Meeting in Brussels on Thursday 12 December, EU home affairs ministers discussed the situation in Syria and the treatment of Syrian asylum seekers and refugees in the EU.
They also looked again at so-called “innovative” solutions for reducing irregular arrivals in the EU, and recognised the need to find third countries with which to develop new projects, the Hungarian Interior Minister, Sándor Pintér, summed up.
On Syria, the new European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, was very cautious, repeating on several occasions that the EU is in a wait-and-see situation and that it is first necessary to see how the new authorities in power “will behave”.
“The situation on the ground remains volatile, with opportunities and risks; we know little about the new approach” of the new leaders and it is therefore “very difficult to know what this means” for Syrian refugees in the EU.
However, the Commissioner indicated that the focus at this stage should be on voluntary returns, as several Member States indicated at the lunch that many Syrian refugees on their territory wished to return to their country of origin.
He also expressed the Commission’s willingness to provide financial assistance to Member States to support these voluntary returns. “Yes, we must help [these people] financially”, he insisted.
However, for the time being, involuntary returns to these countries remain “impossible” and Member States must follow the UNHCR’s guidance on the situation in the country.
Earlier in the day, Germany’s Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, also called on her colleagues to wait a few more days to get an idea of the situation on the ground. “What about the protection of minorities? What about the protection of individuals? Then, of course, returns can take place”.
She also pointed out that “people working in Germany from Syria are making an important contribution to our country, for example in the health sector, as nursing staff or as doctors. We have many Syrian doctors, even in Germany. They can happily stay in Germany and are welcome here, as long as they respect the laws and work here”.
Strategic guidelines. On Thursday, European ministers also approved the strategic guidelines for future justice and home affairs policies.
On migration, in particular, the Commission has once again been asked to work on new ways to reduce illegal immigration into the EU, although the concept of ‘innovative solutions’ has not been taken up.
Faced with new threats such as the instrumentalisation of migrants, Member States need to be able to counter such activities effectively and guarantee the stability and security of the Union. Therefore, the Union will find joint solutions on strengthening the EU’s legal framework in order to address these threats and security challenges that affect asylum and border management, the text states.
Link to the guidelines: https://aeur.eu/f/es1 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)