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Information around the trial lecture
Adjudication committee
- Professor Cecilia Bailliet, University of Oslo (leader)
- Professor Diego Acosta, Bristol University Law School (1. opponent)
- Professor Jens Vedsted-Hansen, Århus University (2. opponent)
Chair of defence
Vice Dean Vibeke Blaker Strand
Supervisors
- Professor Geir Ulfstein
- Professor Maja Janmyr
Summary
Forced Return of Migrants to Transit Countries
Binding on EU-member states as well as on Schengen-associated countries like Norway, Directive 2008/115/EC – commonly known as the Return Directive – is the main legal instrument governing returns in Europe. That directive requires, as a general rule, that migrants in an irregular situation are “returned”, ie, sent outside of the EU and Schengen areas. Taking the Return Directive as a starting point and frame, and using return to Turkey as a case, this study analyses the lawfulness of forced return to transit countries.
The analysis shows that forced return to transit countries raise important legal issues under human rights law, refugee law, and general international law. Lawfulness of such returns depends, among other things, on their respect for the returnees’ right to elect destination as part of their human right to freedom of movement. When it comes to the return of asylum seekers on safe country grounds, the study shows – through the case study of Turkey with a specific focus on refugees’ access to the labor market in that country – that assessing the protection in the country of return is a multifaceted issue that requires diligent assessment as to both the law and the practice on many different elements of that country’s “safety”. Finally, focusing on the role of the receiving state and engaging in a higher-level discussion on state authority over non-nationals, the study also questions forced transfer arrangements on a more fundamental level, and argues for looking for an appropriate connection between the individual and the receiving country.
The specific legal issues surrounding forced return to transit countries have not previously been focused on as a whole, and this study intends to fill this gap in the literature. As part of the analysis, the study engages extensively with the ongoing reform and recast processes in the EU in the area of migration, asylum, and return.