The Italy-Albania migration deal is cruel and counterproductive

The Italy-Albania migration deal is cruel and counterproductive

Post By World Albania, asylum seekers, euroviews, Humanitarian crisis, Italy, Migrant Crisis

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.

Deals with non-EU countries simply exacerbate the dangers and suffering that people in need of international protection face by pushing them into the hands of smugglers or traffickers, and onto ever more perilous routes, Harlem Désir and Susanna Zanfrini write.

In the Italian city of Trieste, up to 400 people shelter each day in a crumbling, abandoned building next to the train station.

This is not out of choice. With an average wait of 70 days before asylum seekers can access formal reception facilities, they have nowhere else to go.

And while the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and other NGOs work tirelessly to provide food, water, information and legal advice, it’s simply not enough to match the soaring level of needs.

It’s clear that EU member states like Italy need to urgently invest in their reception systems, ensuring these are part of a safe, orderly and humane approach to migration.

Everyone should have a secure place to sleep and access to their basic needs — particularly people with vulnerabilities such as women and children.

However, in the glaring absence of a sustainable EU asylum system rooted in solidarity and relocation, which would ease the pressure on Europe’s southernmost states, many are taking a different path.

A way of outsourcing responsibility

A number of European governments have instead been exploring deals with non-EU countries intending to stop asylum seekers from setting foot on their soil in the first place.

The most recent of these is Italy’s new agreement with Albania. This would see the majority of people rescued at sea in Italian waters sent directly to Albania, where they would be held in detention centres while their asylum claims are considered.

This is not the first time a member state has looked into the possibility of outsourcing responsibility for asylum and migration management in this way, but there are fundamental reasons why these past proposals have not gone ahead: they are costly, cruel, counterproductive, and legally dubious.

One key concern is that EU states are legally required to uphold the right to seek asylum, regardless of how people arrive on their territory.

The proposal to send people rescued at sea to Albania is in clear contravention of this legal principle — not to mention the union’s values of respect for human rights and dignity.

Secondly, Italy cannot guarantee that people’s rights will be upheld in their two planned detention centres in Albania.

While the Italian government has said that its new rules will not apply to pregnant women, children or people with vulnerabilities, the deal does not explicitly confirm this, and huge questions remain as to how this exemption would be implemented in practice.

Pushing people into harm’s way

Moreover, it is still far from clear how people held in the Albanian centres would access legal advice.

The IRC’s teams on the Greek islands have evidenced the devastating impact of de facto detention on asylum seekers’ mental health, where 95% of people supported by our psychosocial teams in 2023 reported symptoms of anxiety and 86% of depression.

It is difficult to see how this will be mitigated in Albania — a country that is not bound by EU rules and regulations.

Thirdly, the EU’s deals with Turkey and other countries such as Libya and Tunisia provide clear evidence that deterrence measures will not stop people from risking their lives in search of safety and security in Europe.

If anything, they simply exacerbate the dangers and suffering that people in need of international protection face by pushing them into the hands of smugglers or traffickers, and onto ever more perilous routes.

Evidence shows that attempting to deter asylum seekers by creating harsher policies has little to no effect on arrival numbers.

Not only do these policies push people into harm’s way and violate fundamental rights, but they do not even succeed in their terms of deterring asylum seekers. It’s time for the EU and its member states to forge a different approach.

No one risks their life if there are other options

European leaders should start by shifting their focus away from preventing people from reaching EU territory, to protecting them along their journeys.

The IRC’s teams in Italy, and more broadly across Europe, see every day the difference that dignified reception can make to the lives of people seeking protection.

Italy must meet the obligations laid out in the EU Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion to ensure that all newcomers are welcomed with dignity and respect.

Our experience shows that when people are supported to integrate from day one, it brings immense benefits both to new arrivals and their host communities.

More than 3,000 people died or went missing attempting to cross the Central Mediterranean in 2023, bringing the total over the past decade to almost 30,000 individuals — many of whom would have been granted refugee status if they had made it to Europe.

Nobody puts their lives in the hands of smugglers unless they cannot access other options. The EU and its member states must urgently expand safe routes so people are not forced onto these dangerous journeys.

This will require significantly scaling up resettlement — a vital lifeline enabling the transfer of refugees from their first country of asylum to safety in Europe — on which EU states have failed to meet their joint commitments year-on-year.

This must be completed by expanding other safe routes such as humanitarian corridors, family reunification and visas for work or study.

An opportunity to do things right might just slip away

Last week, the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum — which will pave the way for the EU’s approach to migration in the coming years — was approved by EU states.

It is crucial to ensure that this does not result in even more deterrence, violence and detention of people entitled to international protection.

