EU countries yesterday were expected to approve a significant tightening of Europe’s immigration policy, including endorsing the concept of setting up “return hubs” for migrants outside the 27-nation bloc.
Fearful of far-right parties making gains at the ballot box, governments across Europe are scrambling to take a tougher stance. Interior ministers meeting in Brussels were to vote for the first time on a series of measures presented this year by the bloc’s executive to more strictly regulate the arrival and return of migrants.
If adopted, these measures would notably allow the opening of centers outside the EU’s borders, to which migrants whose asylum applications have been rejected would be sent, or the so-called “return hubs”; harsher penalties for migrants who refuse to leave European territory, including through longer periods of detention; and returning migrants to countries that are not their country of origin, but which Europe considers “safe.”
Photo: EPA
A decline in irregular entries to Europe — down by about 20 percent so far this year compared with last year — has not eased the pressure to act on the politically explosive issue.
The latest proposals come just a few months after the EU adopted a mammoth new migration law that is to come into effect in June next year.
“We have to speed up to give the people the feeling that we have control over what is happening,” European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner said.
The new initiatives have caused consternation among activists working with migrants.
“Instead of investing in safety, protection, and inclusion, the EU is choosing policies that will push more people into danger and legal limbo,” Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants advocacy officer Silvia Carta said.
Under the impetus of Denmark, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency and has long advocated for these measures, member states are moving forward at a rapid pace.
However, some in the bloc remain sceptical.
France is questioning the legality and effectiveness of some of the proposals, while Spain is not convinced that “return hubs” work after several unsuccessful trials by other countries.
They likely also discussed the distribution of at least 30,000 asylum seekers under the recent legal changes.
That move is part of a new “solidarity” system to help relieve pressure on countries that see large numbers of arrivals, such as Greece and Italy.
Other EU countries are expected to accept asylum seekers or to contribute 20,000 euros (US$23,304) per person to the countries under pressure.
However, with governments across the bloc being urged to tighten immigration policies, putting a hand up to take in extra asylum seekers is fraught with political risk.
The EU is nevertheless under pressure to hammer out a compromise on resettlement, with the clock ticking to come up with a final decision by the end of the year.
The death of a former head of China’s one-child policy has been met not by tributes, but by castigation of the abandoned policy on social media this week. State media praised Peng Peiyun (彭珮雲), former head of China’s National Family Planning Commission from 1988 to 1998, as “an outstanding leader” in her work related to women and children. The reaction on Chinese social media to Peng’s death in Beijing on Sunday, just shy of her 96th birthday, was less positive. “Those children who were lost, naked, are waiting for you over there” in the afterlife, one person posted on China’s Sina Weibo platform. China’s
‘NO COUNTRY BUMPKIN’: The judge rejected arguments that former prime minister Najib Razak was an unwitting victim, saying Najib took steps to protect his position Imprisoned former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak was yesterday convicted, following a corruption trial tied to multibillion-dollar looting of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state investment fund. The nation’s high court found Najib, 72, guilty on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering related to more than US$700 million channeled into his personal bank accounts from the 1MDB fund. Najib denied any wrongdoing, and maintained the funds were a political donation from Saudi Arabia and that he had been misled by rogue financiers led by businessman Low Taek Jho. Low, thought to be the scandal’s mastermind, remains
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday announced plans for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted “the worst of evil” during an anti-Semitic terror attack that left 15 dead and has cast a heavy shadow over the nation’s holiday season. Albanese said he plans to establish a special honors system for those who placed themselves in harm’s way to help during the attack on a beachside Hanukkah celebration, like Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian Muslim who disarmed one of the assailants before being wounded himself. Sajid Akram, who was killed by police during the Dec. 14 attack, and
RSS