Travel regime over refugee regime: how the EU circumvented its duties to accept refugees during the migrant crisis

For the past decades, global migratory pressures havesteadily increased and provided both the Global North andSouth with several new challenges. Using the concept of regimecomplexity as a theoretical framework, this article examineshow states of the Global North and South have dealtwith these challenges. On the basis of an in-depth study ofthe 2015 European migration crisis, this article argues thatthe European Union (EU) has drastically restricted accessto asylum for refugees by addressing the crisis throughthe travel regime instead of through the refugee regime. Itfurther contends that this has had an important impact onthe mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner forRefugees (UNHCR), the main body governing the refugeeregime. Further research should investigate whether otherstates of the Global North have reacted similarly to growingmigratory pressures and investigate what impact this hashad on the institutions at the heart of the refugee regime.