A large Horizon 2020 application in which Thomas participated together with other European and African universities has received funding. The project is entitled The Global Asylum Governance and European Union’s Role (ASILE). The ASILE project studies the interactions between emerging international protection systems and the United Nations Global Compact for Refugees (UN GCR), with particular focus on the European Union’s role and contribution.

The project will examine the characteristics of international, country specific and EU asylum governance instruments and arrangements and their gender and age specific impacts on individuals and sharing of responsibility from the perspective of their effectiveness, fairness and consistency with international and regional human rights and refugee law standards. ASILE ensures a ground-breaking interdisciplinary examination of the role of key policy and implementing actors, and the effects of vulnerability and status recognition assessments over the agency and rights of individuals in search of international protection.