EU changes asylum, deportation protocols amid pushbacks
The European Commission will, today, unveil its proposed reform of the European Union’s (EU) ‘safe third country’ concept.
The proposal is to dismantle the ‘connection criteria’ and the suspensive effect of appeal. This would mean individuals could be returned to countries they have no connection with, and any attempt to appeal the decision would not halt their removal.
Migrants’ rights experts and EU lawmakers are outraged, calling the move a “lethal blow to the right to asylum” and a threat to “the safeguards and the fairness of the asylum process.”
The ‘safe third country’ reform has been expedited due to its centrality to the functioning of the new Returns Regulation announced in March. The legislation was branded a “new low” by Amnesty International and other human rights groups, particularly the inclusion of so-called “return hubs”.
Removing the ‘connection criteria’ would be crucial for establishing these hubs in third countries, and would pave the way for offshore deportation centres similar to the use of Guantanamo Bay under the Trump administration.
Currently, $21 million has been spent on flights to Guantanamo and 32 people remain detained there for the purpose of removal.
THIS comes as it was established that only 20 per cent of Africans are irregular migrants.
Delegates from the Euro-African Dialogue on Migration and Development, popularly known as the Rabat Process, submitted that 80 per cent of African migrants are regular, with only 20 per cent forced to negotiate irregular channels.
Ambassador at Large for Migration Affairs, Kingdom of Spain, Pilar Jimenez, observed that migration is a vector for mutual and sustainable development. Hence, a focus on youth as a driver now and in the future was key to harnessing the benefits of migration.
Speaking at the close of the two-day migration deliberations on the theme ‘Youth, Innovation and Education: Driving the Future of Migration’ in Abuja, she noted:
“Common understanding is that youth is the driver of the future. And that is the reason why this is the first time that the youth and the civil society have been invited to the Rabat Process.
“We heard from the Nigerian delegation a very important remark that is that 80 per cent of African migrants are regular, and only 20 per cent are forced to find irregular channels.
Ambassador Jimenez observed: “The young change makers from Africa, as one of the representatives put it, address challenges of irregular migration from Africa to Europe, especially Nigeria and the Kingdom of Spain, which have youth-centred migration policies that would unlock Diaspora potential to both destination and countries of origin.”
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, called for collective efforts and sustained collaboration to meet the evolving challenges of migration.