At this pivotal moment, it is essential that EU member states go above the minimum standards set out in the pact, and lose no time in creating the right environment for refugees and asylum seekers to thrive.

If they fail to do so, they will see the opportunity to create a safe, orderly, and humane asylum system slip ever further from view.

Harlem Désir is the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Senior Vice-President, Europe, and Susanna Zanfrini is IRC’s Italy Country Director.

At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at [email protected] to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation.

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#ItalyAlbania #migration #deal #cruel #counterproductive

UK’s 2022 migration levels revised to a record-breaking high

Post By World asylum seekers, conservatives, Migration Policy, Refugees, rishi sunak, Rwanda

The figures will likely be an embarrassment for Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government who consistently pledge to bring the levels down.

Net migration in the United Kingdom hit a record-breaking 745,000 in 2022, according to revised figures which also revealed some 672,000 people came to the UK in the 12 months to June 2023.

The numbers released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) had previously been put at 606,000, which was deemed then to be a record high.

It’s a significant embarrassment for the country’s Conservative government, who have continuously insisted that it remains committed to reducing migration.

Led by Rishi Sunak, the party has already introduced measures to try to reduce the figure.

Among their initiatives was a plan to stop international students bringing their families with them when they study in the UK – except under very specific circumstances.

Even more controversially, Sunak’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda was ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court earlier in November.

It was part of his attempt to stop small boats crossing the English Channel and a policy supported by many, including the New Conservatives group on the right of the party.

They have repeatedly called for ministers to close temporary visa schemes for care workers and to cap the number of refugees resettling in the UK at 20,000 – with the aim of reducing net migration to 226,000 by the time of the election, which is likely to be held next year.

It is now certain that these efforts have not come to fruition for the Conservatives as they had hoped.

The ONS release of the statistic – some 140,000 higher than first thought – has caused criticism from all parts of the political spectrum.

The Conservatives themselves have hit out at the numbers – with former cabinet minister Simon Clarke saying having legal migration at such a level was “unsustainable both economically and socially”.

MP Jonathan Gullis went one step further, calling the figures “completely unacceptable to the majority of the British people”, and suggesting that “drastic action” is needed.

The newly-installed Home Secretary James Cleverly has all but dismissed the figures – and the impact they’re likely to have – instead insisting that the government remained “completely committed to reducing levels of legal migration” and would also be “focusing relentlessly” on tackling illegal migration.

On the other side of the political fence, the Labour Party have been using the findings as a way to attack the Conservatives and their apparent failures.

Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, says she and the party believe the statistics show “the scale of utter Tory failure on immigration, asylum, and the economy”.

It’s an interesting time for Sunak’s government – and its newest, surprise hire David Cameron.

In 2010, the then-prime minister – who is now Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron – pledged to bring net migration down to the “tens of thousands”.

Successive Tory governments have sought to move away from exact targets for reasons exactly like we are seeing now.

Sunak is under increasing pressure from the right of his party to reduce net migration, especially in light of the 2019 Tory manifesto – when Boris Johnson was in charge. It promised to bring the “overall number down”.

Home Secretary James Cleverly insists that he and the cabinet are “working across government on further measures to prevent exploitation and manipulation of our visa system, including clamping down on those that take advantage of the flexibility of the immigration system”.

Do the figures work both ways?

According to the ONS, most people arriving in the UK in the year to June 2023 were non-EU nationals.

They made up a total of 968,000 immigrants, followed by 129,000 EU citizens.

At the same time, both EU nationals and Britons were leaving the country in greater numbers.

Some 10,000 more EU nationals left than arrived in the UK and 86,000 more British nationals were seen to be leaving than arriving.

The net figure for non-EU people overall, though, was 768,000 more arriving than leaving.

Work was discovered to be the largest reason people from outside the EU migrated to the UK.

That figure was at 278,000 – and the first time employment was the most popular reason.

Against the Conservatives’ wishes, more foreign students were seen to be staying for longer – and bringing dependents or family members with them.

For those coming to the UK out of desperation, the number remained relatively stable.

Around 88,000 people were granted asylum, up from 73,000 in the year to June 2022 – when ongoing COVID-19 restrictions were still having more of an impact.

The ONS suggests that net migration has “increased sharply” since 2021 due to a rise in immigration from non-EU countries.

They include thousands of individuals arriving via humanitarian routes from the likes of Ukraine and Hong Kong.

The ONS figures show that the asylum backlog has fallen slightly.

At the end of June 2023, there were 175,457 people waiting for a decision on their asylum claim; that number dropped to 165,411 by the end of September.

But, that’s not as positive as it might seem, Sile Reynolds, Head of Asylum Advocacy at Freedom from Torture tells Euronews.

