The Refugee Crisis: Factual Background and Legal Considerations

Since humans’ existence, there have always been people fleeing. Throughout human history their numbers have not decreased, but instead, quite the contrary: the world community has at all times been and is now particularly challenged by the prospect of helping the people in need of protection across borders. It is very important to be aware of the fact that refugee and asylum issues involve countless individuals’ lives. In these pursuits, legislation and its implementation often affect human beings in a very immediate and profound way. In 2015, refugee and asylum issues topped headlines all over the world and especially in Europe. All sectors of society and levels of government discussed the matter. Politicians have been trying to find a proper solution ever since, which has turned out to be a very difficult pursuit as they all have different solutions in mind. Conservative or open-minded in their respective state approach towards refugees, everybody has had to obey the law. In this book the author presents an overview of the current asylum crisis. Although legislation and regulations will be explained, this book is designed for beginners in this field and laypeople as well. The first part scrutinises the origins of the asylum crisis and the routes of displaced people who aim to reach Europe, and what obstacles they have to face therein. The second part provides an introduction to international and European refugee and asylum legislation in an overview and how the handling of persons in need of international protection by authorities in factual reality deviates from the legal requirements. The third part describes measures the European Union has taken to tackle the crisis.