خانه / بلاگ / آرشیو بلاگ ماه های قدیمی / EU plans tougher controls in migration policy overhaul

EU plans tougher controls in migration policy overhaul

A plan to fix migration polices with a system of "mandatory solidarity" by all states is likely to face heavy debate. New proposals include tougher border checks and new rules on deportation.

The European Commission proposed on Wednesday a plan for member states to share the responsibility for asylum seekers under a "compulsory solidarity mechanism." It is likely to trigger a heated debate over what is one of the bloc's most politically sensitive issues.

The European Union must agree on a system to handle migrants over the long term, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said upon announcing the plan. "Migration is complex, the old system to deal with it in Europe no longer works," she said. 

The EU's migration system has come under increasing pressure in recent years, with bottlenecks forming at external borders and nations trading barbs over responsibility.

Member states who do not want to volunteer to house more migrants could instead take charge of deporting rejected asylum seekers.

EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said Europe had to return those not "eligible to stay."

Read more: Refugee crisis: Ylva Johansson confident EU states can agree on migration pact

The plan comes on the heels of a devastating fire at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, which left around 12,000 people homeless and put EU migration policy under the spotlight.

"We need to find sustainable solutions on migration," said von der Leyen. "Moria is a stark reminder."

Ahead of the proposal, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration on Tuesday urged the EU to respect the fundamental right to seek asylum. It claimed the bloc's current approach is "unworkable, untenable and often carries devastating human consequences."

The pact could come into effect by 2023, but still faces approval by the European Parliament.

  • An Afghan boy refugees followed by his family walks towards the road where refugees have found temporary shelter following the fire at Moria camp (DW/M. Karakoulaki)

    End of Moria camp highlights refugee trauma

    Heavy burden

    Moria, the EU's largest refugee camp, held more than 12,000 people. After it burned down, most refugees moved to the streets just outside Lesbos' other main refugee camp, Kara Tepe, but were not allowed in. Instead, they created temporary shelter for themselves by setting up tents. Police contained them to the stretch of road while the Greek government moved to rapidly create a new temporary camp.

  • An Afghan boy takes part in a self-organized protest demanding safety on the isle of Lesbos after the Moria fire (DW/M. Karakoulaki)

    End of Moria camp highlights refugee trauma

    'We don't need food'

    Following days of sleeping rough on the street in front of Kara Tepe, refugees organized a peaceful protest using bottles to try and make the authorities hear their demands. Most refugees are afraid of going back to a camp similar to Moria. "We don't want food, we want freedom," people told DW, over and over again. Human rights organizations had characterized Moria camp as an open-air prison.

  • Police officers look over the peaceful protest by refugees who fled Moria camp as they are stopped by riot police (DW/M. Karakoulaki)

    End of Moria camp highlights refugee trauma

    The power of protest

    Hundreds of refugees took part in daily protests in the hopes that they would not be put into a new Moria-like camp. The Greek government responded by sending ten police platoons, two water cannons and two armored vehicles to the makeshift tent site in front of Kara Tepe. Some protests were met with tear gas. "Is it worth protesting?" one person expressed to DW.

  • A little girl is holding a cardboard banner (in English and Dari) following the end of the protest at the makeshift tent site in front of Kara Tepe, following the Moria fire (DW/M. Karakoulaki)

    End of Moria camp highlights refugee trauma

    'Free us'

    "Man & World Organization. We want water, no food, just free us," this Afghan girl's sign reads in English and Dari. The majority of refugees protesting the rough conditions come from war-torn or post-conflict zones, including Afghanistan and the DRC. Despite the trauma endured, children are active in protests, showcasing their determination to fight for their rights and future.

  • A refugee man on a bicycle stops to look at the newly built temporary camp that was set up on Lesbos after Moria's destruction. (DW/M. Karakoulaki)

    End of Moria camp highlights refugee trauma

    Nothing is more permanent than temporary

    The Greek government claims that the new refugee camp will be temporary. But refugees — some of whom have been in Greece for over a year — fear it will be another place of endless waiting. "Sto Nisi," a local Lesbos newspaper, published a contract showing that the Ministry of Migration Policy has rented the property where the new camp is to be located until 2025, for €2.9 million ($3.4 million).

  • Refugees move into the new temporary refugee camp after living on the streets for a week following the fire at Moria camp (DW/M. Karakoulaki)

    End of Moria camp highlights refugee trauma

    No quick solution

    One week after the Moria fire, refugees remained on the blocked road. Greek government officials claimed that people would be transferred rapidly to the new camp; however, by Tuesday night, only 1,000 people had moved there. The government announced that the island of Lesbos, the landing site for large numbers of refugees crossing the Aegean Sea, would be emptied of refugees by next spring.

  • An Afghan family wash their baby with a bottle of water on the island of Lesbos (DW/M. Karakoulaki)

    End of Moria camp highlights refugee trauma

    Family life in severe hardship

    Refugees adapt in harsh conditions. Following days of hunger and thirst, refugees started receiving some basics: two bottles of water and food. But with the September sun scorching Lesbos, it is not enough. Some try to prioritize hygiene since, amidst everything else endured, they are now concerned about COVID-19. So far, at least 31 refugees who have moved into the new camp have tested positive.

