ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to shed light on the overlooked role that barriers to asylum implemented by the EU and its Member States with strategic third countries play in impinging the right of people displaced in the context of disasters to reach the EU and claim protection. It critically assesses the impact of the deterrence paradigm deeply rooted in the EU and its Member States’ policies on people displaced in the context of disasters, with emphasis put on departure prevention, non-admission, and externalization arrangements. This chapter argues that, on the one hand, national development cooperation strategies are increasingly used to counteract perceived irregular migration, including in the context of disaster displacement. On the other hand, restrictive asylum procedures, bilateral arrangements outsourcing responsibility on asylum, and the expansive use of the safe country notion set out in the Asylum Procedures Regulation are further severe obstacles to the identification and recognition of protection to people displaced in the context of disasters.
