Europe Refugee Crisis

The wandering in the Mediterranean, for several days, of the humanitarian ship Aquarius, transporting more than 600 migrants, has cast harsh light on the fierce disagreements between member states of the European Union (EU) regarding the migration policy that the bloc should follow.

The event has illustrated how the Old Continent has failed for almost three years to meet the migratory challenge, according to some analysts.

Neither Malta or Italy gave the Aquarius the right to dock even though it is habitually granted in such cases. It was Madrid which, in a humanitarian gesture, by giving the ship authorization to sail toward the port of Valencia, allowing for a veritable human tragedy to be avoided. But the boat has still not arrived due to unfavorable weather conditions.

The tough comments from French President Emmanuel Macron toward Rome this week have provoked a serious deterioration of relations between France and Italy, two countries nevertheless traditionally allies.

The Friday visit to Paris by the Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte for a working lunch and press conference, went a small way toward releasing tensions. The two heads of government announced they had found mutual understanding again and shared points of view on migration policy reform for the EU.

They notably proposed to revise the notion of "State of first arrival," the creation of European centers in departure countries for migrants who wished to come to Europe, and the reinforcement of means at the disposal of Frontex, the European border agency.

The French president conceded that migration policy was "a test for Europe" and lamented that "Europe lacks efficiency and solidarity." Guissepe Conte said it was necessary to "reinforce the concept of a European frontier." "No one in Europe can think to wash his hands of migration questions," the Italian prime minister said.

DEVIDING LINE

The tensions between Rome and Paris pay witness to the disagreements always growing between European countries. These could provoke a veritable crisis in the EU which, since the migratory spike in 2015, has not arrived at an agreement for a shared policy on the matter.

It is "a decisive test" for the future of the EU, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "A mortal danger for the Union," said this week President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani.

A dividing line is growing always stronger and more visible between two camps. On one side, Eastern European countries, like Hungary and Poland, more or less actively supported by Slovakia and the Czech Republic, have taken a hard line for years, refusing the resettlement of migrants by a quota system for member states. They suggest a reinforcement of turning away illegal migrants at the borders, at the risk of halting freedom of movement in Europe, a key principle for the EU.

Italy and Greece, which carry the heaviest burden from the migrant crisis, appeal for the application of the solidarity principle between member states, and the redistribution of refugees and asylum seekers throughout the whole of the European Union. Up until now, they have benefited from the support of the German chancellor whose country accepted almost a million migrants and has fought for a coordinated response, as well as a revision of the Dublin rules, with French backing.

The arrival in power of coalitions of conservatives, nationalists and populists in Austria and Italy have added to the crisis. With the support of the Christian Socialists (CSU) in the coalition running Germany -- led by Horst Seehofer who is also Minister of the Interior -- and that of Italian new government's Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini, the objective has been set to create an "axis of volunteers" to attack what they qualify as clandestine immigration.

They demand in particular that their countries be able to turn away at the borders asylum seekers who are already registered in another EU country. This axis considers itself reinforced by the agreement of Denmark and the Netherlands which support the idea of creating camps for asylum seekers in third countries. Such policies would be out of compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and the rules on asylum procedures.

The fracture line at the heart of Europe grows deeper and shifts, threatening even to provoke a serious crisis within the fragile coalition established painfully in Germany, rendering all of Europe fragile and risking to worsen. The initiator of the "Strong axis of volunteers," the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, has effectively put the battle against illegal immigration at the center of his politics, sweeping him to power at the end 2017 at the head of a coalition with the extreme right. Austria, in addition, will take over the alternating presidency of the European Council on July 1.

Merkel, for her part, risks being marginalized in her country for being seen as too generous on migration questions. France will have difficulty weighing in alone and arriving at a migration policy agreement. And yet, behind this political trench war, all of Europe is under threat. The EU struggles to confront in a coherent manner, with solidarity, the migration movements which will amplify.

This context raises fears for the 2019 European elections a reinforcement of the populist extreme right within the European Parliament. The coming weeks will prove crucial for the future and cohesion of the EU.

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Following a white-night, marathon talk at a summit, European leaders eventually reached a compromise on migration in the early hours of Friday.

According to summit conclusions, which was belated due to Italian Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte insistence on some lines, member states of the European Union (EU) will, on a voluntary basis, set up so-called "controlled centers" to host and transfer migrants that landed on EU shores.

The "controlled centers" will determine who will be returned and who qualifies for asylum.

European leaders also call on the European Commission to "swiftly explore the concept of regional disembarkation platforms, in close cooperation with relevant third countries."

The new approach aims to "definitively break the business model of the smugglers, thus preventing the tragic loss of life," the conclusions noted.

Like the "controlled centers" inside the EU, the poposed "regional disembarkation platforms" outside the EU are tasked with distinguishing migrants "in full respect of international law and without creating a pull factor."

Earlier this month, EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, whose portfolio covers migration, told reporters that the Commission has been in talks with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on how to engage North African countries in disembarkation schemes.

When it comes to the secondary movements of asylum seekers inside the EU, which has sparked a political spat in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, European leaders agreed that member states "should take all necessary internal legislative and administrative measures to counter such movements."

Despite heated political row over migration, the arrivals of migrants or refugees to Europe have been on a downward trend in the past three years.

According to IOM data, 52,240 migrants or refugees arrived in Europe as of June 20 this year, compared with 186,768 in 2017 and 390,432 in 2016.

