Human Rights

As many EU countries fail to provide a comprehensive refugee policy, local actors take matters into their own hands.

With civil society organisations increasingly questioned by those in power, NGOs need political representation and popular support.

Despite Edward Snowden’s revelations of widespread surveillance, increasingly intrusive measures are being adopted in Europe in the name of security – but do these actually lead to a more effective prevention of attacks?

Is our response to the threat of Islamic State merely aiding their rise by unwittingly contributing to their strategy?

Is Morocco’s promising progress on renewable energy reliant on repression & human rights abuses in Western Sahara ?

What can a public tribunal do – such as the Monsanto one – to hold global corporations accountable?

There is a kind of nationalism in Europe that is not only progressive, but has the potential to reinforce European integration.

It would be an illusion to believe that irregular migration will come to an end as a result of the legally dubious deal agreed between EU leaders and Turkey on 18 March 2016. Instead, we should recognise that migration is a natural human phenomenon, which has to be managed as such, and reform the dysfunctional EU framework on asylum and migration.

Before we can tell whether multiculturalism is strengthening or weakening solidarity between the people of a particular society, we need to acknowledge that there were deficits of trust and solidarity long before multicultural policies were adopted. Such policies are potential tools for overcoming the historic deficits in trust and solidarity.

For Turkish citizens, entering and traveling within the EU can be a frustrating struggle, with many bureaucratic hurdles to overcome. Although this state of affairs seems a great injustice, the prospect of easier access for Turks to countries within Schengen seems fraught with difficulties – both linked to Turkey’s turbulent domestic politics as well as the increasingly uncertain state of the EU’s internal borders.