Debate on EU migration policy heats up

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BrusselsReport.eu
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Swedish Immigration Minister Maria Stenergard. (Copyright: News Oresund, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons )

Over the last two weeks, there was some movement with the long-stalled EU Commission proposals for a so-called “EU migration pact”.

Last week, a majority in the European Parliament emerged in favour of the proposals, thereby suggesting some changes. Notably, not only the socialist group and the centrist Renew group supported the compromise, but also the EPP.

Negotiations with the Council of EU member states still need to begin, which is reportedly expected in June.

MEPs from both ECR and ID groups in the European Parliament have fumed at the EP compromise position, with Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers discussing in Brussels Report what’s wrong with it, citing “mandatory relocations” within the EU in emergency situations as one of the key problems.

Remarkably, the Swedish EU Presidency made an initiative to reassure his party, the Sweden Democrats (SD) by means of Swedish Immigration Minister Maria Stenergard (picture).

She stated:

“I can guarantee SD that it will not be the agreement that the European Parliament has reached. Now I lead the negotiations in the Council of Ministers, between the member states, and it is well known that the Council has a stricter position than the Parliament.”

This follows threats by SD to topple the Swedish government over the issue.

MEP Weimers furthermore emerged as the leading force being a newly formed “Cross-Party Migration Policy Group” within the European Parliament, aimed at stopping the EU’s mandatory migration quotas and instead adopting a number of profound reforms that should make an end to the migration crisis European governments are currently trying to cope with.

Instead, they propose an Australian model of turning back boats with illegal migrants, establishing third country asylum centers, modelled on the yet to be implemented deals the UK and Denmark have closed with Rwanda, and following Australia’s example of introducing a lifetime deportation from the EU for those entering illegally.

According to a UK High Court ruling in December, the UK government’s Rwanda policy was legal, but a group of asylum-seekers was allowed to appeal, a legal challenge which is still running.

Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter notes that the cooperation “puts further pressure on the [Swedish] government”.

The full press conference:

A changing debate

Other changes are becoming visible in the approach towards migration policy in the EU. This week, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she is happy about the Swedish migration policy turnaround, during a meeting with her Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, who argued that Denmark is “at least a decade ahead” when it comes to migration policy.

Furthermore, it emerged that the German government is now in favour of accelerated asylum procedures that would allow the keeping of asylum seekers in transit zones and lead to easier and faster repatriation of rejected applicants.

Earlier this month, Italy already announced a state of emergency on immigration following a “sharp rise” in flows across the Mediterranean, something which should allow the Italian authorities to more quickly repatriate those not allowed to stay in Italy, boosting identification and expulsion orders. Four times as many asylum seekers have arrived by boat in Italy as compared to last year.

Ruben Brekelmans, a Dutch MP of PM Mark Rutte’s governing VVD party, reacted as follows on this:

“I’ve often called for emergency measures too, but got the answer that this is legally impossible. Today, my motion was passed to find out how other EU countries manage to legally underpin this.”

Ever more pressure on asylum systems

Southern member states in particular now worry that the conflict in Sudan may jump-start a migratory flux to Northern Africa, adding even more pressure on Europe’s asylum systems.

Addressing the Italian emergency decision, Theo Francken, the former Belgian Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration, commented:

“The right-wing Meloni government is now declaring a state of emergency. It is freeing up money to accommodate more illegal boat migrants in additional asylum centres and wants to send them back ‘faster’. Yeah right. She is also asking other EU Member States to ‘show solidarity’ and take over illegal boat migrants.

Of course, she fails to mention that the vast majority of these asylum seekers have been travelling on to Western Europe for years where manna falls from the sky and fried chickens fly into their mouths. She equally forgets to mention that the internal EU “Dublin” return arrangements are completely failing owing in part to her own intransigence in Italy.

Signora Meloni, do whatever it takes. Show the courage that the cowardly European leadership is not showing and send all those boats back to where they came from as Italy has always done before the insane Hirsi Jamaa judgment of the European Court in Strasbourg. And ban those open-border ferries from docking at any Italian port.”

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