New EU Asylum and Migration Pact triggers rights concerns
By Linda Bordoni
The European Union is presenting its just-reached new Pact on Asylum and Migration as a major deal to reform migration policy after years of bitter debates.
The Agreement, agreed on Wednesday 20 December by the EU parliament and the executive branch, the European Commission, aims to share the cost of hosting migrants and refugees and limit the numbers of people coming into the bloc.
It includes creating border detention centres, an accelerated deportation procedure for rejected asylum applicants, and a solidarity mechanism that leaves much room for manoeuvre for each state.
Reacting to the Pact in an interview with Vatican Radio, Leila Bodeux’s first concern was for asylum seekers and vulnerable people.
"We are concerned that it will have a negative impact on people seeking protection in Europe because the new rules will introduce a compulsory border procedure for many categories of people arriving in the EU," she said.
The Senior Policy and Advocacy Officer for Asylum and Migration at Caritas Europa explained that the compulsory border procedure means that "they will have to stay at EU border countries in facilities that will most likely be prison-like facilities, so people will probably be detained in the border during at least six months while their asylum application is being processed."
This will include children and families, she added noting there is a small exemption for unaccompanied minors “unless they pose a security risk for the country.”
In concrete terms, Bodeux explained, this will mean more “diluted asylum procedures” at the border and difficult access for refugees and migrants to find legal support and appropriate care - including medical care.
She notes that the experience of the “hotspot” approach already implemented by Italy and Greece shows that this approach leads to tremendous suffering for several months at the EU’s border.
Rights of those on the move
Asked whether the issue of human rights of asylum seekers and migrants may have again fallen through the cracks, Bodeux noted that the speed with which the agreement was reached may be partly to blame for a lack of attention in this respect.
"The political pressure was very high on the European Parliament and the Council to find an agreement before Christmas for political reasons, because the European Parliament election is taking place in spring, so this pact had to be concluded very quickly."
Thus, she explained that the Parliament ended up conceding to almost all the Council’s demands in a situation in which the Council wanted a stricter approach and was not willing to change its position and agree on more safeguards for people’s rights.
Sadly, it appears that Pope Francis’ reiterated invitation to “Welcome, Protect, Promote, and Integrate” our brothers and sisters on the move has not been heeded.
Bodeux noted, “The aim of the Pact is really to keep people at EU's border and to avoid the so-called secondary movement."
She added that the pact is designed to “filter people arriving and determine whether they go through a border procedure or not,” aiming to facilitate swift returns.
The Policy and Advocacy officer went on to explain that there are also some provisions relating to the problematic concept of “safe third countries”, meaning that some people will have to be returned to a country of transit, for instance, Tunisia, and will have their applications processed in those countries because they are deemed safe.
“So this is a bit the rationale of the pact, which tends to shift responsibilities to third countries of transit and avoid that too many people be processed and stay within the European Union,” she said.
Solidarity
Regarding the solidarity element that humanitarian actors had hoped for in the new legislation, Bodeux expressed disappointment saying, "Many people had hoped that the solidarity element of the Pact would be stronger and that the current Dublin system, which puts a lot of responsibility on the first country of arrival, would be changed."
But she added, that the same logic has remained and a new solidarity mechanism has been introduced, which allows different options for member states to show solidarity.
“Relocation is one option, but member states can also show solidarity by financing projects in third countries, for instance, projects that are not necessarily linked to the wellbeing of asylum seekers,” she noted.
This is also problematic, she added, because “it means that in practice there might not be enough relocation being implemented on the ground.”
The much-criticized “Dublin logic” that first came into force in 1997 and was reviewed various times, and that has shaped migration in Europe for so long, according to Bodeux, “remains the same.”
“So the first entry criteria, which says that it's the country where a person first arrives is the one that will have to process the asylum application remains, there are some modifications, but overall the main logic remains," she said.
One of the novelties Caritas Europa was hoping for, Bodeux continued, regarded a stronger procedure to facilitate family reunification, with a definition of family that included siblings, which unfortunately did not happen.
What next?
Looking ahead, there will be a series of technical meetings between the European Parliament and the Council to finalize details, and the deal will need to be formally approved in a plenary vote. However, Bodeux said, this will probably be a formality so the Pact will be ready before the European Parliament’s election.
One of the concerns Caritas Europa has now, she explained, regards the complex implementation of the Pact and the reduced power of the new monitoring mechanism.
“We are worried that it will be very difficult to implement it and to have the rights of people being respected; to make sure that the few safeguards that have been agreed are fully implemented on the ground,” she said.
Caritas Europa’s commitment
Concluding, Leila Bodeux reiterated the commitment of Caritas Europa to continue to monitor people's rights and ensure they have access to a fair asylum procedure and to support.
“We will continue our advocacy for safe and regular pathways, for instance, through resettlement, humanitarian visas, family reunifications, but also safe pathways for labor migration,” she said.
Thank you for reading our article. You can keep up-to-date by subscribing to our daily newsletter. Just click here
