflicts over political answers for the refugee crisis? How are the EU's external relations shaped by and shaping the crisis? How can Europe be resilient in response to this crisis, all while keeping the humanitarian promise codified in its Charta of Human Rights vis-à-vis people in dire need of protection? This roundtable brings together senior scholars from various disciplines and regions to debate these questions controversially.
Chair:
Erik Jones
Discussants:
Virginie Guiraudon , Theo Papadopoulos , Eiko Thielemann and Peo Hansen
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