WORK PLAN
ASILE runs for 4 years (2019-2023) having an extremely detailed work plan designed in order to achieve its objectives.
Its structure is divided into Workpackages. The first Workpackage is aimed at documenting the state of the art on Asylum Governance, its instruments and its actors. Workpackages 2 to 4 explore, from three different perspectives (i.e. actor-centric and responsibility attribution, human rights and refugee-legal, and individuals and vulnerability), the UN GCR, its implementation and various implementation dynamics. WP2 is dedicated towards the development of a typology of actors and GCR-stakeholders and their networks; as well as the responsibility attribution and responsibility and burden sharing envisaged within the GCR-context between these various actors and actor networks. WP3 catalogues existing international and
regional human rights and refugee law standards, and different regional approaches to asylum in light of the UN GCR. WP4 examines – and thereby facilitate a better understanding of – how refugee protection is allocated and the rights enjoyed by refugees, as well as providing important insights into institutional practices employing the concepts of ‘vulnerability’ and ‘self-reliance’. Workpackage 5 is dedicated towards examining the EU’s role in the implementation of the UN GCR, by analysing and elucidating the EU’s instruments and approaches towards asylum and refugee protection in cooperation with third countries. Workpackage 6 is designed to incorporate and involve policymakers, stakeholders and civil society in ensuring the impact, practical applicability and feasibility of the ASILE project’s research findings and policy recommendations through the use of novel methods, e.g. Task Forces and Strategic Visioning Exercises. Workpackage 7 is dedicated to dissemination and communication. Workpackage 8 contains project management activities while Workpackage 9 deals on the ethics requirements.
Inventory of Asylum Governance Instruments and Actors
This Workpackage 1 aims at providing an inventory of previous state of the art research and knowledge on asylum governance, and a typology of (mobility and containment) instruments and arrangements, and a review of their main characteristics, in Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, Jordan, South Africa and Turkey.
Actors Networks and Responsibility Attribution
The Workpackage 2 will examine the field of actors and stakeholders involved in the policy design and implementation of asylum policy and legal instruments and arrangements and the UN GCR, and their roles, discourses and responsibility attribution, as well as those playing a key role in the implementation of the UN GCR in the six selected countries.
The overall objective of this WP is to analyse the composition and constitution of relevant governance networks in six case countries and the wider international relationships (bilateral, multilateral, regional and international) within which they are embedded.
International and regional human rights and refugee law standards
This Workpackage 3 examines existing international and regional human rights and refugee law standards and different regional approaches to asylum in light of the UN GCR. It will assess the interactions between instruments and actors in light of their compatibility with international and regional human rights and refugee law standards.
Refugee Recognition, Self-reliance and Rights
This Workpackage 4 will facilitate a better understanding of how refugee protection is allocated and the rights enjoyed by refugees, providing important insights into institutional practices employing the concepts of ‘vulnerability’ and ‘selfreliance’.
It will provide knowledge on Refugee Status Determination (RSD) practices in the six case study countries, and in-depth comparative case study on the refugee recognition regimes in Jordan and Bangladesh. Jordan and Bangladesh are chosen as in-depth case studies for four reasons. They are (1) on the list of the world’s top ten refugee-hosting countries and are currently dealing with deeply protracted refugee situations. They have (2) informal and weak refugee recognition processes and (3) weak refugee rights protection, as evidenced by mobility and work restrictions. In both cases, (4) the EU and its Member States have a role in sustaining the status quo, and perhaps leveraging better protection.
EU Arrangements with Third Countries
This Workpackage will map and examine current EU arrangements with third countries of origin and transit of persons seeking international protection. It will assess the various arrangements against the background of the GCR, with a particular focus on their ability to meet the objectives to ease pressure on host countries, enhance refugees’ self-reliance and expand access to durable solutions by way of resettlement and complementary pathways for the admission of persons with international protection needs. It will also examine the compatibility of the emerging global asylum regime, especially the abovementioned features, with international and regional conventions on refugees and human rights, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, in particular as regards access to protection and durable solutions and the effective protection of vulnerable persons and groups against exploitation, violence and discrimination.
Policy Engagement
The ASILE methodology will allow for the identification of ‘lessons learned’, and ‘lessons not be learned’ and ‘promising and non-promising practices’ in light of the Objectives laid down in the GCR and existing international and regional legal/human rights. Particular focus is given to providing new comparative scientific evidence examining ‘promising and non-promising practices’ and ‘lessons learned’ on responsibility sharing on refugees and asylum seekers. Task 4 aims at bridging lessons learned and ‘promising and non-promising practices’ to human rights and refugee law-compliant policies, and exploring policy options to expand the scope of existing instruments and programmes to address the UN GCR goals and needs. It also aims at linking the project research and activities to relevant policy makers and GCR policy actors.
Outreach and Training
The project will benefit from a Workpackage dedicated to Dissemination, Engagement and Training. A key innovative tool for dissemination and training will be the ASILE Global Portal. The project will also present a dedicated training component aimed at bridging project research findings with policy and asylum practitioners on impact and implementation of the UN GRC.
Management and coordination
This Workpackage 8 will be responsible for the management and coordination of the Project. CEPS is taking care of the coordination of the project. The CEPS team will be in charge of managing all aspects of the project, in particular guaranteeing the execution of all tasks and the completion and effective implementation of all work packages and deliverables according to the work plan.
Ethics requirements
The objective of this Workpackage is to ensure compliance with the ‘ethics requirements’ set out by the European Commission.
