Accessing Asylum in Europe: Extraterritorial Border Controls and Refugee Rights Under EU Law

Europe is currently experiencing a migration crisis, demonstrated by millions of displaced people unseen since World War II.

This book examines the interface between extraterritorial border and migration controls taken by EU member states, and the rights asylum seekers acquire from EU law. Control measures such as the enforcement of visas, fines on carriers transporting unsatisfactorily documented migrants, and interception at sea are investigated in detail in an effort to assess the impact these measures have on access to asylum in the EU.

The book also explores the rights recognised by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights to persons in need of international protection, inclusive of the principle of non-removal to a place of persecution, the prohibition of ill-treatment, the right to asylum, and the right to effective judicial protection.

The fundamental focus of the book is the relationship between the aforementioned border and migration controls and the rights of asylum seekers, and importantly, how these rights limit the nature of such control measures and the ways in which they are implemented.

The ultimate goal of the book is to conclude whether the current series of extraterritorial mechanisms or pre-entry vetting is compatible in EU law with the rights of refugees and forced migrants.