Under pressure on migrants, Europe will seek to increase the number of returns to ease the asylum application management system. The new focus on deportations has been given by the European Commission “operational strategy“To make the repatriation of irregular migrants more efficient and faster. “924,000 asylum applications were filed in the EU last year,” which equals “almost three times the illegal arrivals of immigrants,” said Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs.
Asylum seekers waiting for the epidemic to end before moving to Europe, refugees newly arrived from the Ukraine conflict, nearly 4 million people and other migrants fleeing other ongoing crises accumulate in the respective reception systems. Commenting on the 2022 data, Johansson added that member states saw “a 50 percent increase in asylum applications compared to the previous year”, with the exception of Ukrainians who fled the war and benefited from temporary residence permits in all EU countries.
“Most of the applications were made in Germany, France, Spain and Austria,” said the Commissioner. On the other hand, when the relationship between the number of population and asylum applications is examined, “We see that the most pressure is in Cyprus, followed by Austria. Greece, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Belgium follow”.
In addition to irregular migrants who do not apply for asylum, there are still many migrants who have applied for international protection and whose requests have been rejected. But attempts by European countries to repatriate those who do not have the right to stay in the EU often fail. “Today, only 16% of deportation decisions are followed by an active return request,” Johansson said. “It is important to increase cooperation with third countries to accelerate returns,” said the EU commissioner.
Hence the new document presented just over two weeks before the Council of Europe, where EU leaders will return to talk about the migrant case following the increase in flows in 2022, and the acceptance of shipwrecks between Italy and France salvaged by NGOs operating in the region. crisis regarding the Mediterranean. “We must work as a team,” said Johansson, adding that if a non-EU country rejects repatriated nationals, a united response is needed because “Member States and the Commission cannot do that.” alone”.
The strategy described covers four focus areas: actions targeting urgent needs, including joint repatriation operations in selected third countries; speeding up the return process; to encourage returns and reintegration recommendations; Digitization of returns management. The European Commission underlined that “an effective and common EU returns system is the pillar of the comprehensive approach of the new EU Pact on migration and asylum, as well as well-functioning and reliable migration and asylum systems”. “An effective and common EU returns system must also act as a deterrent to help reduce dangerous and irregular migration,” the European executive body concluded.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
