The Right to Liberty in the Context of Migration ; Teisė į laisvę migracijos kontekste

Abstract

The right to liberty is a fundamental human right that must be protected for everyone regardless of immigration status and is established under international and regional European law. Another recognised human right is the right to asylum which is comprehensively protected by the Refugee Convention. These two human rights apply simultaneously within asylum detention, a measure fully depriving liberty. It is a measure that is widely imposed within the European asylum context. This thesis aims to analyse the asylum-seekers right to liberty standards under the international law and the Council of Europe and European Union law. It found that there is disparity between such standards, with the Council of Europe and European Union establishing considerably lesser right to liberty guarantees for asylum-seekers. This in direct conflict with the international standards. The overarching issue of this conflict appears to be the tension between the States sovereign right to control immigration and the individual's right to liberty as well as asylum. In an attempt to solve these conflicts, the adoption of ATD are proposed.