This article describes
a development in European states where waiting periods are used in combination
with other differentiating measures to circumvent the basic rights of
asylum-seekers. The core question is if the current policy and legislation of
various European states – whereby (sometimes extremely long) waiting periods
are applied to some categories of people with international protection, is in
conflict with human rights guarantees. The article provides insight into
current European practices regarding waiting periods. It also discusses
differences in the treatment of refugees and other persons eligible for
international protection in the context of family life and non-discrimination,
with the purpose of exposing how waiting periods, as a form of temporal
governance, are used to limit the rights of particular categories of
individuals. Based on this, the article provides an in-depth analysis of
current case law, identifying the limits of differentiation on the basis of the
aforementioned human rights guarantees. The central claim is that the
distinction between different types of persons eligible for international
protection is discriminatory at a systematic level. The legal distinctions
produced by national migration policies result in differentiating treatment
among similarly situated groups, which is problematic from a non discrimination
perspective.