Refugees, not economic migrants:Why do asylum seekers register in Hungary?

The article analyses why asylum‐seekers choose Hungary as an entry point to the European Union. Among the Central and Eastern European countries Hungary has been by far the most popular choice for asylum‐seekers between 2002 and 2016, yet surprisingly, it has been neglected by the literature. Using a panel dataset and fixed effects regressions, the article finds that beyond being ‘conveniently’ located on the Balkans migration route, variables related to Hungary's immigration policy are the most significant determinants of asylum‐seeker choices. The article finds no evidence to support recent claims by the Hungarian government that arrivals to the country are actually economic migrants and not asylum‐seekers; quite the contrary, the results indicate that on average asylum‐seekers entering Hungary are fleeing violent conflict in their countries of origin

Governance, forced migration and welfare

This paper explores the welfare of forced migrants (i.e. refugees, asylum-seekers, those with humanitarian leave to remain, and “failed asylum-seekers/overstayers”) at three linked levels. First, it considers the governance of forced migrants at a supranational (in this case European Union) level. Second, particularly, but not exclusively in the context of the UK, it considers the extent to which the welfare rights of forced migrants in EU member states have been subject to a process of “hollowing out” or “dispersal”. Third, utilizing data from a recently completed qualitative research project, the paper outlines the complex local systems of governance that exist in relation to the housing and social security rights of forced migrants in the UK. The consequences of these networks are highlighted

Mental health of returnees: refugees in Germany prior to their state-sponsored repatriation

von Lersner U, Wiens U, Elbert T, Neuner F. Mental health of returnees: refugees in Germany prior to their state-sponsored repatriation. BMC International Health and Human Rights. 2008;8(1): 8

"Responding to the Asylum and Access Challenge: An Agenda for Comprehensive Engagement in Protracted Refugee Situations"

This trans-atlantic project was generously funded by the German Marshall Fund

Asylum recognition rates in Western Europe : their determinants, variation, and lack of convergence

Substantial variation in recognition rates for asylum claims from the same countries of origin and therefore prima facie equal merit subjects refugees to unfair and discriminatory treatment. This article demonstrates the extent of variation and lack of convergence over the period 1980 to 1999 across Western European destination countries. Refugee interest groups also suspect that political and economic conditions in destination countries as well as the number of past asylum claims unduly impact upon recognition rates. This article estimates the determinants of asylum recognition rates. Origin-specific recognition rates vary, as they should, with the extent of political oppression, human rights violations, inter-state armed conflict and events of genocide and politicide in countries of origin. Recognition rates for the full protection status only are lower in times of high unemployment in destination countries. Such rates are also lower if many asylum seekers from a country of origin have already applied for asylum in the past

Justice and home affairs

2009 was a year of transition for the justice and home affairs (JHA) domain: The Hague Programme which had governed much of the development of the Union's `area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) since 2004 came to an end and new perspectives were opened up by the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the adoption of the new 2010 to 2014 Stockholm Programme. While the intense negotiations on the Stockholm Programme were overshadowed until October by the uncertain fate of the Lisbon Treaty, the institutions focused mainly on a range of leftovers from the Hague Programme. Whereas several significant legislative texts were adopted on immigration and criminal justice co-operation issues, other fields were marked primarily by continuing negotiations and new Commission proposals (asylum), the strengthening of external action capacity (civil law), efforts to improve the implementation of adopted measures (border controls, the fight against organized crime and terrorism) and institutional consolidation (Europol). The total annual output of the JHA Council dropped from 144 adopted texts the year before to 121 texts,1 perhaps a sort of end of programming period fatigue which could also be observed at the end of the preceding Tampere period