  • An Afghan family on the road outside Kara Tepe, on Lesbos, has started a campfire so that they boil hot water (DW/M. Karakoulaki)

    End of Moria camp highlights refugee trauma

    When the sun sets

    The night brings more danger and fear to the refugees who live in the makeshift tent site on the road. "Can you imagine how it felt sleeping among so many men as a young woman? Going in the forest or hell [the tent area] for toilet? I couldn't sleep all night as I feared insects will come and sting my daughter and husband," one young Afghan woman told DW.

  • A young girl takes part in a prayer with men, women and children and prays for the conditions to become better for those sleeping rough after the fire at Moria camp on the island of Lesbos (DW/M. Karakoulaki)

    End of Moria camp highlights refugee trauma

    'God help us'

    Life in Moria was tough and dangerous. Many refugees there had lost all hope. Having already fled their homes, the Moria fire forced them to flee once more to save their lives. After sunset, at the makeshift tent site, dozens of women, children and men prayed on the street in front of a grocery store. They asked God to give them hope and for their voices to be heard. Many could not stop crying.

  • An Afghan man who fled the Moria fire breaks into tears when he sees DW filming him while praying, stops his prayer and starts talking about his children while crying nonstop (DW/M. Karakoulaki)

    End of Moria camp highlights refugee trauma

    Tears for a absent future

    Many of the refugees in Greece have suffered unbearable trauma, having left conflict zones and extreme poverty. "We didn't come here to collect money. We didn't come here to have a great time. We only want our children to have a better future and have an education," this Afghan man told DW through nonstop tears.

    Author: Marianna Karakoulaki (Lesbos)


What is in the plan?

In a 450-page proposal, the EU's executive body set forth five new and amended regulations, some of which address the screening of asylum seekers and crisis situations.

The most contentious element of the plan would impose a legal obligation on each member state to host an assigned number of refugees and help in other ways under "mandatory solidarity." 

In return, each state would receive €10,000 ($11,750) per adult taken in, funded from the bloc's budget. The Commission previously said that solidarity can mean not just taking migrants in, but also, for example, sending medical supplies or equipment where it is needed.

Screenings could relate to checking for arrivals who are unwell, or for people who have been classified as a security risk. It could also mean subjecting migrants to a preliminary assessment to exclude those who allegedly have no basis for an asylum claim, as Germany has proposed.

Read more: European human rights court condemns France for treatment of asylum-seekers 

Von der Leyen said last week that the new proposals would also include plans to boost border security and improve the process of returning failed asylum seekers — measures that Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his allies are in favor of.

The Commission also wants to speed up asylum procedures to quickly determine whether a person is eligible, and to prevent applicants from extended periods of uncertainty in camps. 

EU countries with external borders would be under closer monitoring to ensure they do not violate the law after multiple reports of pushbacks in Hungary, Croatia, Greece or Malta.

People rescued at sea would have to be relocated in the bloc, rather than be sent back, and the Commission recommended that member states do not criminalize charities involved in such rescues. 

At times of regular immigration, all EU states would be obliged to help under the new idea of "mandatory solidarity" by relocating or returning people, or offering material assistance on the ground in arrival countries.

"It's necessary to have the acceptance of EU citizens to relocate [host] those who have the right to stay to be able to send back those who are not eligible," said Johansson, regarding the emphasis on sending back those who fail to win asylum. 

If, however, a country was under serious pressure, it could activate a crisis mechanism under which EU countries would be obligated to take people in or send them back.

Read more: Oxfam condemns 'inhumane' Greek asylum system 

What is causing division in the EU?

Five years after the 2015 migration crisis forced European countries to reckon with new waves of asylum seekers, annual "irregular arrivals " are down to 140,000 a year. However, EU members remain deeply divided on how to manage asylum procedures.

EU leaders have often touted bloc-wide solidarity, but have never made it mandatory as proposed in Wednesday's plan.

Countries such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and Austria have consistently opposed any measure to force countries to take in refugees.

Kurz has already warned the EU against forcing states to take asylum seekers, making it clear that any proposal to do so will face strong opposition from Vienna.

"We find that the distribution in Europe [of asylum seekers] has failed and many states reject this. It won't work like this," he said.

Proponents of the plan, however, say that the mandate is necessary in order to take some of the burden off the countries with external borders, including Greece, Italy and Malta, which take on most of the burden.

Read more: Italy removes 2,500 asylum seekers from crowded Lampedusa camp

Johansson argued that simple calls for solidarity among EU states have not been effective in incentivizing member states to take in more asylum seekers, so a mandate is necessary.

"It's obvious to everybody that ad hoc solidarity or voluntary solidarity is not enough. That has been proven for many years now," she said. "It has to be mandatory."

Read more: European refugee policy: Are pushbacks at sea legal? 

lc/rt (dpa, AFP)



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