2023-09-29 05:30:00
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While the EU states are struggling with asylum reform, more and more migrants are coming across the Mediterranean.
Dem UN refugee agency UNHCR According to this year, around 186,000 people have already arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean. Most of them, 130,000, were registered in Italy; This corresponds to an increase of 83 percent compared to the same period last year. This was stated by the director of the UNHCR office in New York, Ruven Menikdiwela.
Greece was also badly affected
The number of missing and dead people between the beginning of January and September 24th was over 2,500 people, it was said. The international migration organization IOM recently spoke of over 2,700 dead and missing people. According to IOM, in addition to migration to Italy, migration to Greece also increased sharply – but the current figures cannot be compared with the very high ones from 2015. Arrivals in Spain, on the other hand, would be at roughly the same level year-on-year.
Insecurity and racism as causes of flight
According to the United Nations, the largest number of migrants departed from Tunisia, with more than 100,000, followed by Libya with more than 45,000. In addition to Italy, Greece and Spain, the boats also headed for Cyprus and Malta. The sharp increase in crossings has recently led to tensions within the EU over measures to limit them.
According to Menikdiwela, the high migration numbers from Tunisia are also due to “insecurity among refugees following incidents of racially motivated attacks and hate speech” as well as collective deportations from Libya and Algeria. “This is happening against the background of a deterioration in the security situation in several neighboring countries of North African states.”
Germany gives up resistance to EU asylum reform
While the refugee tragedy unfolds on the Mediterranean, Europe is struggling with its asylum reform. After weeks of blockade, the German federal government has given up its resistance to the crisis regulation of the planned EU asylum reform.
EU asylum reform – that’s what it’s all about
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The crisis regulation of the reform envisages extending the period during which people can be held in prison-like conditions if there is a particularly strong increase in migration. In addition, the circle of people who are eligible for the planned strict border procedures could be increased. According to the plans for asylum reform, member states would have to register all arriving people even if there was a sharp increase in migration. A possible extension of deadlines for this would only be possible with the prior consent of the Council of Member States. The same applies to the weakening of protection standards. Even in a crisis situation, there are still a number of control options to prevent misuse.
The compromise text, the basis for German approval, was a slightly revised version of the original crisis regulation proposal by the Spanish EU Council Presidency. For example, under the new text, a rule was deleted that would have allowed EU countries to temporarily deviate from EU standards for material support and access to medical care in the event of a large influx of people. In addition, applications for the protection of minors and their family members should be given priority, even in crisis situations.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) announced on Thursday at an EU meeting in Brussels that the coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP agreed to a new text proposal for the so-called crisis regulation. However, there was no formal agreement on the new text. There are still further adjustments to be made.
The planned asylum reform should take place as quickly as possible. Because time is of the essence: there are European elections in June next year. Projects that have not been negotiated with the governments of the member states could then be called into question again and be delayed for a long time.
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