Stressed Out: EU Countries Approve Stricter Immigration Policies, Denmark Pushes, France and Spain Question

According to AFP on December 8, under the pressure of right-wing and far-right parties, the 27 EU member states approved on Monday a clearly tightened immigration policy, especially paving the way for sending immigrants to overseas centers outside the EU.

EU interior ministers held a meeting in Brussels on Monday and initially approved three proposals submitted by the European Commission this year, aimed at strengthening control over refugee entry and deportation.

The measures mainly include:

- Establishing "deportation centers" outside the EU, where immigrants whose asylum applications have been rejected will be sent.

- Imposing harsher penalties on illegal immigrants who refuse to leave European territory, including extended detention periods.

- Deporting asylum seekers to non-home countries deemed "safe" by Europe.

The report said that although the number of immigrants in Europe has decreased — the number of illegal entries has dropped by about 20% compared to last year — the pressure faced by European politicians has not eased, but rather increased.

EU Commissioner for Migration, Brenner, emphasized on Monday that "it is crucial to make citizens feel that we can control the situation."

France and Spain Question

Under the push from Denmark, member states quickly advanced the review of these measures. The current EU rotating presidency, Denmark, has long advocated for stricter immigration policies.

An diplomat said there was indeed a "broad political will" among the 27 member states to approve these proposals.

Some countries with doubts included France and Spain. The former questioned the legality and effectiveness of certain measures, while the latter doubted the "deportation centers." AFP stated that these centers had already been tried in several countries without substantial results.

However, Spain's Interior Minister, Marlasca, said that due to increasing pressure from certain countries, Spain was becoming increasingly "harder to maintain" its position.

In addition, left-wing groups and refugee protection organizations condemned these measures as violations of human rights. Sylvia Kattal, from the NGO PICUM, said, "The EU has instead chosen a policy that pushes more people into dangerous and legally insecure situations, rather than fully committing to safety, protection, and inclusion."

These measures received clear support from the right and far-right wings. Last week, they jointly with the European Parliament gave the first green light to these measures.

Similarly, their idea is to move quickly forward, and many European Parliament members and leaders have advocated finalizing these measures by early next year.

Cost Sharing Among Countries

On Monday, the 27 EU countries also reached an agreement on a new system for sharing the costs of asylum seekers.

To ease the burden on countries along migration routes such as Greece and Italy, the EU will soon require other member states to accommodate asylum seekers within their territories, or pay a financial subsidy of 20,000 euros per asylum seeker to the countries under pressure.

After weeks of negotiations, the implementation method of this system is expected to take effect in June next year.

Given the few countries willing to accept asylum seekers from other member states under the current political situation, the negotiations on this issue were particularly difficult.

A European official who did not want to be named explained, "Very few interior ministers are willing to say 'OK, I take in 3,000 people' in front of the media."

The specific allocation plan decided by the meeting of EU interior ministers on Monday is classified information.

Source: rfi

Original: toutiao.com/article/1851012493733895/

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