Dr. Annalena Mayr: Award for groundbreaking research on refugee rights

Dr. Annalena Mayr: Award for groundbreaking research on refugee rights

On May 23, 2025, Dr. Annalena Mayr received the dissertation award from the Society for the Promotion of Social Legal Research for her outstanding dissertation. V. excellent. Her work is entitled "The humane existence of refugees. Between the legal situation and legal reality" and was defended summa cum laude in October 2024. Prof. Dr. Claudia Maria Hofmann supervised the project, which deals intensively with the social rights of refugees in a global context.

Mayr particularly addresses the effects of geopolitical crises, wars and climate change on the realities of refugees' lives. Her dissertation also examines the use of social rights as a means of controlling migration. The research reveals two key gaps: the lack of differentiated consideration of the social rights of refugees and the lack of discussion about the enforceability of these rights.

Research methodology and findings

The method used in the dissertation is both legal dogmatics and legal sociology. A central result of the work is the identification and systematization of the right to a physical minimum subsistence level for refugees in international, European and German law. In order to shed light on the legal reality of refugees, Mayr conducted an empirical study based on interviews with legal advisors.

The most important findings of the dissertation are that refugees have extensive rights in the international context that can be asserted in national courts. However, legal mobilization is confronted with systematic barriers, such as the lack of social work and precarious counseling structures. Mayr describes her research time at Viadrina as positive, which also includes the support from Claudia Maria Hofmann's chair and the Viadrina Center for Graduate Studies (VCGS).

The asylum law context in the EU

In a broader context, the rights of asylum seekers are restricted in several EU Member States. Current reports show that those affected are often denied access to fair asylum procedures, humane reception and adequate care. The planned reforms of EU asylum law, which are primarily aimed at speeding up asylum procedures, do not appear to adequately address the existing grievances. Instead, they are moving away from basic human rights principles.

A key aspect of the reform is the introduction of accelerated asylum procedures at the EU's external borders, where arriving people will be registered in the future. However, critics warn of the dangers of a systematic deprivation of liberty based on an asylum application, which violates the principles of the Geneva Refugee Convention. These reforms also raise concerns about humanitarian conditions in so-called safe third countries and such practices could lead to chain deportations.

The EU has passed a new asylum law that includes, among other things, the registration of arriving people and the outsourcing of asylum assessments to third countries that have not signed the Geneva Refugee Convention. These developments have been strongly criticized by human rights organizations as endangering the rights of already vulnerable groups, particularly families and unaccompanied minors.

The introduction of a “solidarity mechanism” to distribute responsibility for accepting refugees is also part of the reform. Member States that fail to cooperate will face financial penalties. However, a decrease in the number of migrants to Germany is not expected in the short term, as the new regulations have not yet been fully implemented in practice. The interaction of these reforms and the challenges, particularly with regard to the enforceability of the rights of refugees, therefore remains to be monitored critically.

Dr. Mayr himself decided to complete a legal traineeship at the Frankfurt (Oder) regional court after obtaining his doctorate. She is thinking about possibly returning to academia to sensitize future professionals and social actors to the rights of refugees and to continue to examine the pressing challenges in this practice.

Overall, the research by Dr. Mayr, how essential a well-founded legal consideration of the living situation of refugees is, especially in the context of changing migration law in the EU. The challenges remain both legal and practical in nature and require constant commitment from science and society.