On March 21, the Institute hosted a panel discussion examining the European migration crisis. Panelists included Iris Goldner Lang, John Harvey Gregory Lecturer on World Organization at Harvard Law School and Jean Monnet Professor of European Union law at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law, Maureen White, Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Institute at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., Itamar Mann, National Security Law Fellow at the Georgetown University Law Center’s Center on National Security and the Law, Karen Hoffmann, 3L at Temple Law and member of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) Working Group on Migration. The Institute’s Co-Director, Jaya Ramji-Nogales, offered introductory remarks and moderated the discussion.
The panelists each opened with a short speech about their area of expertise on migration affairs. Professor Goldner Lang, an expert in EU law and migration, discussed the incapability of EU Member States and EU institutions to adequately respond to the mass influx of refugees. She questioned whether the current state of affairs would result in a changing paradigm of EU law and, implicitly or overtly, of EU values and ideals in the future.
Professor Itamar Mann highlighted the logistical challenges of the recent EU-Turkey deal and the resettlement of Syrians through a 1:1 scheme. Maureen White also remarked that resettling Syrians in Europe would not be such a “burden” for Member States and that the United States could also do their part in helping to take in more Syrian refugees. Lastly, Temple Law student Karen Hoffman gave an on-the-ground perspective on the migration situation having spent some time in Lesvos, Greece. She shared some photographs of her time in Lesvos:
