This monograph could not be more timely, as discourses relating to refugees' access to territory, rescue at sea, push-back, and push-back by proxy dominate political debate. Looking at the questions which lie at the junction of migration control and refugee law standards, it explores the extent to which readmission can hamper refugees' access to protection. Though it draws mainly on European law, notably the European Convention on Human Rights, it also examines other international frameworks, including those employed by the United Nations and instruments such as the Refugee Convention. Therefore, this book is of importance to readers of international law, refugee law, human rights and migration studies at the global level. It offers an analysis of both the legal and policy questions at play, and engages fully with widely-disputed cases concerning readmission agreements, deportation with assurances and interception at sea. By so doing, this book seeks to clarify a complex field which has at times suffered from partiality in both its terminology and substance.

1. Introduction I. Refugee Encounters with the State II. Objectives and Structure III. On 'Informalisation' and 'Diversification' of Agreements Linked to Readmission IV. Defining Key Concepts V. Geographical Scope VI. Law and Practice of Readmission VII. Text, Context, and Telos VIII. The Interrelation between International Refugee Law and Human Rights Law IX. The Protection of Human Rights in EU Law X. Conclusion 2. Refugees' Admission and Readmission: International and European Protection Obligations I. Introduction Part 1. Refugee Rights before Removal II. The Right to Non-Refoulement: Introduction III. The Legal Content of Non-Refoulement in International Human Rights Law IV. Introducing Extraterritorial Jurisdiction V. EU Law and Non-Refoulement VI. The Right to Access Asylum Procedures before Removal: Introduction VII. Access to Asylum Procedures under Human Rights Law VIII. EU Law and the Right to Access Asylum Procedures IX. The Right to an Effective Remedy before Removal: Introduction X. The Right to an Effective Remedy under Human Rights Law XI. Legal Remedies in EU Immigration and Asylum Law Part 2. The Safe Third Country in Context XII. Defining the Concept of a 'Safe Third Country' XIII. Conclusion AGREEMENTS LINKED TO READMISSION AND REFUGEE RIGHTS: INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTERS 3, 4, AND 53. Readmission Agreements and Refugee Rights I. Introduction II. Obligation under International Law to Readmit Persons III. Readmission Agreements: An Overview IV. The Relationship between Interstate and EU Readmission Agreements V. Removal Decisions: The Return and the Recast Procedures Directives in Context VI. Conflicts of Treaties and Non-affection Clauses: Readmission Agreements versus International Human Rights Treaties VII. Informal Border Practices: When Refugees become Invisible VIII. 'Carrots' and 'Sticks': Protecting Human Rights Through Readmission Agreements? IX. Looking Ahead: Aims and Functions of Proposed Procedural Human Rights Clauses in Readmission Agreements X. Readmission Agreements and Access to Protection: Concluding Remarks 4. Negotiating Rights and Diplomatic Assurances under Memoranda of UnderstandingI. Introduction Part 1II. Deportation at All Costs? The Case of the UK and Diplomatic Assurances Part 2III. Legal Status of Diplomatic Assurances: An Open-Ended Doctrinal Debate Part 3IV. Access to Protection: The Relationship between Refugee Rights and Diplomatic Assurances V. Diplomatic Assurances on Asylum Seekers' Removable to 'Safe Third Countries'? VI. Access to Protection, Diplomatic Assurances, and MoUs: 5. Pre-Arrival Maritime Interception, Push-Backs and Agreements for Technical and Police Cooperation I. Introduction II. The Changing Readmission Paradigm: From Push-Backs to Push-Backs by Proxy (Pull-Backs) III. Overview of the First Wave of Bilateral Agreements Linked to Readmission between Italy and Libya IV. In Search of a Legal Foundation for Push-Backs to Libya ............ 253V. Not an Isolated Case: Outlining Further Agreements for Technical and Police Cooperation VI. State Duties at Sea VII. Push-Backs and Push-Backs by Proxy: State Responsibility in Extraterritorial (and Externalised) Immigration Controls VIII. Concluding Remarks 6. Conclusion I. On the Intertwinement of Agreements Linked to Readmission and Refugee Rights II. The Way Forward