Refugees in the EU: New migration routes, new challenges

Every day people flee from persecution, war and environmental disasters, but also from hunger or in the hope of a better life. Many want to go to the EU, which poses problems due to migration pressure.

“Every asylum seeker has the right to be examined on a case-by-case basis,” but not everyone is allowed to stay in the EU, says EU Interior Commissioner Ylva Johannson. But all people have rights and dignity. They should be treated accordingly, even if they have to walk again. That is perfectly in the spirit of the Geneva Refugee Convention. It defines who is considered a refugee – because they are persecuted because of their religion or political convictions, for example.

But even a migrant does not always leave their homeland voluntarily. Europe must learn to deal with it, says the Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter. As a representative of one of the so-called Schengen states, she is negotiating with the EU interior ministers on the implementation of the migration and asylum package: “The progress is minimal. It may now be an intermediate phase,” she explains. “Talks are being resumed, but it is urgently necessary to agree on the core elements of this reform, because migration flows are relatively large at the moment. And we always run the risk of having another crisis without our being prepared for it . ”

Smuggled in from Belarus

There is great concern that once the corona pandemic has subsided, the number of migrants could skyrocket. In June, for example, the number of refugees on the central Mediterranean route more than doubled compared to the previous year. In the first six months, 6952 people landed on the Canary Islands – 90 percent more than in the same period last year. There are also new migration routes. For example, as a reaction to the sanctions imposed on his country, the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko has refugees flown in and smuggled across the Lithuanian border into the EU.

Agne Bilotaite is the interior minister of the Baltic Republic: “I want to address a serious migration problem in the EU that is developing on the border between Lithuania and Belarus. The situation is really difficult and very alarming because the number of illegal migrants is increasing dramatically,” she says. “Lithuania therefore urgently asks the EU Commission and the member states for help. It is very important to us that we are not alone in this situation.”

Steady distribution of refugees

The EU has now sent ten million euros and additional staff to Lithuania. In this case, it worked with solidarity – unlike the distribution of asylum seekers, which is why Europe is not making any progress in reforming migration and asylum policy. At the same time there are always new challenges. After the withdrawal of western troops, the number of Afghans seeking protection in Europe has risen significantly. In Germany alone it was in June 1492, which corresponds to an increase of more than 300 percent compared to June 2020.