Gerhard Stahl, a visiting professor at the College of Europe, told Xinhua that the error of the EU's first reaction to the influx of migrants from Africa is to assume that this is a short-term problem and needs mainly a humanitarian answer.

"Now More and more politicians realize that migrations from Africa will stay a long-term challenge," he said.

"There are only two answers to this situation, effective EU border controls and legal ways to immigrate to the EU," he said. "Such a policy will allow to manage the number of foreign people coming to the EU and to keep the national border inside the EU open."

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Italy blocks EU summit agreement until migration demands met

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EU leaders take part in a European Union summit in Brussels
EU leaders take part in a European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium June 28, 2018. Stephanie Lecocq/Pool via REUTERS
By Francesco Guarascio and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy's prime minister refused to approve an EU summit statement on Thursday, telling fellow leaders that they must first meet his demands on migration, in an unusual showdown that underscored deep divisions over the sensitive issue.

The move by Giuseppe Conte, who is attending his first European Union summit, surprised other leaders and forced summit chairman Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to cancel a news conference planned for Thursday evening.

"As one member reserved their position on the entire conclusions, no conclusions have been agreed at this stage," a spokesman for Tusk said.

Conte, the head of a new euroskeptic government that includes the anti-establishment 5-Star movement and the far-right League, is demanding that other EU states share the costs and burden of handling migrants that are rescued in the Mediterranean.

His move came after leaders held talks on a range of issues from security and defense, to jobs, growth and competitiveness. Normally, they would issue pre-prepared conclusions once that discussion was over.

But Conte's intervention, ahead of a dinner where the controversial migration issue is due to be discussed, prevented that.

"We are still hoping that Conte felt compelled to stir up a mess and at the end of the day he will get back in line, but it's far from certain," an EU diplomat said.

HORRIBLE SIGNAL

If unresolved, the row would send a horrible signal about the EU's unity at a time when the bloc is being assailed by U.S. President Donald Trump on trade and struggling to deal with the legacy of its 2015 crisis, which saw more than a million refugees and migrants enter Europe.

It is especially dangerous for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the EU's longest serving leader, who is under intense pressure from her conservative allies in Bavaria to deliver a deal on migration in Brussels.

If she fails, the Christian Social Union (CSU) has threatened to unilaterally close their border to migrants.

That could trigger the collapse of Merkel's three-month-old government and cause the EU's Schengen free travel zone to unravel, putting cross-border business, trade and many jobs among the EU's 500 million citizens at risk.

"Europe faces many challenges, but that of migration could become the make-or-break one for the EU," Merkel said in a speech to parliament before traveling to Brussels.

Her 2015 decision to open Germany's borders to over a million refugees has divided Europe and continues to haunt her at home even though arrivals have dropped sharply.

Fewer than 45,000 migrants have made it to the European Union this year, according to United Nations data. A thousand more have perished trying to cross the Mediterranean.

According to draft conclusions circulated before the two-day summit, the leaders planned to agree measures to strengthen Europe's external borders, spend more on fighting illegal immigration and step up cooperation to prevent refugees and migrants from moving within the bloc. [nL8N1TR5C9]

They were due to give more money for Syrian refugees in Turkey and migration projects in Africa, as well as look at sealing a deal with Morocco to reverse a recent uptick in arrivals in Spain.

But the EU remains deeply divided over how to handle asylum seekers, with the ex-communist easterners led by Poland and Hungary refusing to accept a share of the new arrivals to alleviate the burden on Italy and Greece, struggling to cope.

A migration deal among all 28 EU states is unrealistic, so Merkel is pushing for a "coalition of the willing" on migration. She hopes that will appease the CSU, which has hardened its line before an autumn election in its home region of Bavaria, the main German entry point for migrants.

Convincing Italy to do a deal may be the biggest challenge. Conte has rejected any moves that would make it handle more even more people.

Currently most of those picked up by rescue boats in the Mediterranean disembark in Italy. But Rome has in recent days refused to let in two such boats with hundreds of people aboard as Conte wants other coastal countries to take some of them in as well.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Robert-Jan Bartunek, Alissa de Carbonnel, Robin Emmott, Jan Strupczewski, Noah Barkin, Richard Lough, Jean-Baptiste Vey, Elizabeth Piper, Andreas Rinke, Peter Maushagen and Gabriela Baczynska; Writing by Noah Barkin and Gabriela Baczynska; editing by David Stamp, William Maclean)

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Jura said:

Migrants land on Spanish beach

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| Fri Jul 27, 2018 | 1:10pm EDT

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on their way to Mrs. Merkel

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Equation said:

They are escaping from a crisis that hits their country and homes. They are NOT invading but evading the violence that is going on in their country.

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Jura said:

I'm not going to go into any play of words, but the bottom line is they should be caught, ASAP sent out of the EU; even Spain has done it (?) recently, after the big, violent breech down in Ceuta:
Spain justifies migrant pushback in wake of large-scale jump at Ceuta
Government admits that its reception system has reached the saturation point after spike in arrivals

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Equation said:

If you want them to "STAY" in their own country, than the current Western nations needs to stop bombing their countries and homes through regime changing for "peace".

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Equation said:

If you want them to "STAY" in their own country, than the current Western nations needs to stop bombing their countries and homes through regime changing for "peace".

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Equation said:

They are escaping from a crisis that hits their country and homes. They are NOT invading but evading the violence that is going on in their country.

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