Seeking asylum in the EU: in search of solidarity and current protection challenges

Numerousinterpretations and fluctuating understandings of solidarity combine in oftensuperficial pronouncements and wavering commitments in practice. The focus of this thesis is a very particular manifestation of solidarity within the asylum setting. Specifically, the allocation of responsibility for asylum claims amongst EU Member States and subsequently the current inequitable distribution of said asylum seekers.

This thesis traces how the legislative framework at present, and proposals for reform, allocates responsibility for asylum claims internally amongst EU States. This thesis argues that the current legislative framework is operating in a ‘solidarity deficit’ model. As such, it is argued that the legislation at best permits, or at worst promotes, a lack of solidarity between States from the outset.

This consequently ensures that asylum responsibilities are disproportionately shared between States; the fiscal cost borne by fewer States and the human cost borne by asylum seekers themselves who are considered ‘transferable’ by the legislation and politicians alike.<br><br><i>Thesis embargoed until 31st December 2027</i>