Responses to the “refugee crisis”: What is the role of self-image among EU countries?

Abstract:

The number of refugees that have reached the borders of the EU during 2015 and 2016 have put the international asylum system to the test. How individual member states respond to the calls to help people on the run, expose differences in how these states interpret international refugee laws.

Differences that under ordinary circumstances are less obvious. This European policy analysis explains the most relevant refugee laws and describes the events that have led to the present European asylum politics. The paper further discusses whether a member state's self-image, and the image it wishes to present, has any impact on policy in an extraordinary situation such as this.