The Legacy of Colonial Racism in European Union Migration Law: Problematising Migrants’ Legal Status

Starting with the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive 2001/55/EC, this article examines the legacy of colonial racism in European Union migration law. Guided by the analogy between a migrant’s legal status and race in this context, it problematises the concept of legal status to argue that the latter constitutes a remnant of the European colonial ordering of people. In doing so, this article questions the apparent neutrality of this concept to highlight its proximity with a racial ordering of human lives that finds its roots in European colonial history.