“The UK Government’s own data on asylum disproves the toxic and divisive narrative that has guided its punitive approach to refugees. These statistics leave no doubt that most people reaching our shores need sanctuary – men, women and children who have fled the most unimaginable horrors like torture and war, in places like Afghanistan, Syria and Iran,” Reynolds explains.

The charity also hit out at the government’s treatment of so-called “legacy backlog” cases.

They are, in simple terms, claims made before the end of June 2022, which are being cleared by the Conservatives at significant speed, with 28,202 cases taken care of in the last three months.

“The phenomenal rate at which ‘legacy’ claims are being decided – at nearly 8,000 per month – demonstrates what they can do when they want to deal with a problem”, Reynolds tells Euronews.

“This data disguises the catastrophic backlog of new asylum claims growing as a direct result of a flawed policy of deterrence. As a result, thousands of refugees, including survivors of torture, are condemned to languish in limbo and unsafe accommodation, unable to recover or rebuild their lives,” he adds.

All change for asylum rules?

Sunak’s Rwanda policy was targeted at people arriving in the UK by ‘unauthorised means’, including frequent Channel crossings.

They would have been deported to the African nation and made to claim asylum there and not in the UK.

In its landmark ruling, though, the Supreme Court said that those sent to Rwanda would be at “real risk” of being sent back to their country of origin regardless of whether their asylum claim was justified or not.

That, they say, is something which would breach international laws on human rights.

Sunak called the ruling “frustrating” and promised to double down on the policy, saying he would “change laws and revisit… international relationships”.

That is not a popular plan with many.

“These statistics show that cruel deterrents, like the Rwanda plan so recently declared unlawful by the highest court in the land, will not stop people risking their lives trying to reach sanctuary here in the UK,” Reynolds says, adding, “Rather than punishing refugees, this Government should reverse the cruel asylum ban, urgently refocus their efforts into rebuilding a fair and compassionate asylum system and restore and expand safe routes to protection.”

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#UKs #migration #levels #revised #recordbreaking #high

Accommodating asylum seekers: Which European countries use ships?

Post By World accommodation, asylum seekers, cruise, Refugees, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, United Kingdom

The Netherlands, France, Estonia and Scotland have temporarily used cruise ships to accommodate Ukrainians who escaped to safe havens after the Russian invasion.

The UK has started to host several dozen asylum seekers on a barge in the south of England – although plans to put more on board have been scuppered by a Legionella outbreak.

The British government has justified the use of the barge, which has a chequered history around Europe, by saying it is “cheaper and more manageable for communities as our European nightbours are also doing.”

So which other countries are using barges or boats to house asylum seekers?

Belgium offers one of the earliest examples. In March 2016, Belgium’s federal agency for the reception of asylum seekers, Fedasil, started to use the Ponton Reno, a converted boat moored in the Muide district.

A total of 250 asylum seekers are accommodated there. While this was originally a private accommodation facility providing services for Fedasil, the agency took over the floating centre itself in 2020.

According to Belgian media, Fedasil is urgently seeking other accommodation spaces for asylum seekers and hopes to house them on canal boats in Belgian ports. As of March of this year, there were 3,000 people seeking refuge in Belgium and staying on the streets, most of whom were in Brussels.

The Netherlands started to use cruise ships temporarily

In April 2022, about 1,500 Ukrainians began staying on a Holland America Line vessel docked in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam. In August 2022, Amsterdam approved a plan to temporarily accommodate at least 1,000 migrants on a cruise ship moored in the Dutch capital’s port as hundreds of asylum seekers were found to be sleeping outside a reception centre.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he was ashamed of the situation at the asylum reception centre in the remote north-eastern village of Ter Apel where 700 migrants were sleeping outdoors in unsanitary conditions because there was no space for them inside.

Temporary accommodations for Ukrainians on ferries

The French, Estonian and Scottish governments have also used floating vessels temporarily to accommodate Ukrainians who had to leave their homes after the Russian invasion. In March 2022, for example, a ferry was transformed into a floating hotel to house up to 1,600 Ukrainian refugees in the city of Marseille.

More than 1,000 people lived on a cruise ship named MS Victoria in Edinburgh following the decision of the Scottish government to provide temporary shelter for Ukrainian refugees.

In April 2022, the Estonian government chartered a cruise ship as a temporary home for thousands of refugees from Ukraine.

Ireland plans to request tenders for floating hotels

Ireland is planning to tender for floating hotels and ships to house asylum seekers according to Reuters. Ireland’s Department of Integration said that it expects to publish a request for tenders for floating accommodations for international protection applicants following a detailed investigation and analysis of their use in consultation with various stakeholders.

