Melanie Fink

About/Bio

Melanie Fink is an Assistant Professor at Leiden University. She holds a PhD from the Universities of Leiden and Vienna (2017, ‘cotutelle de thèse’). Melanie’s main research interests include questions of responsibility in multi-level and multi-actor contexts, the protection and enforcement of human rights in international and EU law, and the EU’s role in migration, border control, and maritime law enforcement.

Recently Published

Why it is so Hard to Hold Frontex Accountable: On Blame-Shifting and an Outdated Remedies System

On Friday 23 October, a joint investigation conducted by Bellingcat, Lighthouse Reports, Der Spiegel, ARD, and TV Asahi revealed that the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) has been complicit in human rights violations at the Greek maritime border. Videos and satellite photos show how arriving migrant boats are forced to turn back…

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The Aquarius incident: navigating the turbulent waters of international law

Between Saturday 9 June and Sunday 10 June, 629 migrants were rescued from overcrowded boats in the Central Mediterranean in search and rescue (SAR) operations carried out by NGOs and the Italian navy. They were taken on board by the Aquarius, a rescue vessel operated by the German NGO SOS Méditerranée and flying the flag of Gibraltar. On…

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Salami Slicing Human Rights Accountability: How the European Border and Coast Guard Agency may inherit Frontex’ genetic defect

Salami slicing is the exercise of dividing one salami sausage into many smaller pieces in the shape of slices. Slices have some advantages over the whole piece. Figuratively speaking, actions that are illegal or difficult to achieve as a whole may become easier, legal, or harder to detect if ‘sliced’ into a series of small actions. The…

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