ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the distinguishing features of FRA asylum research within the delicate EU institutional and political ecosystem, with a particular focus on the way in which FRA addresses the rights of protection seekers once they have entered the EU. FRA’s work in asylum is strategically situated within the wider matrix of efforts underway by other international and regional actors in asylum. The Agency is engaged in ‘real time’ research, which is carried out with the benefits and constraints of its position as an ‘embedded institution’. While much of academic asylum scholarship focusses on the EU legal rights framework up to and including status determination, FRA’s work also engages significantly with the precarious situation of rejected asylum seekers and other irregular migrants, such as those subject to removal or without lawful status to remain within the EU, arguably amongst the most vulnerable individuals within the jurisdiction of the Member States.
