Niruka Sanjeewani
In March 2001, the EU agreed a directive providing temporary protection for non-EU nationals fleeing conflict. In 2022, it revived the directive to allow displaced communities in Ukraine to settle in the EU. Niruka Sanjeewani argues this undermines the EU’s human rights policies, and weakens its efforts to create more legitimate asylum mechanisms Read more
Frowin Rausis
The UK’s ‘New Plan for Immigration’ allows the government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, reflecting the latest aspiration to externalise refugee protection. Frowin Rausis and Konstantin Kreibich show that the idea is not new. Different countries have toyed with it for years – and failed consistently Read more
Irene Landini
Eastern European governments show a high degree of solidarity towards Ukrainian asylum seekers fleeing the conflict provoked by the Russian invasion. At the same time, these governments continue to resist asylum seekers from the Middle East. Irene Landini explains the geographical, cultural and political factors behind this contradiction. Read more
Fred Paxton
Italian populists’ focus on ‘the will of the people’ has frequently contradicted their ideological priorities towards migration, Fred Paxton and Andrea Pettrachin find. The perception of local attitudes to immigration and issue salience are the determining factors in how populists in local government make their decisions Read more
Philipp Lutz
Western countries repeatedly point to resettlement – the organised transfer of refugees to a safe third country – as a solution to persistent humanitarian crises. Yet, Philipp Lutz and Lea Portmann show how such resettlement can, paradoxically, be a way for states to legitimise limiting access to humanitarian protection Read more
Natalie Welfens
Safe and legal pathways to protection in Europe are scarce. Officially, states should admit only ‘the most vulnerable’ refugees. Yet, writes Natalie Welfens, humanitarian considerations are increasingly bound up with concerns about refugees' social and cultural fit with the admission state Read more
Vassilis Petsinis
Euroscepticism manifests itself in different ways in the Balkans. Why? Vassilis Petsinis argues that grasping the differences between attitudes in different Balkan nations helps explain Serbia’s long and complex EU accession process Read more
James F. Downes
To guard against vote loss, parties of the centre right are taking a tough stance on immigration. James F. Downes, Matthew Loveless and Andrew Lam argue that such parties risk bringing far-right ideology into the political mainstream, and undermining the very tenets of liberal democracy they profess to uphold Read more
