The 'others' amongst 'them' – selection categories in European resettlement and humanitarian admission programmes

The chapter looks at categorisations as a form of ‘othering’ in the context of European refugee resettlement. Selection categories in resettlement provide insights into states’ preferences, when given the possibility to effectively select refugees before they present themselves at the border. As such, categorisations in such programmes are ways of othering within the group of ‘others’, excluding but also including according to three logics: humanitarian, security and assimilability. The chapter provides a panoramic view of official selection categories of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), European Member States, and the European Union (EU). The analysis shows that, while resettlement is framed as a humanitarian policy for the ‘most vulnerable’, some European states’ programmes and recent EU propositions indicate that besides a humanitarian logic, security and assimilability logics of ‘othering’ also draw the boundaries of access to this privileged form of refugee protection

Der BGH und Pechstein: Transnationaler Konstitutionalismus sieht anders aus

Der Fall Pechstein hätte dem BGH die Möglichkeit eröffnet, die ungleichen Machtstrukturen im professionellen Sport einer effektiven und unabhängigen Kontrolle zu unterziehen und die weitreichende Macht der Sportverbände zu begrenzen. Diese Möglichkeit ließ der BGH ungenutzt verstreichen. Frau Pechstein hat bereits angekündigt, sich an das Bundesverfassungsgericht wenden zu wollen. Es steht zu erwarten, dass die verfassungsrechtliche Komponente ihres Falles dort deutlicher zur Geltung kommen wird.</p

Integration Impossible? Ethnic Nationalism and Refugee Integration in Bulgaria

In the past several years many Western European countries have introduced stricter entry regimes both for third-country nationals, as well as for asylum-seekers and refugees. More recently, since the mixed migratory influx of 2015, the figure of the foreigner has become more and more visible on a national level sparking debates on the future of the European Union (EU), European and national identities. The reception of asylum-seekers and refugees has not been much different in Central and Eastern Europe, if not more problematic. Bulgaria as an external border of the EU is an interesting case in point. Stuck between politics of ethnic nationalism and multiple responsibilities under international legal regimes, it has introduced a laissez-passer integration model for refugees which is in stark contrast with integration policies in Western Europe. This paper looks at the reasons for the preference for such an approach and claims that ethnic nationalism is still alive, albeit well disguised. Engaging with theories of othering and otherness from a historico-legal perspective, it aims to illustrate that despite insurmountable differences between East and West, the increased mixed migratory flows of 2015 onwards have paradoxically contributed to more cohesion in response to migration and integration on a European level

Refugees’ integration into the labour market

The State’s legal obligation towards refugees comprises granting protection and conferring post-determination rights. This chapter queries how the UK discharges its legal obligation to facilitate refugees’ engagement with work and whether it contributes towards their ‘othering’. It examines the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) as a case-study, assessing how ‘resettled’ refugees access support to labour market integration through various organisations and actors, comparing the support provided to them with the assistance available to ‘recognised’ refugees. The latter are those who have reached the UK by their own endeavours, applied for asylum, and been granted refugee status. The study has demonstrated how diverse networks of organisations and state actors facilitate or inhibit refugees’ access to the labour market, counterbalancing State actions on integration