SÁNCHEZ SÁNCHEZ, ZULIMA
In recent years Europe has faced one of the greatest migration crises since World War II. Its humanitarian effects have been devastating, but there has also been a salutary lesson for Europe to respond by adopting a series of measures intended to modify institutions traditionally linked to the sovereignty of States, such as the Right to Asylum and its legal procedure, which represents salvation for refugees but also for European migration policy. These transformations have defined a new scheme with regards to border control, the fight against illegal migration and trafficking in human beings, and the rights of asylum seekers, that is to say, of those who seek refuge in Europe.
The European Agenda on Migration 2015 sets the trend for present and future reforms that countries should undertake to deal with this situation and similar ones that may occur in the future. With shared competencies between the Union and the States themselves, the challenge represents a complex balance between the interest of the States, the migration policy of the Union and respect for Human Rights. Undoubtedly, despite the fact that many countries have resisted, the most viable alternative is to provide global solutions.
The work also focuses on the impact that these reforms will have on the Right to Asylum and international protection for asylum seekers -rights and obligations-, on the law of the States relative to its procedures and for public employees who work with these groups: psychologists, translators, medical personnel and police officers. The reform proposals of the European Union in 2016, the reports of national bodies -such as the Spanish Ombudsman of 2016-, or the Jurisprudence of the European and national courts, are taken as models of good practice that should inform the application of current law and future reforms and which, in turn, augur for the Europeanization of the Right to Asylum.
