The EU- A Liberal Hunter of Refugees? : A comparative study in the handeling of internal and extrenal refugees

The European Union has faced lots of criticisms over the last couple of years when it comes to how refugees are treated in Europe. The Lisbon Treaty states in Article 2 that the European Union is founded on respect for human freedom, dignity and equality. Values such as democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and that the rights of persons belonging to minorities should be respected are also something that the Union should be based on. How is it then that the Roma people, which are Europe's largest minority, are being persecuted all over Europe, that they get deported and have their camps destroyed? Why are refugees from North Africa being sent back before they even have a chance to seek asylum? In this essay I have examined how the EU are treating refugees and tried to distinguish if there are any differences in how they treat internal and external refugees. I have analyzed this by using liberal universalism theory to see if the EU lives up to the liberal values that they claim to be based on. I found out that the European Union has a lot to work on when it comes to managing refugees in a fair way. I also found that the economic crises we have today has stolen focus from the refugee issue and that it also have affected the attitude towards refugees in a negative way