The Future of the European Union’s Migration and Asylum System

After three years of negotiations, EU member states have reached a preliminary agreement to reform aspects of their migration and asylum systems.

The European Commission, the body that develops EU law, sets spending priorities and represents the EU internationally, first proposed a new Convention on Migration and Asylum (New Convention) in September 2020. With the new agreement, the Commission will work to end the term. Temporary response to increased arrivals of asylum seekers in individual Member States.

The preliminary agreement focuses on some of the reforms proposed in the New Pact. These reforms include developing biometric databases to quickly identify non-EU nationals, establishing uniform border security procedures, conducting rapid asylum screening at EU borders, facilitating the “rapid” return of people without valid asylum claims, and preparing for future immigration crises. This includes preparations for the EU.

The new treaty comes after the 2015 refugee crisis exposed cracks in Europe’s common asylum system, which sets EU standards for asylum procedures and rules determining which member states should process asylum applications. In particular, the crisis has exposed flaws in the Dublin Regulation, which requires asylum seekers to have their applications assessed in the Member State of first entry. As a result, the surge in migrant arrivals has placed a disproportionate burden on frontline countries such as Italy, Greece, Malta and Spain.

The EU has also paid countries including Albania, Libya, Rwanda, Tunisia and Turkey to block asylum seekers and other migrants from crossing their territories to prevent them from reaching the EU. Journalists say that these third-country agreements not only fail to reduce migration to Europe, but also result in thousands of migrant deaths each year in the Mediterranean, Sahara and Balkans because they force migrants to use more dangerous routes to avoid crackdowns. I discovered the truth.

For many EU lawmakers, the agreement represents a major breakthrough and an opportunity for a more coherent migration and asylum system. The new treaty makes it easier for member states to reject asylum seekers, but some EU lawmakers argue that stopping negotiations without a deal risks jeopardizing Europe’s refugee protection system.

But many human rights groups and refugee rights advocates have criticized the new treaty. These advocates argue that the new treaty would allow border authorities to use substandard “fast” asylum screening procedures that could violate international law.

Meanwhile, immigration experts predict that third-country agreements will continue even if the new agreement is enacted. So lawmakers who oppose the new treaty warn that thousands of asylum seekers will continue to die en route to Europe. Moreover, refugee rights advocates argue that the EU’s disproportionate focus on border security fails to address the underlying drivers of migration.

This Saturday’s seminar will see immigration experts assess the New Pact and the future of the EU migration and asylum system.

• Europe must adopt operational changes and commit sufficient resources to implement the new agreement before the agreement eases migration pressures, advised Lucía Salgado and Hanne Beirens of the European Migration Policy Institute in a recent policy briefing. Salgado and Beirens argue that digital technologies, such as wallet systems for key documents, exchange platforms, and online case management systems, can help streamline the implementation process and promote burden sharing. But Salgado and Beirens warn leaders to balance the benefits and potential risks of such technologies. Salgado and Beirens propose developing a governance framework that regulates data protection, ensures sufficient system monitoring, and strengthens collaboration between digital experts and migration experts to optimize solutions without overreliance on technology companies.
• in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies In the article, Nuno Ferreira of the University of Sussex and several co-authors argue that EU policies undermine social cohesion by leaving immigrants in legal trouble. Ferreira and his co-authors argue that Europe will continue to promote long-term migration through the New Pact, which prioritizes security over migrant protection. Ferreira’s team predicts that the new treaty could reduce the chances of asylum seekers receiving refugee protection by introducing greater complexity into the asylum system and tightening time frames for eligibility decisions. They also criticize the New Pact for relying on the discredited idea of ​​returning migrants to safe countries of origin.
• Janna Wessels of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam argued that the New Pact could restrict the movement of asylum seekers at borders or transit areas in a way that would amount to unlawful detention. European Journal of Migration and Law. Wessels notes that some border officials mistakenly believe that member states’ international human rights obligations do not apply to asylum seekers who arrive in border areas without valid visas. Instead, she argues that member states must comply with human rights law once officials begin processing asylum seekers’ applications and holding them at border zones. Furthermore, Wessels suggests that the New Pact fails to take into account that EU border controls do not necessarily include detention.
• From an article in Chatham House, Anna Iasmi Balianatou Residents of Lesbos, Greece, believe EU policymakers have turned the island into a ‘refugee warehouse’, according to a report. Vallianatou explains that Lesvos is one of five Aegean islands with exile hotspots that act as a buffer zone between Turkey and Europe. She claims the 2016 agreement between the EU and Turkey has turned the islands into “open-air prisons” for refugees who are not allowed to leave for other EU countries. Vallianatou points out that Lesbos has become a testing ground for the European Union’s asylum policy, and that many of the practices first implemented on the island, including blocking asylum seekers at borders and transit zones, are now included in the new treaty.
• The New Pact proposes a return sponsorship mechanism calling for cooperation between member states to facilitate the return of migrants who are not permitted to remain in the EU. Olivia Sundberg Diez, Marie De Somer, and Florian Trauner of the European Policy Center said: In an article about the Brussels School of Governance European Journal of Migration and Law. Some EU policymakers hope the mechanism will strengthen trust and solidarity between member states, but Diez and her co-authors say member states may still find opportunities to withhold support if they are reluctant to cooperate on migration issues. I’m warning you. Diez’s team also found that the European Commission lacks targeted incentives, sanctions or enforcement tools to ensure compliance.
• In the MIGNEX report, Marie Godin of the University of Oxford and several co-authors describe what they call “the inconsistency in European immigration policy.” Godin and her co-authors argue that the meaning of EU immigration policy coherence has changed over time. They point out that policymakers have shifted from seeing migration as part of international development policy to seeing it as a policy priority in its own right, linked to the stability and security of the EU. With the New Pact, the authors argue, consistency in immigration policy has come to mean the effectiveness of the EU’s ability to deport or repatriate migrants rather than normative alignment with international development goals.