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On December 18 1990, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. Since then we commemorate worldwide migration on this date. On the occasion of the International Day of Migrants we speak with Dr Jos Philips (Philosophy) about the European research project Norms and Values ​​in the European Migration and Refugee Crisis (NoVaMigra) in which Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��’s Ethics Institute is involved.

Within the European project NoVaMigra, researchers from ten different countries examine what Europe stands for in terms of migration and refugees. What could an ethically thought-out view on refugees and migrants look like?

EUROPEAN VALUES

In the project, researchers from the Ethics Institute (Prof Marcus Düwell, Dr Marie Göbel and Dr Jos Philips) are involved in examining the norms and values ​​of the EU. “In addition to the analysis of treaties, we reflect on the question of what human rights are and what European norms and values ​​can be,” Philips explains. “People often think that European ideals are unique. The EU stands for justice and human rights, how can we relate this to migration and refugees? When people talk about European values, they think of what Europe stands for. But that does not mean that non-Europeans can’t have these norms and values as well.”

Further analysis can clarify how important human rights are in relation to the many things that Europeans care about.

NORMATIVE FRAMEWORK

Is it possible to establish a normative framework for the EU as a whole? European countries have different opinions on how to deal with migrants and refugees. Philips believes that human rights unite many people in Europe. “Even though some people in the EU, in Poland or Hungary for example, but also elsewhere, think otherwise.” He continues: “Further analysis can clarify how important human rights are in relation to the many things that Europeans care about. For example, the fundamental equality of all people.” Philosophers of NoVaMigra also look critically at the concepts used. What is a refugee? How do you distinguish a refugee from a migrant? What are human rights? And how do you come up with defensible definitions at all?

FORTUNE SEEKERS

“Although I am particularly interested in refugees, the distinction between a refugee and a migrant is not always easy to make. You can use the term migrants in a general sense, as referring to people who move to another country to live there. According to the Refugee Convention, a refugee is someone who flees his or her country of origin because of a well-founded fear of being persecuted on certain grounds. People fleeing poverty or climate change are not included in this definition. From a philosophical point of view, it might be defended to call everyone a refugee who, in his or her country of origin, has a human rights problem which cannot be solved there. The term fortune seekers is not an adequate term if we assume that every person should at least have a minimum of certain real freedoms in order to make something of his or her life.”

GLOBAL JUSTICE

The philosophers in NoVaMigra do not come up with tailor-made solutions. “We think about what fair solutions could look like. We critically reflect on and ask questions about the problems at hand. The philosophers in the project don’t want the discussions in the first instance to focus on whether borders should be open or on what an ideal distribution of refugees should look like. “There are huge numbers of people in need (although this does not apply to everyone who migrates), and this creates problems as well as opportunities. This should primarily be framed not as a migration problem or a refugee crisis, but as a problem of global justice.”