Christina Velentza is a policy advisor and researcher with a PhD in International Refugee Law and Human Rights. Christina has been an Adjunct Lecturer in Migration and Human Rights in Kadir Has University and Ozyeğin University, Turkey (2020–2021), a Research Fellow in MiReKoç, Koç University (2017–2019), and a Stavros Niarchos Fellow in Chatham House (2015–2016). Christina is an Attorney at Law (Athens Bar Association) and has worked for the UNHCR, Greek Asylum Service, EEAS, Eurojust, ICC, and NGOs in different countries. Christina has participated in several conferences and workshops on refugee issues. She has conducted fieldwork and worked in research projects on refugees, minorities, and gender-based violence at ELIAMEP, Oxford Refugee Studies Center, and the University of San Diego, California. Christina holds a PhD in International Refugee Law and Human Rights (Democritus University of Greece), an MA in European Law (University of Strasbourg), and a BA in Law (Democritus University of Greece).

Project: “Six years after the controversial Deal: Towards a more sustainable and long-term EU-Turkey cooperation in refugee protection”

The 2015 Mediterranean migration and refugee crisis demonstrated in the strictest way that the EU was unable to coordinate and share responsibilities to tackle the issue. In many ways, the EU failed to promote refugee rights; in the literature, it is affirmed that “the implemented EU policies exacerbated violations of protection norms and human rights of refugees” and led to “a widespread policy of a deliberate containment.” The absence of safe and legal means to claim asylum from outside the EU was a key contributing factor in the crisis. The EU’s inhumane policies, deliberately implemented, led to violations of refugee rights with the implementation of the infamous EU-Turkey deal/statement. This project aims to draw attention to the policy responses and future potentials of multiple stakeholders in refugee protection between Turkey and the EU six years after the implementation of the EU-Turkey deal. It is nourished by a critical analysis of the existing literature and studies in EU-Turkey relations and refugee policy along with findings via participatory methods.