The harmonisation of asylum law within the European Union.

Abstract

Ever since the number of asylum-seekers began to climb in the 1980's, Western Europe has been faced with increasing requests for asylum and recognition of refugee status. The human and political problems presented by refugees and asylum are acute and are not improving. Indeed, the current global refugee problem poses a formidable challenge for both international and national policymakers. The first chapter of this thesis, will contain a brief historical outline drawing attention to the endemic problems of refugees throughout different periods of history, indicating the changing attitudes of receiving states. The second chapter deals with the shifting interpretation of the legal concept of who is entitled to be considered a refugee. It examines the Notion of a Refugee as applied through the Geneva Convention, the main international convention dealing with the status of refugees, and its developments through authoritative interpretation. This chapter will also deal with the harmonisation of the definition of a refugee within the European Union. In this context, the third chapter mainly purports to examine the various attempts of the European Union to harmonise Asylum Law, paying particular attention to the new European treaties such as the Dublin Convention, the Schengen Agreement and the Resolutions of the European Union. The key to a true appreciation and understanding of the plight of refugees and the extent of their current rights, lies in national law and practice. For this reason, the fourth chapter will examine how progress in harmonisation is being made in the policies of certain European Union Member States on the question of refugees, and it will also provide an indication of refugee case law in Europe, which shows that the Geneva Convention has received varying interpretations in national courts. The fifth chapter will examine the European Convention on Human Rights, established as a collective guarantee at the European level of the human rights of all people within Member States, including those of refugees. This convention was intended to supplement the national guarantees of these rights, but it has also become an increasingly effective vehicle for representing the interests of the refugees in the European context. An overview of the existing case law of the European Court of Human Rights related to asylum, will also be given. The sixth chapter deals with the old and new system for the protection of refugees and the granting of asylum under Maltese law. The new Refugees Act XX of 2000 will be examined, making provisions relating to and establishing procedures with regard to refugees and asylum seekers. The concluding part of this thesis will examine whether harmonisation of asylum law is really taking place within the European Union.