EU signs off on landmark asylum pact ahead of elections

New rules for migrants blasted by NGOs but seen as not tough enough by others

- Jonathan Eyal

Ministers from the European Union's 27 member states adopted new measures on May 14 to tighten the admission rules for new migrants arriving at the continent's borders - the first time that the EU as a whole is seeking to streamline the procedures.

After eight years of intense negotiations, the EU finally acquired standard rules for the registration, screening and deportation of those who arrive without a prior permit and fail to gain the right to asylum in Europe.

But the newly adopted rules have failed to satisfy either those who demand tighter immigration controls or non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working for migrants' welfare.

In 2023, a total of 380,000 people entered the EU territory illegally or in an "irregular manner", as European officials put it. This represented a rise of 17 per cent in arrival figures from 2022 and amounted to the highest level of illegal migrant arrivals since Europe's 2015 refugee crisis.

Immigration has been a politically sensitive topic in the EU since 2015 when more than a million people most of them fleeing the war in Syria crossed the Mediterranean into Europe.

Many migrants continue to come from Africa and the Middle East and arrive at Europe's shores in rickety, unseaworthy boats often operated by criminal gangs.

Some are fleeing genuine persecution on account of their race, religion, political beliefs or gender, and are therefore granted asylum in Europe.

However, most are deemed to be economic migrants who qualify for no such protection and are, therefore, required to return home. Yet because legal procedures and appeals against deportation orders offer endless delaying opportunities, no more than a fifth of people whose right to asylum is rejected return to their countries.