EU leaders ready to finance construction of walls, fences and barbed wire in third countries to deter migrants - media
Kyiv • UNN
EU leaders intend to fund border reinforcement in third countries to prevent migrants from leaving and are discussing a new EU migration management system that changes the rules for asylum and family reunification.
EU ministers are ready to finance the construction of walls, fences and barbed wire in third countries to prevent migrants from leaving, as well as to increase surveillance at EU borders as part of migration "solidarity," EU lawmakers said at closed-door talks on December 18-19, Euractiv reports, according to UNN.
Details
The Migration Pact is a group of legislative documents that will establish a new migration management regime in the EU.
It is noted that in the context of the ongoing negotiations, the "Regulation on Asylum Migration Management" (RAMM) has become the most discussed document of the migration pact in public debate and the media.
The RAMM will introduce "solidarity" rules when one or more countries have difficulty managing large numbers of migrants arriving on their territory.
According to the proposals of EU ministers and MEPs, RAMM will contain a "solidarity pool" that will collect information on how "donor countries" will help member states in difficulty.
For now, the European Commission and EU ministers want to keep the information about who contributes to whom and how classified.
Another issue under discussion among EU officials is resettlement caused by family reunification. According to recent negotiations, EU ministers do not want to recognize siblings as beneficiaries of family reunification.
"European leaders are trying to restrict access to family reunification by excluding families legally residing in the EU without international protection," said Federica Toscano, a representative of Save the Children, in an interview with Euractiv.
Crisis management
Another document that officials are considering is a regulation on crisis management, which would launch a mechanism that sets a number of rules in the event of a "crisis situation."
So far, three scenarios have been envisaged: a crisis caused by "mass migration" of people arriving at the EU borders; force majeure (mass arrival due to war, climate or any other humanitarian emergency); and "instrumentalization" - when a state or non-state actor facilitates the passage of migrants.
The European Commission, and especially the EU member states, are likely to have important decision-making powers in crisis management, especially as to when to start a "crisis."
The duration of the crisis is likely to be limited to a maximum of 12 months, and member states will have discretionary powers to provide assistance to countries experiencing a crisis on their territory.
In a crisis situation, emergency border procedures will be applied. Civil society organizations argue that emergency procedures will have a negative impact on asylum seekers, as guarantees for people seeking protection will be limited.
