Refugee reception policy: continuity and change from the 20th century to the present day in Europe, Luxembourg and the Greater Region
Refugee reception policy: continuity and change from the 20th century to the present day in Europe, Luxembourg and the Greater Region
For more than a century, the reception of refugees has given rise to tensions between humanitarian imperatives, national sovereignty and international regulations. Migration crises resulting from armed conflicts, political persecution, decolonisation and natural catastrophes have consistently revealed contradictions between universal standards and national practices.
In the 1930s, when there was no binding legal framework for refugee protection yet, countries set their own often restrictive and arbitrary admission policies, and protection was based on political networks, charities and local initiatives. After the Second World War, the 1951 Geneva Convention laid down the notion of refugee in international law, but state sovereignty continued to play a central role. Countries could select refugees based on political or social criteria, and administrative bureaucracy became a key instrument of control. From the 1990s to the present day, the securitisation of migration policies at national, European and global level has led to radical changes in relations between refugees and states. Growing bureaucratisation, the introduction of temporary statuses or “half-statuses”, and the reversal of the burden of proof have radically altered administrative practices and the actual rights of refugees. These developments raise questions as to the ability of international legal frameworks to provide effective protection for refugees in a context dominated by national sovereignty and security-based rationales.
The aim of the conference is to explore continuity and change in reception policies in Europe through comparative and transnational analyses that combine history, sociology, political science and law.
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Free attendance, registrations here
