The European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the “Migratory Crisis”: The Rights of Persons in need for International Protection put to the test

Abstract

The year of 2015 witnessed the beginning of the biggest migratory crisis that Europe experienced since the World War II. According to EU official data, 1.1015.078 people are estimated to have arrived to the EU borders, only by sea, in 2015. In March 2016 such number already amounted to 138.280 arrivals3. The major part of these people was searching for international protection, and claimed to be forced migrants. They were escaping from conflict areas, such as Syria and Iraq, and also from tyrannical political regimes such as Eritrea, or failed or fragile States, such as Libya, Afghanistan, Somalia or Sudan. There were also several people willing to abandon their countries in order to search for better conditions of living. Thus, instead of speaking of a “refugee crisis”, it would seem more accurate to speak of a “migratory crisis”, since the people who sought to live in Europe in 2015 were moved by different reasons. Nonetheless, according to Eurostat data, 75,7% of those who arrived to EU in 2015 were granted international protection.