EU’s asylum capacity-building activities may shift refugee protection outside EU territory, says researcher

The European Union’s endeavors to build capacity in asylum countries outside EU territory could shift refugee protection to those countries, said Julian Lehmann at a May 29 – 30 conference on current and future challenges for access to asylum. Currently, the law does not clearly specify when a country of transit has adequate protection, making it ambiguous as to when the EU can return someone to the transit country for processing his or her asylum application. Lehmann recommended clarifying the standards for safe countries of transit in order to prevent refugee protection from shifting to countries where conditions are inadequate.