All EU countries must take responsibility for the reception, accommodation, and repatriation of migrants, even if they are not on the main migration routes.
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The current system for controlling migration in the EU is no longer working and an urgent restructuring is needed. This was stated by the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at a hearing on migration in the European Parliament on Thursday, November 19.
The central proposal of the proposed reform is the rejection of the current Dublin system, according to which the EU country to which this person first arrived from outside the European Union must be responsible for the reception and accommodation or repatriation of each specific migrant.
The EC proposes to take the responsibility for the reception, accommodation, and repatriation of migrants pan-European — all states of the union, including those located away from the main migration routes, will have to host migrants from the most problematic EU countries in this area — Greece, Italy, and Spain.
“All EU countries must support states that have come under high [migration] pressure. The European Union must remain at the level of its humanitarian obligations,” said von der Leyen.
In addition, the EC proposes to adopt at the European level “a clear system of granting asylum and repatriation of persons who do not have the right to it”, as well as to create optimal conditions for legal migration, so that people who come to Europe legally feel welcome.
Finally, the European Commission proposes “to work with countries of origin and transit of migrants,” that is, the states of Central and North Africa. Von der Leyen called for better living conditions in these countries, “so that people do not leave their homes so easily.”
One of the main problems that Brussels still has not been able to solve is to obtain the consent of African countries to accept migrants sent back from Europe, especially those whose citizenship has not been established. In this regard, during the discussion in the European Parliament, the proposal was repeatedly voiced to use preferential supplies of the vaccine against coronavirus as a means to further strengthen the EU’s influence in the countries of origin and transit of migrants.
Von der Leyen summarized that the EU needs migrants as a skilled labor force. She cited the example of the CEO of the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech Ugur Shahin, who was born in Turkey, and then, after receiving his education in Germany, emigrated to this country. His company recently created a coronavirus vaccine.
Recall that on September 23, the EU introduced a new system of migration and asylum. The document regulates the reception of people at the border, the distribution of responsibilities between the EU countries, and cooperation with countries from which refugees mainly come.
