Reflection of the European Union's non-Solidaristic and Security Centered Asylum Policy on the Transit States: The Case of Indirect Refoulement

Abstract

The paper argues that the European Union’s (EU) policy of externalising migration management to transit states contradicts its founding values enshrined under Article 2 of the Treaty Establishing the EU. The values are intentionally interpreted in such a way to evade humanitarian responsibility arising from the arrival of asylum seekers. The paper examines the changing meanings of the principle of solidarity and argues that solidarity has been interpreted in all possible meanings expect as a humanitarian norm to keep an emphasis on the return of asylum seekers and to minimise responsibility. This encourages the transit states to evade international responsibility by constructing their asylum/migration control policies in line with the EU securitisation approach. The paper examines the influence of the EU securitisation approach on the development of the Turkish asylum policy. The paper concludes by arguing that the EU securitisation approach has become the main reason for falling humanitarian standards in the Mediterranean region.