Asylum applications in the UK: Dramatic increase in 2022

In 2022, there were 89,398 asylum applications submitted to the UK, including dependants, according to British government figures. This is more than twice the number of applications in 2019 and the highest amount in almost two decades.

Last two decades in the UK: Average of 115 asylum applications per day

Nearly one million (962,770) asylum applications, including dependants, were submitted to the UK in the last 22 years. This means that the UK received 115 asylum applications on average per day between 2001 and 2022. In 2022, the average was 245 applications per day.

In 2022, the UK offered protection to 23,841 people including dependants. Additionally, 4,473 partners and children of refugees already living in the UK were granted entry to the UK through family reunion visas.

Nearly two hundred thousand people (191,669) were granted protection by the UK in the last 13 years between 2010 and 2022.

In 2022, the number of first-time asylum applicants in the EU was 881,220 according to the EU’s official statistics office, Eurostat. This latest figure for 2022 marks an increase of 343,865, or 64 per cent, in the number of first-time applicants across the EU compared to 2021. It is also the highest figure since the peaks of 2015 and 2016, when the number of applications exceeded one million in both years, related to the war in Syria.

In 2022, EU Member States also granted temporary protection status to 4.3 million non-EU citizens fleeing Ukraine due to Russia’s invasion.

A first-time applicant for international protection is a person who has lodged an application for asylum for the first time in a given EU country. This excludes repeat applicants and so more accurately reflects the number of newly arrived people applying for international protection.

Main countries of destination: Germany, France, Spain and Austria

In 2022, the main destinations of asylum seekers were Germany, France, Spain and Austria. These four countries received two of every three applications or 66 per cent.

Germany was the most popular country, with 217,735 applicants registered, accounting for 24.7 per cent of all first-time asylum applicants in the EU. It was followed by France (137,510 applicants or 15.6%), Spain (116,135 applicants or 13.2%) and Austria (106,380 applicants or 12.1%).

Main applicants: Syrian, Afghan, Venezuelan and Turkish citizens

In 2022, 131,970 Syrians applied for asylum, accounting for 15 per cent of the total number of first-time applications in the EU. Afghanistan was the second main country of origin of applicants with 113,495 applicants or 13 per cent of the EU total.

Applicants from Venezuela and Turkey each represented about 6 per cent of the EU total, with 50,050 and 49,720 applications, respectively.

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#Accommodating #asylum #seekers #European #countries #ships

Alarm sounded over migrants stranded in no man’s land on Europe border

Post By World asylum seekers, Greece, Migrants, Pushbacks in Greece, Refugees

What’s happening in Greece’s Evros region “shows the dark side of EU migration policy”, one analyst told Euronews.

NGOs have raised the alarm over a large group of people stranded in a de facto no man’s land on the European Union border.

Alarm Phone, a hotline for refugees and migrants in distress, was alerted in mid-July to 52 people – including pregnant women, children as young as three years old and the elderly – stuck on a small islet in the Evros River (known in Turkish as the Meriç River), which separates Greece and Turkey.

They have been stranded there ever since, with the group claiming to have been violently attacked each time they try to escape to either country.

The Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN) on Tuesday accused the Greek and Turkish armies of playing “football” with the group, pushing them back and forth between each other’s territory, as their humanitarian situation grows increasingly “dire”.

Greece’s Ministry of Civil Protection has been approached for comment.

In a statement published on Monday, Alarm Phone alleged the besieged group – mostly from Syria and Iraq – had suffered “barbaric violence” during the weeks-long “odyssey” – despite repeated appeals to the authorities to evacuate them.

Authorities have also been called on to urgently provide food, water and medical care, with some members of the group injured and suffering health issues.

Two members of the group are reportedly missing, presumed dead.

“The violent act of leaving people for days being stuck on an islet not only risks physical injuries, but is a mental torment in and of itself that traumatises people,” wrote Alarm Phone.

Following the 2015 European Migration Crisis, Greece has been routinely accused of systematically detaining migrants and forcing them out of the EU in a practice known as pushbacks.

Greek officials deny they are happening.

Multiple pushbacks have been recorded by the BVMN and other NGOs where migrants are loaded onto small inflatable dinghies – often by masked men – and dumped on small barren islands within the fast-flowing Evros River.

They then remain in de facto no man’s land, outside the territory of either Greece or Turkey. Owing to the unclear status of the islets, authorities have claimed in the past they are outside of their jurisdiction, and therefore also outside their responsibility.

Migrants have reportedly died while trying to swim off the islands or been forced to stay there for prolonged periods of time in wet clothes and freezing conditions, typically without water or supplies, after being forced to jump into the water and wade to the islands.

