E.U. strikes major migration deal, signaling hardening attitudes
Washington PostDec 30, 2023
EU Agrees to Major Deal to Reform Migration System
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Image copyright: Thierry Monasse/Getty Images News [via Getty Images]
The Facts
According to a statement from the EU's Spanish presidency on Wednesday, the EU has reached a deal to overhaul its migration system that will include faster vetting of irregular arrivals, developing border detention centers, accelerating deportation for rejected asylum applicants, and taking pressure off of southern countries experiencing higher numbers of migrants.
Under the proposal, which must now be passed by all individual EU member states and the European Parliament (EP), non-border countries will be required to accept 30K migrants or pay €20K ($21,870) per person into an EU fund.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
This bill is a historic show of international solidarity. As nations throughout the continent struggle to absorb mass numbers of migrants without proper time or resources, this bill will provide the necessary digital screening and physical infrastructure needed to lessen the burden on countries that typically receive migrants first. Once implemented, this law will help Europe take in deserving migrants humanely and effectively while keeping out bad actors like human smugglers.
Establishment-critical narrative
This law is far from humane and is instead a codified violation of human rights. With individual countries now allowed to reject asylum claimants due to arbitrary definitions of "mass" migration, EU states will begin to shuffle vulnerable human beings across the continent like pieces on a chess board. Countries will also be able to decide whether someone is a real asylum seeker or part of a smuggling ring, therefore delegitimizing the asylum status of people fleeing persecution. This is wrong on every front and should be overturned before people get hurt.
Cynical narrative
European elites are only talking about mass migration now because the public has finally spoken out against it and elections are coming up. After millions of undocumented migrants entered Europe over the past two decades, EU member states are waking up to the fact that they have no national sovereignty or control over their borders. This has affected the politics, culture, and safety of individual states, from sexual assaults in Germany to knife attacks against children in Ireland. Europeans are tired of the patronizing top-down approach to this issue.
