Refugees as the Bargaining Chip in the Agreement between the European Union and Turkey on 18 March 2016

This paper examines the political consequences of the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ in the EU and the political responses that member states have found to tackle the crisis. In particular, focus on the agreement signed by the EU and Turkey, to argue that the agreement goes a step further in the process of relativizing, curtailing, and hollowing out of the right of asylum that is currently underway. In order to do this, it is first described the main characteristics of the agreement, then showed that it amounts to an illegal, illegitimate and ineffective arrangement, and finally it is suggested an interpretation of the motives that may underlie the decision to enter into such an agreement.