Member States in the face of the massive influx of displaced persons and applicants for international protection: Discrimination or justified application of EU law?

Abstract

The aim of this research is to analyze whether the differences in treatment in the different Member States and the dysfunctions and breaches of the rules of the Common European Asylum System, as well as the different solutions adopted by the European Union in the face of applicants for international protection in cases of mass influxes of displaced persons, amount to discrimination contrary to the Geneva Convention, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights or Directive 2000/43/EC on equal treatment of persons regardless of their racial or ethnic origin, or whether they are justified by EU rules. To this end, we first analyze some differences in treatment in the Common European Asylum System according to the national origin of applicants and the Member State of application; we then examine in depth the Council Decision on the application of the Temporary Protection Directive to Ukrainian nationals displaced by war, determining whether its nonapplication in similar situations such as the crisis in Belarus or the war in Syria constitutes discriminatory treatment, as well as the exclusion from its scope of application of certain groups of non-EU persons in need of international protection. Finally, it analyses whether the “Crisis Regulation” proposed in the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum provides solutions to these cases of differential treatment or discrimination.

Received: 25 September 2023 
Accepted: 19 November 2023