“The situation at the Evros land border between Greece and Turkey is untenable,” said Hope Barker, policy analyst at BVMN. “Violence is routine and an everyday occurrence, people on the move are dying and going missing.”

“What’s happening in Evros shows the dark side of EU migration policy that has been pushed away from the eyes of Northern European states and is playing out in the shadowy militarised zones of frontline states where it can neither be seen nor heard.”

Alarm Phone said it alerted the Greek authorities on 13 July about the trapped group. Greek officials informed them on 22 July that despite “extensive searches… no human presence was found,” they said.

The BVMN called Greece’s claim “implausible” given the “extensive funding” they received from the EU to police the border, alleging they were “concealing pushback operations”.

Days later, on 28 July, the group informed Alarm Phone they had been stormed by “police and mercenaries… [who] started to hit the world,” forcing some to flee into the water.

The group sent a video purporting to show the abuse, though Euronews cannot verify its authenticity.

Facing an untenable situation, the group reportedly tried to leave the islet on 3 August, but were intercepted by what they called “police”.

One woman alleged she and other female members of the group were made to strip, with the men forced to stare at them, before they were returned to the island.

The group claimed to have been assaulted once again on 7 August, which the BVMN reported put them in “extreme distress“, with some members of the group now in a “critical medical condition”.

These reports are consistent with a well-established pattern documented by BVMN and other NGOs regarding pushbacks from Greece.

In 196 push-back victims’ testimonies collected by the BVMN since 2019, 92% contained reports of physical beatings and 58% of individuals being forcibly undressed.

Forced stripping has also been documented by Human Rights Watch, besides assaults and theft against migrants in the Evros region by the Greek authorities.

Greece denies engaging in illegal activity at their borders.

All individuals inside the EU are protected from inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment, under the bloc’s Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Turkey, which signed a €16 billion with the EU to stop people travelling irregularly to Greece, is obligated to offer people the right to claim asylum under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is currently home to the world’s largest refugee population, hosting 3.7 million people according to the UNHCR.

“Greece protects the external borders of the European Union, in total compliance with international law and in full respect of the [EU] Charter of Fundamental Rights,” Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi insisted early last year.

BVMN policy analyst Barker called on the EU to stem pushbacks, which the UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, has warned that they “risk becoming normalised, and policy based”.

“The EU cannot wash its hands of what is happening in the Evros border region, this is a direct result of their pushback policy which has become the silent, unspoken, yet central pillar of EU migration management,” said BVMN policy analyst Barker.

“When people are systematically not given access to asylum, have their rights violated, and are attacked, and the Commission says nothing – they are complicit.”

Strandings on these islets are far from isolated. In August 2022, the BVMN documented a case of a large group of mostly Syrian nationals, who were trapped there for weeks in the extreme heat, without access to food or water.

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#Alarm #sounded #migrants #stranded #mans #land #Europe #border

US-Mexico Border Quiet. A Little TOO Quiet.

Post By Politics 2024 election, asylum law, asylum seekers, Biden administration, biden immigration policy, border patrol, cbp, cbp one app, credible fear interview, customs and border protection, el paso, fox news, great replacement theory, Immigration, Joe Biden, Republicans, title 42, US mexico border, Washington Post

On May 11, after seemingly endless court cases and publicity stunts by Republicans, the Biden administration finally ended the Trump-era border policy known as Title 42, which had allowed for the immediate deportation of border crossers even if they were claiming asylum. Wingnut media predictably predicted that America would be quickly overwhelmed by hordes of lawless migrants who’d be sleeping on every sidewalk and Great Replacementing all the hardworking retirees who watch Fox News.

Funny, though, because as the Washington Post reports (gift link), none of that happened. Instead, arrests of illegal border crossers have dropped by more than half, largely because of new procedures rolled out by the Biden administration. Instead of risking their lives crossing the Rio Grande and then requesting asylum when they turn themselves in to the Border Patrol, asylum seekers use a phone app to schedule an initial asylum screening (a “credible fear of persecution” interview) with Customs and Border Protection (CBP). If they pass that, they’re allowed into the US to live and work until they have a formal asylum hearing.

The other side of the new policy is that if migrants don’t use the “CBP One” app and instead cross the border outside a port of entry, they can be deported immediately and barred from applying for entry for five years.

Not surprisingly, this still has anti-immigration Republicans plenty pissed off, because even though the new procedures have led to a 70 percent drop in illegal entries since Title 42 ended, the more orderly process allows people to claim asylum and enter the US, and how dare Joe Biden actually respect the right to asylum? Plus, the relatively small numbers of asylum seekers going through ports of entry on any given day has robbed Fox News of the scary visuals of crowds of people huddling under bridges near the border, and how is that even fair?

