Asylum: Brussels unveils the contours of a new European policy

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End of Dublin, hardening of returns and acceleration of procedures, increased controls at external borders: Brussels unveiled on Wednesday a strict reform of asylum in Europe. Info Migrants takes stock of the main elements of this plan, which has yet to be accepted by all EU countries.

The European Commission presented, Wednesday, September 23, a new European Pact on Migration and Asylum to find lasting solutions to the situation of migrants in Europe. Highly anticipated, this pact which is for the moment only at the planning stage pending the validation of the 27 countries of the European Union (EU) includes several major changes compared to the current European migration policy.

Here are the main proposals:

• The end of Dublin

As a first important element, the plan revises the principle of making the first country of entry of a migrant into the EU responsible for processing his asylum application. In other words, it provides for the end of the Dublin regulation .

According to the Commission proposal, the country responsible for the asylum application could be the one in which a migrant has a brother or sister, in which he has worked or studied. It could also be the person who issued a visa to a migrant. Otherwise, these countries of first arrival will remain responsible for the request.

• A compulsory solidarity mechanism accessible to countries under migratory pressure

If a country is subjected to migratory pressure and considers that it cannot take charge of migrants, it can request the activation of a compulsory solidarity mechanism, which must be decided by the Commission. In this case, the European executive assesses the number of migrants to be taken care of and all the states are involved, according to their economic weight and their population.

These countries then have the choice between welcoming asylum seekers, sponsoring the return to their countries of migrants who do not have the right to stay in the EU, or helping to build reception centers in particular.

Reinforced controls at the EU's external borders

Outside of Europe, controls will be stricter. "In this new system, there will be new mandatory checks on all borders (...). All arrivals will be subject to rigorous health security checks and identity verification, which will allow people to be immediately redirected towards the appropriate procedure ", detailed the Vice-President of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas.

• Expedited processing for migrants unlikely to obtain protection

A fast-track process is also planned to remove migrants who are unlikely to obtain international protection more quickly, the Commission said. These are those coming from countries with a positive response rate to asylum requests of less than 20%, such as Tunisia or Morocco. For these, the asylum application would be processed at the border and within 12 weeks.

• More effective referrals and the responsibility of countries that refuse asylum seekers

The EU is aiming for increased efficiency in the returns of illegal migrants to their country of origin, notably through the appointment of a coordinator and an intensification of negotiations with the States of origin.

In order to circumvent the persistent refusal of several countries, in particular those of the Visegrad group (Poland, Hungary , Czech Republic, Slovakia) to welcome migrants, the plan also provides that EU countries that do not want to take Asylum seekers in the event of an influx will have to participate in the return of those refused asylum rights from the European country where they arrived to their state of origin.

Furthermore, if a state fails to return migrants to their country of origin within eight months, it must accept them.

• Humanitarian rescue ships at sea sheltered from justice

A solidarity mechanism is also planned for rescues carried out by humanitarian ships. The plan proposes to shield NGOs rescuing migrants at sea from prosecution.

These various proposals have not yet entered into force, but this plan appears to be the fruit of long months of discussions between the 27 Member States of the European Union, accustomed to disagreements on the thorny issue of migration. Brussels also admitted having failed to put in place a policy of relocation quotas, decided after 2015. The principle of a binding distribution of migrants was thus abandoned.