Migrant children at Calais. Photo: Chris Radburn / PA Wire/Press Association Images. All rights reservedApart from the occasional media headlines mixing up EU and other migrants, there has been little serious discussion about the implications of the referendum for refugee protection in the UK. This is partly because nobody really knows what shape our exit from the EU will take. Until the negotiations start, that is unlikely to change. Yet despite the dizzying number of possible scenarios, there are parts of the equation refugee advocates should start to think through now, in order to get a better grip on the way Brexit might affect those we work to support.
The ‘clean break’ scenario
Since 1999, the EU has adopted laws aimed at harmonizing member states’ rules, procedures and reception conditions for asylum seekers. Together they form the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). The UK will have an interest in continued cooperation with the EU on some asylum issues even after we cease to be a Member State. Still, thinking through what a complete ‘clean break’ from EU asylum laws would look like is helpful to get some perspective.