As the Post explains,

The recent drop in illegal crossings does not mean fewer than half as many migrants are coming to the United States. President Biden is allowing roughly 43,000 migrants and asylum seekers per month to enter through CBP One appointments and accepting an additional 30,000 through a process called parole. The new legal channels appear to be absorbing many of the border-crossers who for years have entered unlawfully to surrender in large groups, overwhelming U.S. border agents.

U.S. agents made about 100,000 arrests along the Mexico border in June, the first full month that Biden’s new measures were in effect, down from 204,561 in May, according to the latest CBP data. It was the largest one-month decline since Biden took office.

The story notes that the factors in Central America that have driven immigration — gang crime, climate change, poverty, corrupt government and the like — haven’t significantly changed, but the administration’s new approach is far more orderly than the Trump approach of making the US so cruel that migrants would decide instead to stay home and take their chances with the cartels. OK, that’s us editorializing; WaPo instead says that

At the heart of the strategy is a belief that reducing the chaos and illegality of migration is more feasible than trying to stop it.

Since Republicans in Congress seem bent on never ever ever agreeing to an immigration bill — because then how could they cry about an immigration crisis? — trying to be a bit more humane seems like a fairly good approach.

In addition to using the app to make the process more orderly, changes in border facilities have helped, too. Near El Paso, CBP is temporarily holding migrants in a new detention facility built with military-style tents (the big ones with AC that we aren’t using in Iraq anymore). No more cramming hundreds of people into “the icebox,” those freezing cells at Border Patrol facilities that weren’t meant to hold that many people. Instead, some 400 to 500 detainees daily are taken to “the largest and perhaps least harsh CBP facility ever built, with capacity for more than 2,500.”

The Border Patrol supervisor running the facility likened it to a cruise ship — a small self-contained city floating on the desert. With hot showers, on-site laundry and scores of private booths where migrants can videoconference with attorneys, asylum officers and immigration judges, the facility’s operating costs exceed more than $1 million per day.

Border Patrol officials said the facility allows them to manage detainees using far fewer agents. They can reserve the more austere, jail-like detention cells at Border Patrol stations for migrants considered security risks. Family groups, unaccompanied minors and others deemed lower risk can be held at the tent complex, where contractors perform administrative and custodial tasks that have long grated on agents.

Yeah, that “cruise ship” line seemed designed for rightwing media. Still, look at Joe Biden, that sneaky bastard, relieving CBP agents of work they absolutely hated, and now they’re actually patrolling the border. Just don’t hold your breath on the Border Patrol union endorsing him, though.

None of this has made Republicans any happier, because allowing 70,000 migrants per month into the US without even beating them or taking away their kids is still too generous and scary in a nation of 335 million people, there’s simply no room at all and definitely no jobs, so Republican officials in red states are suing to make it stop. And the deportations of people crossing the border without using the app is being challenged in court by immigration advocates who point out, correctly, that there’s no app in US asylum law either, even if it’s more orderly.

So far, Fox News hasn’t yet sued over the lack of terrifying visuals. They’re pretty resourceful, and will no doubt get by with old footage, stock footage from some other country entirely, or maybe that newfangled AI that can whip up a caravan without even having to send a camera crew to Texas.

[WaPo gift link / Photo: US CBP on Flickr, public domain.]

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A compassionate and sustainable EU asylum system is not impossible

Post By World asylum seekers, European Union, Mediterranean Sea, Migrant Crisis, Refugees

By Harlem Désir, IRC Senior Vice President, Europe • Updated: 03/07/2023
– 16:50

Everybody has the right to claim asylum on EU territory and should not be deterred or prevented from doing so, Harlem Désir writes.

While uncertainties remain about the circumstances surrounding this month’s devastating shipwreck off the Greek coast, one thing is for sure: Europe’s approach to migration and asylum is failing.

It is failing people seeking protection in Europe, often with a deadly human cost.

It is failing to share responsibilities for new arrivals fairly across Europe or to properly support host communities.

And it is failing to bring any sense of order to the migration process, fuelling populist and far-right narratives.

The EU’s New Pact on Asylum and Migration was intended to address these problems and, as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said back in 2020, “rise to the challenge to manage migration jointly”.

However, there is a risk that the current proposals, agreed between member states this month, may, in fact, further entrench some of the most problematic elements of the current system.

The EU needs to press pause on its permanent state of “crisis” and take stock of what is really needed to create a truly humane, sustainable EU migration and asylum policy.

Contrary to the claims of some politicians and commentators, this is perfectly within its grasp. Here’s how.

