1. UCD School of Law Law, Dignity & Socio- Economic Rights: The Case of Asylum Seekers in Europe Dr Liam ThorntonDr Liam Thornton, Dr Liam Thornton UCD Human Rights Network UCD Human Rights Network

2. “[t]he treatment of aliens…has become a defining challenge to an important aspect of the moral identity of the emerging European polity and the process of European integration.” –J.H.H. Weiler (1992)

3. UCD School of Law Introduction

4. Paper Structure (20 minutes) 1.Defining ‘asylum seekers’, socio-economic rights & rejecting language of ‘reception’ (3 minutes) 2.The plurality of socio-economic rights for asylum seekers: Comparative legal perspectives (12 minutes) 3.The Need for Clarity on Dignity (4 minutes)

5. UCD School of Law Definition & Scope

6. Definitions Asylum seeker Why socio-economic rights and not reception conditions? My core argument: –End result of this legal plurality, has been to deny asylum seekers access to mainstream social supports

7. UCD School of Law Legal Plurality & Socio- Economic Rights of Asylum Seekers

8. International Human Rights LawInternational Human Rights Law Council of Europe Human Rights LawCouncil of Europe Human Rights Law European Union Human Rights LawEuropean Union Human Rights Law

9. What does this tell us? Grand pronouncements of ‘universality’ & ‘indivisibility’ of rights; of rights inhering in ‘all’, ‘everybody’ and ‘everyone’; mask the reality that states may legitimately differentiate in the protection of rights between citizens and residents on the one hand and asylum seekers on the other.

10. UCD School of Law The Socio-Economic Rights of Asylum Seekers: From Legal Plurality to Clarity to Dignity?

11. Presupposition of rights protection What is the solution? Is there any?What is the solution? Is there any? Speaking notes and full paper available online through www.humanrights.iewww.humanrights.ie