Human Rights, Minorities and Migrants; The Challenges of Brexit

The principles of free movement of persons and the anti-discrimination framework of the EU form part of the legal backbone to the EU. But for all of the legal infrastructure on EU non-discrimination rights, the EU project has failed to foster tolerance and acceptance of others to a degree sufficient to conclude that the EU and its Member States are progressive inclusive societies. A number of contemporary crisis situations demonstrate this, not least the event of, and discourse surrounding, the UK’s Brexit from the EU. Brexit demonstrates the ineffectiveness in EU efforts between legal ambition, political discourse and reality on the ground. Brexit and its implications on minorities, migrants and discrimination need to be seem within this full context, and this paper analyses the way in which Brexit is intertwined with, but also affects, the European project for furthering an inclusive society.