Mobile Futures researcher Stephen Phillips has successfully defended his thesis entitled “An examination of deterrence and access to asylum through law, rhetoric and experience” from Åbo Akademi University.
Phillips has researched how countries use security rhetoric to deter asylum seekers. In Hufvudstadsbladet’s article of 23.4.2024, he points out that security does not exclude the possibility of receiving asylum seekers. He warns that political rhetoric often masks real intentions to prevent people from seeking protection. As an example, Phillips cites Australia’s practice of outsourcing asylum processes to islands such as Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Phillips believes that Finland and other countries are moving towards a “gray area” in the interpretation of international legal norms. He emphasizes that Europe receives only a small part of the world’s refugees and that it is a matter of political choices and lack of political will to create effective asylum processes. In conclusion, Phillips emphasizes that the asylum system can work and has worked in the past, but that the political will is currently lacking.