On Wednesday 20 December, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) welcomed the agreements reached between the European Parliament and the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council on the regulations of the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’, which should come into force in 2024. However, NGOs such as Oxfam and ECRE (the European Council on Refugees and Exiles) criticised the results of the three-day negotiations, with ECRE denouncing a “black day for Europe”, with reforms that are “cruel” to refugees and even more complex to implement (see EUROPE 13318/1).
The UNHCR, through its High Commissioner, Filippo Grandi, stated in a press release that the agreement will attempt to distribute migrants more evenly across the Union, by strengthening support and coordination for the processing of applications from border states such as Italy and Greece, through the solidarity mechanism.
“This is a very positive step. Let’s move on to its implementation! UNHCR is ready to advise and support”, commented Mr Grandi on X (formerly Twitter).
For Oxfam, “what has been agreed is no better (than the current system); in many ways it is much worse. The EU has missed the opportunity to agree on a better sharing of responsibilities and on solidarity rules.
Instead, “it has agreed to more detention, including the detention of children and families in prison-like centres. It has also closed the door to asylum seekers by applying substandard procedures, speeding up deportations and gambling with people’s lives by increasing the risk of pushback”, says the NGO in a press release. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)