The agreement has been closed, but it raises some doubts for the coordinator of the Refugee Support Platform (PAR). André Costa Jorge, who simultaneously holds the position of director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, considers that “there is certainly some progress in the final document,” but warns of “possible setbacks.”
He fears, for example, that the document contains an attempt to “criminalize migration.”
“We fear that there will be some concessions that, from the point of view of the human rights of asylum seekers, represent a step backwards,” he considers. That is, policies that expel refugees out of Europe and negotiations with third countries to “externalize the borders” of Europe, as well as an increase in the policy of “administrative detention” for asylum seekers.
André Costa Jorge fears in particular that within the framework of the negotiations some concessions have been made to countries that are more reticent about migratory movements.
The PAR coordinator asks: if these detention centers are created, to more quickly return those who do not have the right to asylum, who controls the conditions of these spaces?
“If what happens in confinement spaces is not carefully observed, especially outside Europe, what could occur are systematic violations of immigrants’ rights,” he laments.
The Jesuit André Costa Jorge recalls that in Portugal, for example, society would not function without immigrants.
“The Migration Observatory and the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation came to say that Portugal benefits a lot from its immigrants,” he points out.
“The contribution of immigrants to Portuguese social security was in the order of 1.6 billion euros,” he adds. “Immigrants contributed more than they spent, much more,” she says.
Source: TSF