A lack of political will has weakened Europe’s solidarity

First, the EU needs to create a concrete, predictable mechanism for states to show solidarity with countries of first arrival, like Greece and Italy, so they do not bear disproportionate responsibility for supporting new arrivals.

This should be centred on relocations — in other words, transferring new arrivals from their first country of arrival to other EU states where their asylum claim will be processed.

Such a system would take the pressure off Europe’s border states, making them less likely to attempt to violently push people back from their territory and more inclined to scale up search and rescue operations in line with their moral and legal obligations.

Worryingly, a lack of political will from certain member states has left the current New Pact agreement relatively weak when it comes to solidarity.

With other parts of the package heavily focused on mandatory border procedures, which would likely see more people detained in their country of first arrival, the Pact looks likely to increase responsibilities on southern states — not reduce them.

It’s vital that EU leaders rethink this approach and ensure that all elements of the Pact are pulling in the same direction to ease the burden on frontline states.

Ramping up safe routes could prevent deadly journeys

Secondly, EU leaders need to recognise that nobody embarks on dangerous journeys in search of protection unless they feel they have no other option.

Yet, tragically this is too often the case. The EU’s failure to adequately scale up existing and create more safe pathways effectively slams the door on people seeking protection — leaving many stranded in countries where they are unsafe and putting them at risk of abuse and exploitation.

It’s critical that Europe ramps up safe routes so people are not forced onto deadly journeys.

One under-used tool that would help towards this goal is refugee resettlement in cooperation with UNHCR.

Last year, a record 2 million refugees were in need of this vital lifeline. Yet, despite pledging to welcome over 20,000 refugees through this pathway, EU states collectively resettled just 17,000 — equating to an average of just 618 new arrivals per member state and accounting for only 1.1% of global needs.

Our continent has an obligation to treat people with dignity and humanity

The EU can and must do better. It’s vital that EU states commit to resettling at least 44,000 refugees in 2024, with a view to further scaling this up to a number more proportionate to Europe’s wealth and size.

They must also adopt the Union Resettlement Framework, another key part of the Pact which would establish a more structured, predictable and longstanding EU policy on resettlement.

Third, if new arrivals are to thrive in their new communities, it’s essential that they are treated with dignity and humanity on arrival in Europe.

The IRC’s experience from countries including Greece shows that keeping people in remote facilities, under constant surveillance and behind barbed wire fences, prevents their inclusion into local communities and has a devastating impact on their mental health.

Instead of deterring and detaining new arrivals, it is in everyone’s interest to invest in inclusion — ensuring that all have access to dignified housing, physical and mental health support, and the training and support needed to rebuild their lives and contribute to their new communities.

A humane EU asylum system is indeed possible

Finally, this tragic shipwreck is a stark reminder that all EU states have a legal obligation to uphold the right to asylum in Europe.

Everybody has the right to claim asylum on EU territory and should not be deterred or prevented from doing so.

The New Pact must include a commitment from each member state to establish a robust, fully independent border monitoring mechanism which will not only keep track of any attempts to undermine this right but will hold those responsible for violations to account.

It’s time to dispel the myth that a truly humane EU asylum system is not possible. The EU’s remarkable response to people fleeing Ukraine proves otherwise.

The true crisis is not that people are asking for refuge but the glaring lack of political will to provide it.

Harlem Désir is the International Rescue Committee’s Senior Vice-President, Europe. Previously, he was the founder and president of SOS Racisme, a Member of the European Parliament, the French Secretary of State for European Affairs and OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media.

At Euronews, we believe all views matter. Contact us at [email protected] to send pitches or submissions and be part of the conversation.

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‘Keep Ireland Irish’: Say hello to Ireland’s growing far right

Post By World anti-immigrant, asylum seekers, Far right, Ireland, Protests in Ireland

The far right in Ireland is rising.

It is a broad church – encompassing religious fundamentalists, nationalists and many shades in between – but the movement has recently coalesced around one thing: immigration.

There were 307 anti-migrant protests in 2022, while in 2023 there have already been 64 demos, according to the Garda Síochána, Ireland’s police force, calling the numbers an “exponential increase”.

“Ireland’s borders are wide open,” Niall McConnell, leader of the Irish Nationalist Catholic Party, told Euronews. “There is no restriction on immigration.”

“The indigenous Irish are being racially discriminated against,” he added.

McConnell, who espouses views that many would consider as far-right, takes issue with immigration, alleging migrants receive preferential treatment for social housing, commit crimes – often of a sexual nature against women – and lie to claim refugee status.

All are largely baseless accusations.

