Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Lawless states

I'm no expert, but I believe under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Refugee Protocols, states who adopt them are legally barred from treating them as illegal immigrants or expelling them from their borders. Countries that are members of the Schengen Agreement are not permitted to impose border controls within the Schengen area. Germany, Austria, Slovakia, the Netherlands, and Hungary have both adopted the Refugee Conventions and are members of the Schengen Agreement. So isn't what they are doing now blatantly illegal? Is anyone trying to challenge the closed borders and treatment of refugees within their borders in court?

Or do laws just go away when circumstances make their rules unpopular?