Brussels, 16/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - In a draft resolution adopted on Wednesday 16 March seeking to address all the components of the current challenge of mass migration (see EUROPE 11471), the European Parliament's civil liberties committee has proposed a central system, at EU level, for collecting, processing and allocating asylum applications.
This central system, which could include a quota of refugees for each country of the EU, would “work on the basis of 'hotspots' from which refugees would be distributed”, says a Parliament press release. (Hotspots are centres where migrants already in the EU, having reached Italy or Greece, are registered and have their asylum applications recorded.) The aim is to overhaul the rules so that member states are able to cope with the migratory pressure they currently face at the EU's external borders.
“The severity of the situation is immense. Last year, 3,771 people drowned in our seas. This year already more than 450 people, including 77 children, have died. … We have a duty to ensure that these are not just nameless statistics”, stated Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta), joint author of the report with Kashetu Kyenge (S&D, Italy). According to Kyende, the committee is advocating, first and foremost, permanent rescue operations at sea to avoid further tragedies and, then, replacement of the Dublin rules with a central system that will allow refugees to be shared within the EU on the basis of “fair and objective criteria”.
The draft resolution makes no mention of the agreement that the EU and Turkey will try to conclude on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 March. This agreement seeks definitively to stem the flow of illegal migrants from Turkey to the Greek islands (see other article).
MEPs, nonetheless, call on the member states to fulfil their obligations in terms of relocation within the EU of refugees already in Italy or Greece. On resettling refugees from third countries, MEPs say that the EU needs a “binding and mandatory legislative approach”, adding that the number of refugees resettled must be “meaningful” with regard to the overall numbers of those seeking asylum in the EU. MEPs also advocate EU-wide readmission agreements for migrants who have no right to international protection. They insist that migrants should only be returned if the country to which they are being returned is “safe for them”, a matter which lies at the very heart of the agreement currently being negotiated with Turkey. Metsola pointed out that, in 2014, only 36% of those ordered to leave the EU were in fact removed. The S&D Group highlighted the request made to the Commission to consider the feasibility of a “European humanitarian visa” to be delivered directly by member states' embassies and consulates in third countries. Refugees holding such a visa would be able to enter a member state with the sole aim of formally applying for asylum.
“This report and how it was negotiated just goes to show the clear divide that Europe has over how to resolve this crisis. The political right, ECR included, wants to talk about border control first, whilst the left wants to talk about more legal routes being created immediately. This represents the lowest denominator of both sides of the argument with a little bit of something for everyone, but absolutely no comprehensive or plausible plan for resolving this crisis”, regretted Helga Stevens (ECR, Belgium), refusing to support the draft resolution.
The resolution will be put to the vote in the Parliament plenary session on Wednesday 13 April. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)