The
European Commission proposed a plan for member states to share the
responsibility for asylum seekers under a "compulsory solidarity
mechanism." It is likely to trigger a heated debate over what is one of
the bloc's most politically sensitive issues. The European Union must agree on
a system to handle migrants over the long term, European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen said upon announcing the plan. "Migration is complex,
the old system to deal with it in Europe no longer works," she said. The
EU's migration system has come under increasing pressure in recent years, with
bottlenecks forming at external borders and nations trading barbs over
responsibility. Member states who do not want to volunteer to house more
migrants could instead take charge of deporting rejected asylum seekers.
The plan
comes on the heels of a devastating fire at the Moria refugee camp on the Greek
island of Lesbos, which left around 12,000 people homeless and put EU migration
policy under the spotlight. "We need to find sustainable solutions on
migration," said von der Leyen. "Moria is a stark reminder."
Ahead of the proposal, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization
for Migration on Tuesday urged the EU to respect the fundamental right to seek
asylum. It claimed the bloc's current approach is "unworkable, untenable
and often carries devastating human consequences." The pact could come
into effect by 2023, but still faces approval by the European Parliament.
In a
450-page proposal, the EU's executive body set forth five new and amended
regulations, some of which address the screening of asylum seekers and crisis
situations. The most contentious element of the plan would impose a legal
obligation on each member state to host an assigned number of refugees and help
in other ways under "mandatory solidarity." In return, each state
would receive €10,000 ($11,750) per adult taken in, funded from the bloc's
budget. The Commission previously said that solidarity can mean not just taking
migrants in, but also, for example, sending medical supplies or equipment where
it is needed. Screenings could relate to checking for arrivals who are unwell,
or for people who have been classified as a security risk. It could also mean
subjecting migrants to a preliminary assessment to exclude those who allegedly
have no basis for an asylum claim, as Germany has proposed. Five years after
the 2015 migration crisis forced European countries to reckon with new waves of
asylum seekers, annual "irregular arrivals " are down to 140,000 a
year. However, EU members remain deeply divided on how to manage asylum
procedures.
EU leaders
have often touted bloc-wide solidarity, but have never made it mandatory as
proposed in Wednesday's plan. Countries such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and
Austria have consistently opposed any measure to force countries to take in
refugees.
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