The self-described “Irish Patriot” told Euronews immigration risked another “plantation”, in reference to England’s colonisation of Ireland in the 16th and 17th centuries, where land was seized and settlers were brought in to ‘anglicise’ the local population.

“History is repeating itself,” he said. “The blood of our holy martyrs seeps the Irish soil. The indigenous Irish will continue in our ancestors’ footsteps. We will oppose this new plantation as they did in the past.”

“God save Ireland.”

Ireland is a major immigrant-producing nation. Today, nearly 70 million people around the world claim Irish ancestry, according to the government in Dublin – more than 10 times its own population.

‘Far-right politics is symptomatic of a country in a spot of bother’

While the rumours about sexual assaults and crime are typically unfounded, Aoife Gallagher, an analyst at ISD Global, told Euronews: “the far right has been able to rally support by tapping into people’s very real grievances”.

She pointed to the failure of Ireland’s asylum system to process applicants quickly, leaving some waiting for several years for a decision. This backlog has led to a “desperate scramble for housing”, with local authorities resorting to hotels as other forms of accommodation fill up.

The far-right has protested outside asylum reception cases, at times scaring and intimidating the people inside, including families.

Brian Killoran, CEO of the Immigrant Council, links the growth of the far right to several crises gripping Ireland, including a housing emergency and crumbling health services, traced back to the 2008 recession and the period of austerity that followed.

“The far right is a lightning rod,” he told Euronews. “They are harnessing dissatisfaction in communities and blaming migrants when actually there are much bigger structural problems.”

He said the movement was losing sight of the “bigger picture” and proposing “simplistic and short-term solutions”.

Nationalist leader McConnel told Euronews: “We want the Irish Government to completely halt immigration. Deport all foreign criminals in Ireland.”

“Any resources available in Ireland should be given to the indigenous Irish people first,” he continued, suggesting free housing, social welfare, health care and education should be taken away for migrants.

‘Big changes’

Anti-migrant protests have been most common in “ignored and deprived” areas, says researcher Aoife Gallagher – which also happens to be where asylum-seekers are disproportionately housed.

Though organised by a well-established small cadre of agitators, many demonstrators are “ordinary people” protesting for the first time and a significant proportion of them are “working-class women”, she says.

The story of Ireland’s far right is long and convoluted.

Throughout much of its history, Ireland was under the “iron grip” of the Catholic Church, explains Gallagher. Then, during the 90s and 2000s, the country “threw off these shackles” and went through a rapid social liberalisation, legalising abortion and marriage equality.

“The far right is a mixture of the reactionary forces in response to these liberal changes in the country… and the old school Catholic conservatives,” she said.

Yet, external forces are also at play. Using the internet, Ireland’s far-right has been able to “borrow the strategies and tactics” of their European and American counterparts, according to Gallagher.

During the pandemic, the analyst explained how far-right agitators set up anti-vax groups, which later became vehicles for spreading propaganda, ranging from tirades against multiculturalism to conspiracy theories.

Cooperation between the English and Irish far right has been particularly pronounced, with the agitator Tommy Robinson – whose parents were Irish immigrants in London – visiting Ireland in February.

‘A small, but vocal, minority’

Ireland’s far-right remains a minority, on the fringes of politics.

“They have suffered humiliation again and again in elections,” says Killoran of the Immigration Council, though he recognises they “should be taken seriously”.

Meanwhile, there has been significant pushback against the far-right, with counter-demonstrations frequently drawing in much larger crowds.

“There’s a huge movement of support going on that’s not making it into the headlines,” he says. “Good news, unfortunately, doesn’t sell as well as the bad.”

“There’s a risk that we could take this far-right movement as being more representative of some kind of negative public opinion than it is.”

Attitudes towards immigrants in Ireland are among the least positive in Europe.

Among Irish-born adults, some 58% support white foreigners moving to the country, but only 41% for Muslims and 25% for Roma people, according to a study by the Economic and Social Research Institute.

For the bulk of its history, Ireland was an ethnically homogeneous society. However, over the last 20 years, the country’s population has changed dramatically.

Net migration last year increased to 61,100, while those rates stood at 11,200 in 2021, representing a 445 per cent increase.

The far-right is ultimately a byproduct of Ireland’s failed political system that has failed to get to grips with the multi-pronged crisis gripping the country, claims Gallagher.

The country’s two main political parties – Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael — have ruled for a century.

They are both centrist, with the former appealing to more traditional and working-class voters, while the latter is more secular and pro-business.

“We have had the same parties in power in this country forever,” Gallagher told Euronews. “Generally across the country, there is a feeling that there is no one in power with the solutions needed to bring the country off its knees.”

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Tag: asylum seekers