ABSTRACT
The European Union (EU) has adopted a partnership framework in addressing migration and refugee movement in the neighbourhood and beyond. Though its success varies from country to country, a normative discourse is adopted, whereby the EU seeks to balance protection of rights (particularly the right to asylum) while deterring future arrivals and returning third-country nationals. In this, Afghanistan stands out as a case study. The EU has a long relationship with Afghanistan, as a key partner in the country’s reconstruction effort. Migration has been a component of that relationship but only in 2016 did the EU proceed with a statement of cooperation (the Joint Way Forward (JWF)) focusing solely on irregular migration. The JWF sought to facilitate the return of rejected Afghan asylum seekers and irregular migrants. The partnership should be seen as part of the broader foreign policy focus on migration post-2015, with Afghanistan as an example of both the EU’s desire to increase returns but also the impossibility of the task that lies ahead, and the normative issues and dilemmas arising from this complex balance. This chapter analyses the JWF on migration by looking at how balanced the agreement of 2016 appears to be, what incentives, conditionalities, level of (non)domination on behalf of the EU and the role of human rights hold in the partnership.
