7. CONCLUSION
This major shift of paradigm can be attributed to several possible underlining factors. It has been argued that the end of the Cold War has reduced the importance of international relations which gave some refugees an intrinsic ideological value and thus facilitated the institution of asylum for all (Joly 1996). The new regime, defined by some as a ‘post-cold war’ paradigm (Mertus 1998) appears to be driven by narrow domestic considerations at a time when there is a retreat in values of universalism and solidarity (Rudge 1998), partly as a consequence of an overbearing neo-liberal economic model which let loose the forces of the market. An introverted conception of the national interest is prevailing in industrialised states and it is perceived that refugees are representing a threat to society’s political regime, cultural identity, socio-economic order and environment and national security (Weiner 1996).

In Europe this does not signify the complete end of asylum but a new mode which leaves asylum seekers almost at the total mercy of reception states. The harmonisation of asylum policies in the European Union has achieved the curtailment of the Geneva Convention. European states main goal was to regain the control of their borders so that they could muster maximum flexibility about whom they would accept as refugees, for how long and in what conditions of installation. The model they have adopted is a regime of selective, temporary, rotative asylum with reduced social rights.

It overlaps increasingly with new immigration policies in the offing. Alarmist demographic curves combined with a rejuvenated economy are calling for new imports of labour migrants. It is becoming the dominant discourse in some countries of the European Union such as France and Italy, where politicians of the right and the left stress the need for a new immigration programme. In the UK, there are harbingers clearly announcing a similar position. This is developing as a European trend with indications that the new model is that of a selective, temporary, rotative immigration system, away from long term settlement and integration. How will this be implemented in practice?The voice of history tells us that it is very difficult to maintain a strictly selective pattern and almost impossible to ensure that temporary migrants do not become long-term settlers at least in a large proportion.

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