EU leaders will discuss tougher laws to curb migration after a recent surge in support for the far right.
While conflicts in Gaza, Lebanon and Ukraine are on the agenda for Thursday’s summit in Brussels, a key topic will be how to deal with irregular migrants arriving in the 27-nation bloc by land from the east and by sea from the south. ,
Most EU governments see it as a political and security risk that is fueling the rise of populist and far-right parties and influencing elections.
“We … focus on concrete measures to prevent irregular migration, including stronger controls at our external borders, enhanced partnerships and stronger return policies,” EU Council President Charles Michel wrote in an invitation letter to EU leaders. do.”
The number of irregular migrants and refugees arriving in Europe last year was less than a third of the one million seen during the migration crisis in 2015. In the first nine months of this year, the number fell even further to 166,000, data from the EU’s Frontex border agency showed.
But the number of people arriving at the EU border with Belarus rose 192 percent year on year in January-September to 13,195, Frontex said, and the number of arrivals to the Spanish Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa doubled to 30,616. Went.
Poland, where presidential elections are to be held in May, wants to temporarily suspend asylum rights for people coming from Russian ally Belarus, a move many see as a violation of the EU’s charter of fundamental rights.
It said it took its inspiration from Finland, which suspended such asylum rights in July in the face of migrants being sent across the border from Russia.
‘Innovative’ projects
The EU agreed in May to a new set of rules and procedures to deal with migration, called the Migration Pact, but its full implementation will not occur until mid-2026, leaving the bloc in a complex transition period.
Making matters more complicated, the migration treaty contains no instruments to deal with the “weaponization” of migration by countries like Russia, nor does it address the thorny issue of sending back migrants whose asylum applications are rejected. Have gone.
The European Commission said this week it would propose that migrants who have no right to remain in the EU be sent to “return centres” in countries outside the EU, with the bloc signing agreements.
In an unusually detailed pre-summit letter to leaders, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that there is “no room for complacency” and called for parts of the agreement to be implemented as soon as possible.
He also extended this to the establishment of “innovative” projects, such as Italy’s outsourcing of asylum applications to Albania.
On Wednesday, the first refugees and migrants were taken by an Italian navy ship to the port of Shengjin under a controversial agreement between the two countries that sends asylum seekers out of the EU while their claims are processed.
“We will also be able to draw lessons from this experience in practice,” von der Leyen wrote. “These are innovative solutions that should, in principle, interest our allies.”
The Netherlands’ conservative government said late Wednesday it was also considering a plan to send rejected African asylum seekers to Uganda.
The country’s Trade and Development Minister Renate Claver unveiled the idea during a visit to the East African country, but it was not immediately clear whether such a plan would be legal or feasible or whether Uganda would be amenable to it.
“We are ready for any discussion,” Ugandan Foreign Affairs Minister Jeje Odongo said in an interview with Dutch broadcaster NOS.
Germany is also wary of a public backlash against irregular migration ahead of elections next September, especially after a knife attack claimed by ISIL (ISIS) when thousands gathered to celebrate the 650th anniversary of the city of Solingen in August.
Berlin introduced border controls with all its neighbours, suspending the freedom of the passport-free Schengen zone. France, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Italy and Slovenia have also introduced border checks.
