Protection-sensitive borders

The Refugee Council’s International Protection Policy team is currently undertaking a research and advocacy project entitled ‘Protection-Sensitive Borders’.

The Refugee Council is concerned that the increase in border control mechanisms including the use of biometrics, outposted immigration liaison officers and carrier sanctions, may be preventing access to asylum processes for those who want to exercise their right to claim asylum. This may be evidenced by the decline in asylum numbers across the EU.Border controls are increasingly employed far from UK territory and close to refugee regions of origin, with the aim of deterring irregular migration and combating international criminal activity and security threats. While the Refugee Council recognises that states have the right to control the entry of non-nationals, a lack of legal channels enabling access to international protection forces asylum seekers to use the same methods and routes for accessing safe territory as irregular migrants. They will therefore be subject to the same restrictive border controls and accompanying risks of irregular travel.

The project’s main aims are:

• to promote the importance of access to UK and EU territory for individuals fleeing persecution as an essential component of the right to seek asylum.
• to enhance the UK’s ability to guarantee that increasingly stringent extra-territorial border controls do not lead to the direct or indirect refoulement of those in need of international protection.

The project’s main activities are:

• gaining a greater understanding of the impact of current extra-territorial controls on individuals fleeing persecution. This will include primary research through field work within the UK and in a country of transit or origin.
• attempting to clarify the UK’s obligations under national, EU and international refugee and human rights law, particularly with regard to activities within a third country.
• developing a range of safeguards to ensure extra-territorial border controls do not prevent access to asylum procedures.
• disseminating information and analysis amongst policy-makers, legal practitioners, , NGOs, academics and RCOs in order to mobilise relevant stakeholders to ensure the rights of refugees are safeguarded both in the UK and across the EU and that transparency on this issue is increased.

For more information contact Sile Reynolds, Policy and Research officer, Protection-Sensitive Borders Project , tel: 0207 346 1031