By Siri Malmborg
For years, the EU has tried to find a compromise on asylum policy. Thus, the interior ministers’ agreement on new common regulations was described as a “breakthrough”. Migration researcher Judith Kohlenberger of the Vienna University of Economics and Business wonders if the proposal is not yet another political asylum dam break It is.
The vote was, on the one hand, on the agreement on the distribution of refugees within the EU and on the preliminary examination of opportunities for admitting refugees at the external borders of the EU. Much of what EU member state interior ministers voted for is already a reality, says Judith Kohlenberger. According to Kohlenberger, what is really new is the displacement of discourse to the right.
Squeeze instead of human rights
“The whole asylum discourse has shifted drastically to the right within the EU. We are now reading statements from various interior ministers about ‘harsh procedures’, whatever that means. It’s not about fairness in the process, the rule of law and human rights anymore, but about tightening it up,” says Judith Kohlenberger. For example, Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner spoke about toughening up after the vote from last week: “Yes, after intensive, tough, tough negotiations, another important step was taken today towards a stricter, sometimes stricter, asylum system”.
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Migration researcher Judith Kohlenberger
It was announced that people from countries with little chance of admission were to be separated and rejected at the EU’s external borders – before they even had the opportunity to submit an application under the rule of law. This is called a “border procedure” and is actually not a procedure at all, but just a preliminary examination of admission chances. Judith Kohlenberger sees this as “very problematic under fundamental rights, because the right to seek asylum, the right to a fair trial, is a core element of applicable asylum law. And that is undermined by this proposal.”
Furthermore, people cannot be denied access to asylum applications on the basis of their country of origin, says Judith Kohlenberger. Because even if someone comes from a country with little chance of admission, it could still be that the person is persecuted because of their sexual orientation or religious affiliation. “They certainly have a reason for asylum, even if most of them have no reason for asylum. And that’s why it’s very, very important to insist on a case-by-case assessment. This is being undermined by this proposed ‘border procedures’”.
Until segregated people can be sent back to their home countries, they must be accommodated in “prison conditions”. Judith Kohlenberger: “We take it for granted and normal that men, women and children seeking protection are detained for weeks. This is truly a situation that cannot be expected in a Europe in 2023. And this must become a bitter reality. Greece.
The issue of migration is instrumentalized
According to Judith Kohlenberger, the EU continues to rely on isolation, deterrence and outsourcing. It is argued that by intercepting people at the external borders, suffering can be avoided. Migration research shows that the deterrence strategy does not have the desired effect. “Now we’re selling this reform under the headline ‘This will end death in the Mediterranean’. This is how we fight human trafficking.’ access to the asylum process, and the causes of flight do not disappear, they remain unchanged”, says Judith Kohlenberger.
If research on migration shows that the previous restrictive policy is ineffective, why doesn’t the EU bet on other strategies, such as the creation of legal access routes? “Because some political actors don’t want the solution, they need the problem. They need the unresolved migration issue at the European level to use it to hold elections, to raise public spirits, to make small political changes with it.”
How exactly the discussed regulations are to be applied is still completely open. Judith Kohlenberger hopes that the European Parliament’s regulations will change again and that the integration of very restrictive countries such as Poland and Hungary will work.