Refugee protection in Europe: Some contemporary challenges

On 23 January 2024, the European Studies Centre (ESC) discussed the challenges of refugee protection in Europe and of the implementation of international conventions at sea. The two speakers for this seminar were Catherine Briddick, Andrew W Mellon Associate Professor of International Human Rights and Refugee Law and a fellow of St Antony's College, and Steven Haines, Professor of Public International Law in the University of Greenwich. Othon Anastasakis, ESC Director, chaired the seminar. While Briddick focused on the challenges of refugee protection in Europe, Haines discussed his efforts and those of his colleagues to draft the Geneva Declaration for Human Rights at Sea.

Briddick’s discussion was focused on the application of the EU’s common asylum system to women who have experienced, or who are at risk of, gender-based persecution. Relevant to EU law are a range of international legal instruments, including the 1951 Refugee Convention, the Istanbul Convention, and European Convention on Human Rights. Article 78 (1) of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union further provides for the development of a common policy on asylum, subsidiary protection and temporary protection. According to Briddick, however, the EU Directive 2011/95/EU excludes EU citizens. The definition of a ‘particular social group’ is also textually narrowed, and grounds for exclusion are expanded.