domingo, 25 de outubro de 2015

Commission migration proposal draws fire


Commission migration proposal draws fire

Countries along Western Balkans route chafe at plan ahead of mini-summit in Brussels.

By JACOPO BARIGAZZI AND HANS VON DER BURCHARD 10/25/15, 2:03 PM CET

A European Commission proposal calling on countries along the Western Balkans migration route to stop letting refugees pass through their borders is already under fire from leaders as they arrive in Brussels Sunday for an emergency meeting.

Leaders of countries along the route have been invited for a special, 10-nation mini-summit hosted by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and called at the direction of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is under increasing political pressure at home to deal with a record influx of refugees.


The Commission is pushing the countries to “commit to refrain from facilitating the movement of refugees or migrants to the border of another country of the region without the agreement of that country,” according to a draft of the proposal circulated to diplomats before the meeting.

Critical reactions to the plan were already coming ahead of the gathering from eastern European countries on the route, which stretches from Greece in the south through Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia.

Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović lashed out at the Commission proposal Saturday, saying “whoever wrote it does not understand how things work, he woke up from several months dreaming. There will be no obligations for Croatia … not a single one.”

Bulgarian diplomatic sources said they were “skeptical” about the proposal, arguing it included an unusual imbalance between general political commitments and detailed concrete obligations on the countries.

A Slovenian diplomat, however, called the text “more or less balanced.”

Political advisors of the participating countries at the meeting, which also will include the leaders of Austria and Germany, met in the Commission Sunday morning to discuss the proposal ahead of the leaders’ summit.

“There are intense discussions going on,” one European diplomat said. “We expect changes to the document before it goes to the leaders” later on Sunday afternoon.

The meeting comes amid mounting difficulties facing Europe, which is struggling to cope with a migration crisis that keeps on shifting. Slovenia last week called for the better protection of the EU’s external borders in Greece after turning into the latest frontline in the crisis.

Last Tuesday Slovenia had called in its army to deal with the sheer numbers of migrants arriving at its borders after Hungary closed its border with Croatia.

Slovenia, which has a population of around 2 million, claims to be overstrained by the influx and asked the Commission last week for €60 million over the next six months to aid the handling of refugees.

In Greece, the number of arrivals by sea this year has now passed the half-million mark with the arrival last Monday on the Aegean islands of nearly 8,000 people, the UNHCR said. “Many of the refugees and migrants are desperate to quickly move onwards, fearing that borders ahead of them will close,” the UN refugee agency also said.Migration-map-meeting_FINAL3-01-01 (1)

The draft Commission statement also reconfirmed the principle “that a country may refuse entry to third-country nationals who, when presenting themselves at border crossing points, do not confirm a wish to apply for international protection” — meaning that those who do not declare the intention to apply for the status of a refugee could be refused entry immediately at the border.

The document also includes measures such as setting up a new operation by the EU’s border control agency Frontex at the external land border between Greece and Macedonia and Albania “to focus on exit checks but also the registration of refugees and migrants who have not yet registered in Greece.”

It would also deploy new Frontex support to detect irregular border crossings and support registration and fingerprinting in Croatia and the deployment “by Wednesday of 400 border guards and essential equipment through the activation by Slovenia of the Rapid Border Intervention Team mechanism.” That would allow, in case of urgent and exceptional migratory pressure, rapid deployment of border guards on a European level even as responsibility for the control and surveillance of external borders remains with member countries.

“Refugees need to be treated in a humane manner along the length of the Western Balkans route to avoid a humanitarian tragedy in Europe,” the document reads.

The proposal also includes measures calling on countries to boost “the capacity of their countries to provide temporary shelter, food, health, water and sanitation to all in need,” and to “make their needs clear and to trigger the EU Civil Protection Mechanism” which consists of governmental aid delivered in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.

Finally, in terms of funding, leaders will also “engage in immediate operational contacts with international financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Development Bank of the Council of Europe which are ready to support these efforts financially.

Authors:


Jacopo Barigazzi and Hans von der Burchard  

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