In recent years, the EU’s increasingly right-leaning discourse on migration has given rise to a new narrative: the instrumentalization of migration. EU member states strive for lower human rights standards, arguing that Belarus, under the authoritarian rule of Alexander Lukashenko, deliberately sends individuals who have fled countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq to the EU’s borders in order to overwhelm them, at times even accusing these individuals of collaborating with Belarusian authorities. Currently, three cases related to this situation are pending before the European Court of Human Rights.
In this conversation, Prof. Nora Markard examines the origins of the narrative of the “instrumentalization of migration” and the legal challenges it presents—particularly with regard to the principle of non-refoulement and the prohibition of collective expulsion in the pending cases. She argues that these cases pose a serious threat to the rule of law, as EU member states increasingly disregard their obligations under migration law and seek exceptions before the court. The discussion then shifts to broader challenges in human rights protection, including the misappropriation of rights and the question of whether a strong focus on the legality of state actions might actually undermine human rights. Prof. Markard notes that, while human rights are being questioned today in ways that might not have occurred a decade ago—and despite legitimate criticisms of the human rights framework—it remains essential to make the most of it.
Nora Markard is a Professor of International Public and Human Rights Law at the University of Münster. She is part of a team of 22 academics who submitted a third-party intervention to the Court in one of the pending cases.
Photo: Andreas Schmidt
The conversation was conducted by Konstantin Kipp. Alina Young edited the audio file.
