European Response to the Mass Influx of People Caused by the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Testing the Limits of International Refugee Law
Abstrakt
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has forced millions of people to flee the eruptingarmed conflict. Some of them were displaced within Ukrainian territory, others crossedthe border and sought refuge in neighbouring countries and others further abroad.This article explores the limits of international refugee law in addressing this situation,which are of two kinds.
First, people fleeing armed conflict are not considered refugeesunder the Refugee Convention if they are 'merely' fleeing armed conflict. Furthermore,the large number of persons arriving is also a limit.
These limitations of internationalrefugee law are filled by regional protection statuses (including temporary protection inEuropean Union law) and the procedural ways in which protection can be granted. Thisarticle focuses on whether the current legislation in EU law is a sufficient response to thesituation created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.