WHEN: Day Two of the MCI, 9 May 2025 - 1:30 - 3:00 pm
WHERE: Institute for European Ethnology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
FACILITATED BY: Nuno Ferreira and Mohammad Dalla

This workshop critically examines the implications of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, adopted on 14 May 2024, with a focus on its effects on queer refugees and asylum seekers in Germany. Bringing together researchers, activists, professionals, and community organizations, the workshop will explore key policy developments and their impact on the rights and lived experiences of queer people on the move. 

The discussion will centre on two major aspects of the Pact and their specific consequences for queer asylum seekers:

• The Introduction of ‘pre-entry phases’ based on the legal fiction of asylum claimants’ non-entry in Member States (Arts 43ff Procedures Regulation)¹
• Speedy returns of irregular migrants (Art 37 Procedures Regulation)²

Additionally, the workshop will provide space for discussing other pressing policy challenges and emerging concerns affecting queer refugees and their supporters in Germany. The goal of the workshop is to foster collaboration between academics, activists, and professionals to identify key needs, formulate political demands, and work toward a policy brief or similar advocacy tool.

The workshop will be facilitated by Nuno Ferreira (University of Sussex) and Mohammad Dalla (University of Potsdam / Melbourne).

¹ The "fiction of non-entry" in EU asylum policy, particularly related to Articles 43ff of the Asylum Procedures Regulation, is a legal construct where states claim asylum seekers are not legally present in their territory until granted entry, even if physically present, allowing for border control measures and potentially limiting protection obligations.

² Article 37 of the Asylum Procedure Regulation mandates that return decisions must accompany asylum rejections when claims are inadmissible, unfounded, or withdrawn. Both decisions should be issued simultaneously, either within the same administrative act or in separate but concurrent decisions.

To participate, please register by emailing mohammad.dalla.1uuni-potsdampde with your name, organizational/professional affiliation, or a brief statement on your motivation to join. If you have specific policy issues you would like to see addressed, feel free to include them in your email.