It is time for the European Union to redefine what it means to be a ‘refugee’

EU member states will hold a meeting on 14 September 2015 to discuss Europe’s escalating migration crisis. As Christopher J. Ayres writes, the crisis has prompted discussions over whether individuals seeking to enter the EU should be classified as ‘refugees’ or simply ‘migrants’. He argues that in light of these debates it is time for the EU to drop the requirement for an individual to have a ‘well-founded fear of persecution’ to be labelled a refugee, noting that this definition is 65 years old, antiquated, and was articulated by the United Nations Refugee Agency before the EU existed.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Justice and Home Affairs Council, Brussels, 14 September 2015 http://www.europeansources.info/record/justice-and-home-affairs-council-brussels-14-september-2015/

Carnegie Europe: Strategic Europe, 24.08.15: What Europe’s Refugee Influx Means for EU Foreign Policy http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=61080

ESO: Information Guide: European Migration Challenges http://www.europeansources.info/record/information-guide-european-migration-challenges/

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