Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
What is the legal and ethical basis for return migration processes in the EU? What are the standards that must be met for a return to be considered "voluntary"? This video lays out the legal instruments which determine EU member states' responsibilities towards refugees and migrants and the human rights which states are supposed to protect. The key concept of "non-refoulement“, and what it means for return migration policies, is explained.
However, as researchers from the GAPs Project explain, these legal principles are too often ignored in practice. So-called "pushbacks" are an increasingly common strategy used by EU states to deny migrants entry to countries such as Greece and Italy.
with Dr. Ela Gökalp-Aras (Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul), Umutcan Yüksel (Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul)
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These videos have been produced under a contract with the EU’s Horizon Europe Research Program (HORIZON-CL2-2022-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-09, Project Reference GAPs 101094341), financed by the European Union’s budget. The opinions expressed are those of the contractor and do not necessarily represent the contracting authority’s official position.
Please visit migrationmatters.me to learn more about our work and subscribe to our courses. You are free (and encouraged!) to embed this video and use it for any non-commercial purposes: CC BY-NC 4.0
Produced by: Migration Matters e.V. 2024 - 2025
Editorial & production: Sophia Burton, Bernadette Klausberger, Frankie Reid
Edited by: Karoline Schulz
Graphic and Motion Design by: Liv Bustorff & Paula Bambach
Music: Hippo (MF-198, Musicfox)
What is the legal and ethical basis for return migration processes in the EU? What are the standards that must be met for a return to be considered "voluntary"? This video lays out the legal instruments which determine EU member states' responsibilities towards refugees and migrants and the human rights which states are supposed to protect. The key concept of "non-refoulement“, and what it means for return migration policies, is explained.
However, as researchers from the GAPs Project explain, these legal principles are too often ignored in practice. So-called "pushbacks" are an increasingly common strategy used by EU states to deny migrants entry to countries such as Greece and Italy.
with Dr. Ela Gökalp-Aras (Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul), Umutcan Yüksel (Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul)
***
These videos have been produced under a contract with the EU’s Horizon Europe Research Program (HORIZON-CL2-2022-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-09, Project Reference GAPs 101094341), financed by the European Union’s budget. The opinions expressed are those of the contractor and do not necessarily represent the contracting authority’s official position.
Please visit migrationmatters.me to learn more about our work and subscribe to our courses. You are free (and encouraged!) to embed this video and use it for any non-commercial purposes: CC BY-NC 4.0
Produced by: Migration Matters e.V. 2024 - 2025
Editorial & production: Sophia Burton, Bernadette Klausberger, Frankie Reid
Edited by: Karoline Schulz
Graphic and Motion Design by: Liv Bustorff & Paula Bambach
Music: Hippo (MF-198, Musicfox)
