How Europe is Slowly Closing Its Doors to Asylum-Seekers

How Europe is Slowly Closing Its Doors to Asylum-Seekers

Forced displacement around the world is at an all-time high, having reached 114 million persons by the end of 2023. Migrants are being driven from their homes by conflict, economic deprivation, climate change, and persecution. In response, the industrialized nations, including many in Europe, are emphasizing deterrence strategies to stem the flow of migrants to their countries.

The European Union (EU), as well as individual European countries, have in the last several years launched several initiatives to prevent asylum-seekers from reaching their shores. A recent EU migration pact, approved by the European Parliament on April 10, would establish a common asylum system and emphasize burden sharing among Member States, but also would introduce strict procedures to screen asylum applicants.

The adoption of restrictive policies by Europe has come in response to an unprecedented jump in irregular migration to the continent, mainly from Africa and the Middle East. Conflicts in Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and other hot spots have helped fuel the migration, along with, of course, extreme poverty and hunger. Relatively new wars in Sudan and Gaza threaten to increase the flow of persons attempting to find safety in European countries.

The first iteration of migrant flows began in 2015-2016, in which over two million asylum-seekers migrated to Europe, mainly from Syria. More recently, migration to Europe in 2022-2023 has more than doubled, with over one million having arrived on European shores. At the same time, a record 3,041migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in 2023.

Efforts by European Nations to Deter Migration to Europe

The large increase in migration to Europe in 2015-2016 has led to the rise of a number of populist governments focused upon stemming migrants from reaching Europe. The EU, led by President Ursula von der Leyen, has negotiated agreements with transit countries to entice them to prevent migrants from leaving or transiting through their countries on the way to Europe.

Specific nations, such as Italy, Greece, and Spain—known as ‘frontline’ countries’—have adopted policies and laws designed to deter migration and to limit asylum. Hungary and Poland, countries which have been generous in accepting Ukrainian refugees, have generally closed their borders to asylum-seekers from Africa and the Middle East.

To be fair, countries such as France, Germany, Greece, Italy—not to mention the EU itself—have indicated their intent to increase legal avenues for migration, particularly labor visas in order to meet the continent’s labor shortage. However, these proposed legal avenues should not be a substitute for the denial of protection to asylum-seekers.

Italy. The Italian government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her far right coalition, has taken several initiatives to reduce the number of migrants arriving in Italy—all of them controversial. First, in April 2023, Italy adopted a law which would require asylum-seekers to be detained until their asylum claims are processed—a process taking up to two years. The law also would weaken the nation’s integration policies and allow for agreements with sending nations to keep migrants in their countries in exchange for visa quotas.

In December 2022, Italy adopted a law to discourage the rescue of boats of migrants in distress, prohibiting non-governmental organization (NGO) rescue boats from sailing to the closest port and discouraging them from searching for boats in distress. The policy has received significant criticism and has been blamed, in part, for the rapid increase in migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, migrant landings in Italy have risen from 105,000 in 2022 to 158,000 in 2023.

Italy also recently concluded a bilateral agreement with Albania to hold asylum-seekers in detention centers in that country—detention centers built by Italy that can hold up to 3,000 persons at a time. Asylum-seekers could be held there until Italy adjudicates, in an expedited manner, their asylum claim. It is an offshore processing model first pursued in 2001 by Australia, which sent interdicted migrants to the island nation of Nauru and to Manus Island of Papua New Guinea, where they languished in substandard conditions for years.

Italy also has negotiated agreements with transit nations in Africa, including Tunisia, to win their cooperation in curbing migration to Europe. A recent agreement with Tunisia, signed April 17, 2024, would grant Tunisia 55 million Euros as part of a plan to prevent migrants from traveling through the country to reach Europe. Finally, in January 2024, Italy held a summit with African nations in which it unveiled the “Mattei plan,” in which Italy would provide 5 billion Euros in energy and education investment in return for the prevention of migration from those countries.

Greece. Given its location, Greece has been an entry point to Europe for asylum-seekers fleeing conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and other Middle Eastern countries, as well as from eastern African nations. The most significant migration event involving Greece was the sinking of a fishing vessel carrying 750 migrants in June 2023, in which Greek authorities were accused of failing to rescue the flagging vessel and contributing to its demise. Over 600 persons, including children, died in the tragedy.

About 38,573 asylum-seekers arrived in Greece in 2023, more than double than in 2022. Reports of the abuse of migrants and push backs of boats have been widespread.

Spain. The most recent asylum-seekers to Spain have arrived in the Canary Islands, a series of small islands off the coast of West Africa which are part of Spanish territory. Over 32,000 asylum-seekers from Africa arrived there in 2023—a record—with most coming from Senegal and other western African nations.

In response, Spain has built several makeshift detention camps, especially on El Hierro Island, where many of the boats land. The large majority of asylum-seekers who arrive in the Canary Islands are returned to their countries, as Spain has a relatively low rate of approvals. In 2022, Spain approved 16.5 percent of asylum applications, while the EU average is 38.5 percent.

