This interview has been updated.
The Pact on Asylum and Migration adopted by the European Parliament on Wednesday (10 April) will “weaken the right to asylum” and enshrine in law a flawed approach to the European migration issue, warned Eve Geddie, head of the Brussels office of Amnesty International, during an interview with Euractiv.
The pact, a set of nine pieces of legislation, is the culmination of almost ten years of debate and negotiations within the EU. In fact, it fundamentally reforms the Union’s migration policy, including the asylum procedure; strengthens security at EU borders and establishes a new so-called “solidarity” mechanism between member states.
Wednesday’s vote was marked by panic among chief negotiators, who feared the pact might not pass – and the battle continued until the last minute to ensure all votes are reunited.
The adoption in plenary was marked by total silence: while MEPs are accustomed, at the end of a legislative process, to applaud and congratulate each other, nothing of the sort took place on Wednesday, as the final version doesn’t please… anyone.
The socialists wanted a more human-centered policy, while the center-right parliamentary group, for its part, called for more restrictive measures.
Both groups ultimately voted in favor of the text, with the exception of a few rebels, alongside the centrist group Renew Europe – arguing that now was the right time to adopt a text on immigration, before right-wing forces are increasing following the European elections, and are calling for a strengthening of repressive policies.
“Weaken the right to asylum”
As for NGOs, they have continued to warn of the risks of the pact. “Ultimately, this will weaken the right to asylum”underlined Eve Geddie, head of the Brussels office of Amnesty International, during an interview with Euractiv.
The pact might have been an opportunity to adopt a more human-centered approach “But what we have instead is a set of measures that will actually only increase the suffering of asylum seekers.”
Ms Geddie was particularly concerned regarding the new solidarity mechanism established by the pact, the operation of which would allow EU Member States located on the front line and suffering from “migratory pressures” to demand the relocation of migrants to other members of the European Union.
Failing this, these other EU countries will be required to provide the first arriving countries with financial aid, material assistance such as surveillance tools, as well as personnel.
“This means that Member States can evade their responsibility to grant asylum”explains the director.
She is equally critical of a new border screening mechanism. According to the law, asylum seekers may be held in detention centers at the continent’s borders for seven days, while their asylum application is examined for the first time.
But throughout this period, they will not be considered to be on European territory. “We have created a legal fiction of non-entry” which only encourages countries on the EU’s borders to resort to increasingly violent means to prevent asylum seekers from entering the country, explains Eve Geddie.
She cites Lithuania as an example, which last year legalized pushbacks of migrants at its border, a practice illegal in the rest of the EU. According to the director, the legalization of violent practices contributes to opacity around the action of the authorities, while detention centers become inaccessible to NGOs and journalists.
The Pact on Asylum and Migration endorses these practices, she believes, even though a repressive immigration policy has so far had no concrete effects on the number of asylum seekers. In 2023, 1.1 million asylum applications have still been submitted to the EU, according to the European Union Agency for Asylum, an increase of 17% compared to 2022.
Worrying regarding the future
Therefore, the European heads of state are guilty, according to the director, of approaching the European migration issue in a manner “reductive”ignoring its complexity and nuance.
“The debate on immigration, both at European and national level, is dominated by security discourse […] and police officers. But if you look at the local level, there are much more progressive welcoming policies. »
According to Eve Geddie, it is the absence of voices from the field which distorts the debate and makes it so ” toxic “ : “I don’t see how we can fight once morest anti-migration discourse by codifying this same discourse [dans la législation européenne] ».
She hoped that the EU would adopt an approach “whole-of-government”which addresses the issue of immigration not only from a police point of view, but also from a cultural, diplomatic and economic point of view.
“One of the main factors [de l’immigration] irregular is the demand for labor in Europe »she stressed – a subject that the pact does not address.
The same goes for search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea, a subject also ignored by the pact.
And it’s not just the impact of these laws that Eve Geddie is concerned regarding – but the future as well.
The EU is indeed considering concluding more bilateral agreements with third countries such as Tunisia and Libya in order to return rejected applicants and prevent new arrivals from entering European territory, in exchange for economic and financial support.
“Where is this money going? » exclaims the director, referring to a United Nations investigation whose conclusions, published last year, affirm that European money paid to Libyan security forces would have contributed to the perpetuation of crimes once morest humanity.
She is also wary of this European desire to conclude agreements with autocrats, who would be ready to use the fate of asylum seekers to put pressure on the European Commission.
“The Commission and the Member States have decided that they must act firmly once morest the instrumentalization [des demandeurs d’asile]but their policy exposes them to the risk of being exploited themselves.she concludes.
[Édité par Théo Bourgery-Gonse et Anna Martino]
