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BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union struck a landmark agreement Wednesday to overhaul migration policy, a political agreement that signals a broader shift to the right across Europe.
Full details of the agreement, reached after years of debate and days of marathon talks, have not yet been made public and the plan has yet to be officially ratified. But many aspects of the EU's approach to migration are expected to change, from border surveillance to how long people are detained.
“Migration is a common European challenge – today’s decision will allow us to tackle it together,” tweeted Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission.
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The 27-member union has long struggled to find common ground on the issue. After the pandemic years, in which migration disappeared from the political agenda – especially in the face of travel bans and closed borders – the issue returned to the campaign and elections, giving new impetus to the EU's efforts.
Although the EU moved quickly to admit millions of predominantly white, Christian refugees from Ukraine after Russia's invasion in 2022, it still appears focused on keeping out those arriving from elsewhere. Over the past year, a surge in arrivals has spurred the politicization of asylum and refugee policy, bringing the issue to the forefront in many capitals.
Anti-immigrant voter sentiment helped the far right to new victories in bastions of social liberalism like the Netherlands, while also dominating political debate in France, Germany, Italy, Britain and beyond.
In the first eleven months of 2023, the continent recorded a 17 percent increase in irregular entries compared to the same period last year. The more than 355,000 arrivals represented the highest number since 2016, when the region experienced a historic influx led by refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.
In their remarks on Wednesday, senior European officials called the deal a victory for Europe and those desperately – and often dangerously – trying to reach its shores.
“This means that Europeans decide who comes into the EU and who can stay, not the smugglers. It means protecting those in need,” said von der Leyen.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the agreement “historic” and said it would allow Europe to “gain more control over migration, for example through better, faster asylum procedures at the EU's external borders.”
But human rights groups condemned the new measures, saying they would undermine protections for asylum seekers and refugees and put new arrivals at even greater risk. They are particularly concerned about plans to examine asylum applications more quickly at the border.
“This agreement will set back European asylum law for decades to come,” Amnesty International said in a statement. “The likely result is an increase in suffering at every step of a person’s journey to seeking asylum in the EU.”
Beatriz Rios in Granada, Spain, contributed to this report.