ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the European states that have been keen to exploit the structure to outsource asylum thereby changing the obligations associated with refugee protection altogether. It analyzes how the rights management logic is enacted in the European context. The chapter examines the 'safe third country' rule as it has been developed in the European Union (EU) as a procedural mechanism for shifting responsibility for asylum processing. It argues that the political allure of the safe third country' notion should be viewed in light of the flexibility it provides to states in transferring responsibility for protection to third states, which alter the content of the obligations owed to refugees. The chapter explains the UK proposal which was seen as stretching the present legal framework too far, current initiatives, such as 'protected entry procedures' and 'regional protection programmes', present few challenges to the formal refugee protection regime, while still allowing states to exploit an increased manoeuvrability with respect to actual obligations.
