Workshop: The Impact of Lawyering on Migration and Asylum Policies – Rethinking Our Legal Strategies

On the 6th and 7th of July, EIN participated in Mediterranean Migration & Asylum Policy Hub’s (MedMa) Workshop on the impact of lawyering on migration and asylum policies – rethinking our legal strategies in Cascais, Portugal.

The workshop provided an opportunity for migration/asylum law practitioners, policy experts and other key stakeholders to discuss and share experiences and knowledge on migration/asylum lawyering, including its challenges and pitfalls. Participants reflected on the choices and strategies of pro-migrant lawyers, whether as litigators, academics or legal advisors to campaigning NGOs, and the impacts of lawyering on state policy and practice, including unintended harmful consequences. The workshop also covered current migration policy debates and discussed the future role of lawyering in driving narrative and policy change around migration and asylum.

This workshop was a response to the shift from the welcoming of refugees towards the espousal of deterrence policies and policies against secondary movements of asylum seekers has been swift, policies that include moving refugees to countries outside the EU and international law.

It is now crucial that stakeholders take stock of the significant work undertaken by lawyers on a national and international level and its impact on shaping migration and asylum policy.

Civil society has followed up on the execution of judgments through communications to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers; however, the pace in the execution of judgements by ECtHR remains slow and evidences the need for synergies on a national level between civil society, national human rights institutions and other stakeholders.

The workshop was comprised of four-panel discussions with various stakeholders, including border securitization, externalization of refugees, the regularisation-legal pathways, and implementation & advocacy.

We thank MedMa for inviting EIN to speak on the implementation and advocacy of immigrants and refugees and thank everyone who joined. We hope to see your submissions and engagement in the implementation process of ECtHR judgments in the future.