On Wednesday 23 November, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report in which it criticises EU migration policy, saying that this damages the protection and human rights of refugees.
In its report ("EU Policies Put Refugees At Risk: An Agenda to Restore Protection"), HRW says the EU's trend is to restrain refugee rights and that the EU has failed to accelerate the resettlement of refugees.
It says that 2016 will be remembered as the year the EU decided to close its door to refugees and make life harder for those who had already made it. This hasty resolve to transform the EU into a hostile environment and to prevent people from crossing borders at all costs is carried out in disregard for the risks these refugees have taken – often putting their lives in danger in order to escape conflicts, persecution and human rights violations, HRW states. It adds that this runs counter to all European values.
The report says that mismanagement of the migration crisis in 2015 and a lack of coordination between EU governments helped create a political and humanitarian crisis. And although there are fewer migrant arrivals in 2016, significant problems continue to go unresolved – especially in Greece. Over the course of 2016, a record figure of 4,600 people have died or have been reported missing while trying to reach Europe by sea.
HRW criticises the fact that the EU's efforts in 2016 consisted of preventing new arrivals and of delegating its responsibilities to third countries, as with the EU-Turkey agreement signed in March. HRW also criticises the fact that the EU has been able to put humanitarian aid pressure on third countries so that they take back their nationals who are in an irregular situation in Europe, as the EU is suspected of having done with Afghanistan.
HRW also notes that member states are scaling down the rights of asylum seekers, especially the right to family reunification. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)