Session 5 of the Research "In Action" Seminar Series "Borders control and SAR obligations in the Mediterranean: Between Human Rights and Security" will be on April 21!
Session 5 of the Research "In Action" Seminar Series "Borders control and SAR obligations in the Mediterranean: Between Human Rights and Security" will be on April 21!
Session 5 of the Research "In Action" Seminar Series "Borders control and SAR obligations in the Mediterranean: Between Human Rights and Security" will be on April 21!
Session 5 – IEMed
"Borders control and SAR obligations in the Mediterranean: Between Human Rights and Security"
Tuesday, 21 April 2026 | 18:30–20:00 | Aula Mediterrània (IEMed)
Invited Speaker:
-
Silvia Morgades (GRITIM-UPF)
Chair: Mahmoud Mansour (EuroMedMig, GRITIM, UPF)
Synopsis
Irregular migration has been securitised in the context of preventing irregular entries of third-country nationals to the European Union (EU) Area of Freedom, Security and Justice. In the maritime sphere, preventing irregular migration from arriving in the EU must ensure the respect for the right to life enshrined in a number of international instruments applicable to the EU and to its member states. This article will examine the tension between preventing irregular migration and ensuring the human rights of migrants in two areas: first, rescues in Frontex-led operations at sea; and second, search and rescue operations within the framework of the EU’s integrated border management activities in the Mediterranean. Finally, the article will include some final reflections on the measures that could be taken in order to address human insecurity and the weakening of human rights at the European sea borders.
Bio
Dr. Sílvia Morgades-Gil is a Serra Hunter Associate Professor of International Public Law at the Department of Law, Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona, Spain), and a member of the Research Group on Public International Law and International Relations and GRITIM-UPF. She teaches EU Law, Asylum and Refugee Law, and International Migration Law at UPF and CEI-International Affairs. Since 2019, she has been a Research Affiliate at the Refugee Law Initiative, University of London. She received the Extraordinary Doctoral Prize at UPF and the 2008 Human Rights First Prize from the Generalitat de Catalunya. She has conducted postdoctoral research at Université Paris 1-Sorbonne and IHEID Geneva. Her publications include articles in leading journals and the monograph De refugiados a Rechazados (Tirant Lo Blanch, 2021). ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1255-9285.