EU Refugee Crisis in the Mirror of the European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), with substantial supports for asylum seekers, has been a diligent advocate of the asylum seekers’ human rights. The refugee crisis that has gripped the EU since 2011 has challenged the Common European Union Asylum System. This paper, through a descriptive-analytical method, aims to answer the question to what extent the refugee crisis affected the ECtHR interpretation of the European Human Rights Convention concerning asylum seekers? Therefore, four areas of human rights were analyzed, which are prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment (article 3 of the Convention), family reunification (article 8 of the Convention), the right of freedom and security (article 5 of the Convention), and the prohibition of collective expulsion (article 4 of Protocol no.4). The results illustrated that the refugee crisis made the ECtHR increase the scope of its interpretation concerning the asylum seekers’ human rights and demonstrated the conflict between human rights and the Common European Asylum System. Moreover, the member states must respect the human rights of asylum seekers when implementing the Common European Union Asylum System and, In the event of a possible breach, cease the implementation of the Common European Union Asylum System.