Other EU nations not on the Mediterranean Sea have adopted new laws which make it more difficult for asylum-seekers to win protection and remain in their countries.

France. Despite being led by Emmanuel Macron’s progressive left coalition, the French parliament passed an immigration bill in December 2023, which restricts social benefits for immigrants, streamlines the asylum process, and speeds up deportations. It also restricts birthright citizenship for children born to foreign parents.

On asylum specifically, the new law lowers time limits for asylum appeals, reduces the number of judges allowed to hear an appeal from three to one, and allows for video hearings, which have been shown to undermine due process. Other restrictive provisions include the fast track deportation of individuals who do not comply with the “principles of the Republic”—widely known as targeting Muslims—and the expansion of expulsion authority to deport individuals who are considered a “serious threat to public order.”

Germany. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spearheaded legislation to make it easier to deport asylum-seekers who are unsuccessful in their asylum claims. The Repatriation Improvement Act, passed by the German Parliament on January 19, would expedite deportations, extend asylum detention to 28 days, and increase the power of the German police to search residences to deport asylum-seekers. Deportations from Germany increased 23 percent in 2023 and are expected to rise even further after passage of the new law.

In addition, the German government is negotiating bilateral migration agreements with Georgia, Moldova, Kenya, and Colombia, among other countries, in order to be able to send asylum-seekers there. Germany is also urging the EU to renegotiate a 2016 agreement with Turkey to return asylum-seekers to that country, including Syrians. Finally, Germany recently passed a law which creates a card for benefits, rather than cash payments, in order to deter asylum-seekers from sending the payments to relatives.

United Kingdom. Although not a member of the EU, the United Kingdom has launched its own deterrence policies to prevent asylum-seekers from reaching its shores by boat. More than 120,000 asylum-seekers have arrived by boat on British shores since 2018, with a high of 45,755 having arrived in 2022. As of April 21, 2024, 6,265 asylum-seekers had arrived in England by boat, up about 25 percent from 2023.

As a result of this trend, the United Kingdom negotiated a Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda in 2022, which included an asylum partnership arrangement for Rwanda to receive asylum-seekers who arrive in England by boat.

Since then, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pushed two controversial pieces of legislation through Parliament. The Illegal Migration Act, which passed Parliament in July 2023, denies asylum to any asylum-seeker who arrives by boat to England, with exceptions for victims of human trafficking and unaccompanied children.

The Safety of Rwanda Act, which passed Parliament on April 22, 2024, overturns a UK Supreme Court decision and declares Rwanda a “safe third country,” permitting deportations to Rwanda of asylum-seekers who arrive by boat. Together, these two pieces of legislation, condemned by faith, human rights, and United Nations leaders, deny protection to the most vulnerable of the persecuted.

The Efforts of the European Union to Deter Asylum Seekers

The 27-nation European Union (EU), led by President Ursula von der Leyen, has led the way in making it more difficult for asylum-seekers to reach Europe. The EU has negotiated several agreements with sending and transit countries in Africa, plus one with Turkey in 2016, to block the movement of asylum-seekers to the European continent. In addition, the European Parliament adopted the European Migration and Asylum Pact on April 11—an agreement nearly ten years in the making—which imposes new procedures for asylum and expedites deportations. The pact would go into force in two years, after an implementation phase in which Member States approve the agreement in their legislatures.

Bilateral agreements with sending and transit countries. The EU has negotiated bilateral agreements with northern African nations, including Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Mauritania. These agreements have followed similar contours, with the EU providing large amounts of aid in return for these nations interdicting and detaining asylum-seekers attempting to reach Europe.

Libya. In 2017, the EU endorsed an agreement between Italy and Libya on migration, in which Libya would receive economic assistance in exchange for Libya preventing asylum-seekers from leaving in boats to Europe and in receiving returned migrants interdicted at sea. The result has been the return of 82,000 migrants to deplorable conditions in Libya from 2017-2022, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimating that 40 percent were eligible for asylum in Europe.

Morocco. The EU and Morocco first entered into a cooperative agreement on migration in 2004. In March 2023, the EU extended the relationship, providing an aid package to Morocco which included 152 million Euros for border management, repatriation and reintegration programs for migrants. Morocco stopped 83,000 asylum-seekers from reaching Europe in 2023.

Tunisia. Tunisia has become the main conduit for migration to Italy, with 72,000 asylum-seekers making the Mediterranean crossing in the first half of 2023. In July 2023, the EU signed an agreement with Tunisia which provided them with $118 million for border management and repatriation efforts, among other economic incentives. Italy also provided $50 million to Tunisia under the Mattei plan on April 22.

Mauritania. Mauritania has become both a transit and receiving country for potential asylum-seekers, with the majority of more than 7,270 migrants to Spain leaving from Mauritania in January 2024. In February 2024, the EU provided 210 million Euros to Mauritania for migration control and economic development efforts.

