The conference on “Refugee Law and Migration Policies from a Human Rights Perspective” organized by IMU Faculty of Law in cooperation with Gelişim Law Club was held online at 17:00 on April 23, Saturday.
The conference started with the speech of Assoc. Prof. Tülay YILDIRIM MAT, faculty member of IMU International Law Division. Evaluating the compliance of Turkey and Europe’s refugee policies with international human rights and refugee law, YILDIRIM MAT stated that Europe follows discriminatory policies against asylum-seekers, and these discriminatory immigration policies are more evident during the admissions phase. She explained that discriminatory policies can cost human life as a result of acts such as being pushed at sea, sometimes cause situations against human dignity, and violate rights such as the right to life, the prohibition of torture, and the prohibition of discrimination. She criticized the fact that although Europe’s refugee policies look in line with international law in terms of procedure, they are incompatible with human rights law in terms of substance.
Lecturer PhD. Zeynep ARDIÇ of IMU Division of General Public Law began her presentation by explaining the phenomenon of migration. ARDIÇ evaluated the relationship of migration with human rights through its causes and consequences. She explained that national and international armed conflicts are the root cause of mass migrations and major human rights problems. In this respect, she stated that Turkey is the country that receives the highest number of refugees due to the armed conflicts in the Middle East, and that although Turkey is a transit country, it has now become a destination country because of Europe’s anti-refugee policy.
Following the presentations, our faculty members answered the questions of the students and participants.