Dozens of non-governmental human rights organizations are concerned about the agreement reached this morning for the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, warning that it will worsen the situation, especially for children.
The new agreement will represent “a big setback”in the rights of immigrant children, since it facilitates their detention and stay in police facilities on the borders of Europe, the organization Save The Children denounced this Wednesday, at a press conference held in Madrid.
Referring to his concern about possibility that the new pact will facilitate the detention of children at the border for “a period completely inconvenient for their physical and mental health and the continuity of their educational process”, the director of the organization, Andrés Conde, warned of the difficulties that the agreement introduces in relation to family reunification.
Amnesty International also admitted to being concerned and stated that the reforms agreed this Wednesday by the EU “will set back European asylum legislation for decades to come and lead to greater human suffering.”
“The agreement reached today [quarta-feira] by the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament will diminish the rights of people on the move”, considers the organization in a statement released today.
“The probable outcome [deste acordo] it’s a increased suffering at every stage of a person’s journey to applying for asylum in the EU. From the way they are treated by countries outside the EU, through their access to asylum and legal support at Europe’s borders, to their reception within the EU, this deal is designed to make it harder for people to access safety. ” says the director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office, Eve Geddie.
The concerns include many other NGOs who, on Monday, met to draft a joint letter of warnings which they sent to the European Commission, the European Council, the European Parliament and the current Spanish presidency of the European Union.
The letter, signed by more than 50 organizations such as Amnesty International, Save the Children, ActionAid International, European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights, Caritas Europe, Oxfam, among others, expresses concern about the new legislation, saying that The new measures will “reflect the failed approaches of the past and worsen their consequences.”
The new legislation “will normalize Arbitrary use of detention of migrants, including children and families.will increase racial discrimination, use “crisis” procedures to allow setbacks and return people to so-called “safe third countries”, where they risk violence, torture and arbitrary detention,” the NGOs charge.
The European Parliament and EU Member States this morning reached a political agreement on a comprehensive reform of the European Union’s asylum and migration policy, after a final night of negotiations, the EU Council announced this morning.
Under the agreement, the first EU country a migrant or refugee enters remains responsible for processing their case.
But a new solidarity mechanism between states has been created that determines that some immigrants will be relocated to other EU countries and countries that refuse to accept immigrants will have to make a financial contribution.
The new rules will allow the construction of asylum centers in southern European countries, where most migrants arrive, with the aim of processing each arrival and immediately expelling those who do not meet entry requirements.
In exchange for building the centres, states that are not part of the EU’s external border and that argue that those on the front line should welcome arrivals will have to accept a quota of migrants or contribute to a fund to help the block. the crisis.
The agreement must still be formalized and adopted in the first half of 2024, before the European elections to be held by the 27 countries of the community bloc between June 6 and 9.
The idea of reforming European migration policy began to take shape in 2016, when almost two million irregular migrants and asylum seekers arrived in the EU fleeing the war in Syria.
Source: TSF
