Asylum - not an EU problem? Qualitative analysis of the readmission agreements in the asylum and migration policy of the European Union

Abstract: In the European Union asylum and migration policy, the expressions “exclusion” and “externalization” are often used and encountered because the EU transfers the responsibility of migration control to non-EU states through readmission agreements. The EU does not have the capacity to receive all migrants, refugees and asylum seekers that seek protection in Europe, hence the agreements are constituted between the EU and other countries outside the EU on the basis of returning nationals and third country nationals who have been denied asylum. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how and to what extent are human rights embedded in the readmission agreements and in the materials that constitute the basis for the decision to enter into readmission agreements. This thesis also tends to analyze if and on what basis the readmission agreements pose potential consequences for asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. In order to answer the posed research questions, I have used a qualitative research method of case study and text analysis. I have used a theoretical framework of externalization and studied the cases of the EU-Ukraine agreement and the EU-Pakistan agreement. Today, the EU cannot guarantee the safety individuals that are being returned to either Ukraine or Pakistan, because both Ukraine and Pakistan lack functional human rights institutions and cannot practice what human rights instruments ordain because they lack the capacity to do so. The EU’s failing of safe returns for asylum seekers, refugees and migrants has consequently created situations of orbit and chain refoulment where migrants, refugees and asylum seekers risks being returned to their country of origin or passed around between countries.