Egypt. The EU and Egypt signed a Joint Declaration on Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership on March 17, 2024, which included cooperation on migration. The EU agreed to provide $8 billion in assistance, including funding to fortify its borders and to help host 560,000 Sudanese fleeing Sudan’s civil war. Egypt is at a strategic crossroads between Africa and the Middle East, with Europe, including Italy, concerned that Palestinians fleeing the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza could attempt to reach Europe.

In sum, Europe has created a wall of countries in northern Africa to prevent migrants from reaching the continent, making it more difficult—and deadly—for asylum-seekers to receive protection. With the passage of the European Union Migration and Asylum Pact, the EU has now made it more difficult for asylum-seekers who reach European shores to remain.

European Migration and Asylum Pact. On April 10, the European Parliament adopted the European Migration and Asylum Pact (EMAP), an EU agreement first conceived in 2016 and introduced in 2022. The pact has gone through several negotiating sessions and revisions, with the last version influenced by and eventually agreed to because of the current migration flow to Europe.

The stated purpose of the pact is to introduce a coordinated European effort to more efficiently manage migration flows to the continent, with each Member State sharing an equal burden in the effort, while also preserving the right to asylum to those who deserve protection.

Like most migration agreements, EMAP has its detractors on both ends of the political spectrum, with immigration advocates citing its due process and human rights shortcomings and immigration opponents decrying its leniency. European leaders, of course, have extolled the historic nature of the pact, arguing that it will bring order and safety to the European immigration system.

With its passage in the EU Parliament, individual Member States must now approve the pact, which is expected. The implementation phase would begin thereafter, as early as June, with a two-year time frame for its full implementation. What are the issues of contention in the EMAP?

Asylum procedures. Europe received 1.14 million asylum applications in 2023, only slightly below the number received during the 2015-2016 migration surge. In order to reduce processing times, the new pact accelerates the timeline for adjudicating applications and for deportations. An initial 7-day screening process is put in place, with identification and fingerprint requirements, even for children ages six or older. If an asylum-seeker fails the screening, he/she can be deported within 5 days.

Moreover, applicants who pass the initial screening will likely be detained as they await their adjudication, with European officials expecting the detention of at least 120,000 a year. In addition, an individual who travels through a “safe third country,” or hails from a “safe” country—subjective judgments—can be denied asylum and placed in a fast-track deportation process, without a right to appeal. Finally, asylum-seekers will not be considered in the European Union while they await their case, leaving them in an “excise” zone without fundamental rights.

Advocates argue that the expedited processing timeline for and the detention of asylum-seekers will decrease their opportunity to prepare a case and attain legal representation. They also claim that the pact will lead to arbitrary detention, discriminating policing, and violent push backs.

Burden Sharing. While the creators of EMAP claim that it ensures that all EU countries share the burden of receiving asylum-seekers, EU members have various options for meeting the requirements, including providing financial resources to the frontline states to detain and process asylum-seekers. Critics of the pact believe that front line states—Italy, Greece, Spain, and Malta—will continue to perform the heavy lifting of handling and maintaining asylum-seekers to the continent.

A provision in the pact does require a Member State to accept an asylum-seeker based upon such factors as family reunification or historical connection, but the nation can opt out by paying a sum of money per asylum-seeker instead. Member States can also provide logistical and infrastructure support to the frontline nations to meet the burden sharing requirement. Poland and Hungary have already indicated that they will not abide by the “burden sharing” requirements.

Migration “Crisis” Regulation. The pact includes a regulation that permits a Member State to declare a migration crisis during a “mass influx” and adjust asylum procedures, thus allowing the nation to turn back potential asylum-seekers without screening them. Immigration advocates see this as a large loophole that can lead to the widespread violations of human rights.

Implementation. With the passage of the agreement by the EU Parliament, the European Council is expected to consider and approve the pact in late April. The EU would then begin an implementation plan, yet to be agreed to, with the pact going into force within two years. It is unclear, however, what “implementation” means and how frontline countries will be prepared to screen, process, detain, and deport asylum-seekers expeditiously. UNHCR strangely welcomed the pact, but urged the EU to protect human rights in its implementation.

Conclusion

It is clear that the European strategy toward migration “management” is one of deterrence, with the goal of preventing asylum-seekers from making the journey to Europe. With numerous bilateral migration agreements in place with northern Africa countries, Europe has built a virtual wall along the northern coast of Africa. The new EU Migration and Asylum Pact will make obtaining entry into Europe, and receiving protection, more difficult.

While many European nations have begun to talk about the creation of legal avenues for migration to Europe, the proposals would not compensate for the denial of asylum to many bona fide asylum-seekers. It is likely that these asylum-seekers, desperate to obtain protection in Europe, will continue to try, leading to more suffering and deaths. Europe is slowly shutting its doors to asylum-seekers, to the detriment of human rights and human life.

April 30, 2024