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Migrant Crisis Leads to Calls for Tighter Borders in Europe Migrant Crisis Leads to Calls for Tighter Borders in Europe
(about 3 hours later)
BRUSSELS — Eager to push the migration crisis back beyond their own frontiers, European leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday to endorse stepped-up border controls and a push to get Turkey to control the flow of Syrians and others before they can reach Europe.BRUSSELS — Eager to push the migration crisis back beyond their own frontiers, European leaders gathered in Brussels on Thursday to endorse stepped-up border controls and a push to get Turkey to control the flow of Syrians and others before they can reach Europe.
The gathering in Brussels, the fourth consecutive summit meeting focused on the issue, is unlikely to lead to any significant new policies, but it is expected to confirm a shift in tone away from the open-armed message sent over the summer by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany toward what critics describe as a “fortress Europe” approach. The gathering in Brussels, the fourth consecutive summit meeting focused on the issue, marked a shift away from the open-armed message sent over the summer by Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany toward what critics describe as a “fortress Europe” approach.
Speaking on Thursday in Berlin before flying to Brussels, Ms. Merkel told the lower house of Parliament that Europe faced a “historic task” in dealing with the influx of migrants and must work with Turkey, where more than two million Syrians have taken shelter, to slow the flow toward Europe. Arriving in Brussels on Thursday, Ms. Merkel described the flow of people seeking refuge and a better life in Europe as “very disorderly” and called for joint efforts by the 28-nation European Union to secure the bloc’s external borders.
“Without a doubt Turkey plays a key role in this situation,” Ms. Merkel said, Reuters reported. “Most war refugees who come to Europe travel via Turkey. We won’t be able to order and stem the refugee movement without working together with Turkey.” Before flying to Brussels, Ms. Merkel told the lower house of Parliament in Berlin that Europe faced a “historic task” in dealing with the influx of migrants and must work with Turkey, where more than two million Syrians have taken shelter, to slow the flow toward Europe.
Under political pressure at home to curb an influx of asylum seekers to Germany, which now expects 1.5 million migrants in all this year, Ms. Merkel has increasingly looked to Turkey as a possible solution and is scheduled to travel there on Sunday to appeal for help from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Without a doubt Turkey plays a key role in this situation,” Ms. Merkel said. “Most war refugees who come to Europe travel via Turkey. We won’t be able to order and stem the refugee movement without working together with Turkey.”
That will follow a visit to Turkey on Wednesday and Thursday by Frans Timmermans, the deputy president of the European Commission, who has been also been pushing for a deal with Ankara on the migration issue. Germany and the European Union as a whole are hoping that Turkey will agree to curb migrant traffic to Greek islands, some of which lie just a few miles from the Turkish coast, and also to take back asylum-seekers whose claims for refugee status in the European Union get rejected.
Senior officials in Brussels, the headquarters of the union’s executive arm, have indicated that Turkey could get visa-free access to the European Union for its citizens if it finds a way to slow the flow of migrants across its territory. But granting Turks easy entry to Europe would be politically delicate at a time when most governments are scrambling for ways to limit, not expand, access to their countries. As an inducement, Brussels is offering to give billions of euros in extra European funding for Turkey and also to speed up visa-free access to Europe for Turkish citizens, a politically delicate issue at a time when most governments are scrambling for ways to limit, not expand, access to their countries.
Diplomats in Brussels say that one proposal would call for Turkey to set up camps where asylum seekers hoping for refuge in Europe would be registered and processed. The union’s top executive, Jean-Claude Juncker said Thursday that talks with Turkey were “moving in the right direction” and officials here said Turkey had assented to a preliminary accord during talks Thursday in Ankara with Frans Timmermans, the Commission’s vice president.
The plan revives an idea put forward more than a decade ago by Tony Blair, when he was the British prime minister, for the establishment of migrant reception centers in Africa and the Middle East that would effectively move the processing of asylum claims offshore. But national governments, many of which are reluctant to grant visa-free access to Turks, must now sign off on the terms of any agreement.
Mr. Blair’s plan for “Regional Protection Areas,” which Amnesty International condemned as “inherently unlawful,” never got off the ground. But European governments are again groping for ways to separate people with a strong case for refugee status, like Syrians who are fleeing war, from those who want to move to Europe for economic reasons. Turkey, relishing the leverage that Europe’s desperation has given it, has driven a hard bargain, with Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu telling Turkish television that his county would not take back migrants rejected for asylum in Europe unless Turks were allowed to travel to Europe without visas.
Keeping asylum seekers outside Europe until their cases have been reviewed would also solve what has become a major headache: what to do with the tens of thousands of people in Europe whose asylum claims have been rejected but who refuse to leave. In the second quarter of this year, according to Frontex, the European Union border agency, only 43,000 of the 72,168 failed asylum candidates left as ordered. Under political pressure at home to curb an influx of asylum seekers to Germany, which now expects 1.5 million migrants in all this year, Ms. Merkel has increasingly looked to Turkey as a possible solution and is due to travel there on Sunday to appeal for help from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
That will follow a visit to Turkey on Wednesday and Thursday by Mr. Timmermans, a former Dutch foreign minister, who has been also been pushing for a deal with Ankara on the migration issue.
Diplomats in Brussels say that one proposal under discussion would call for Turkey to set up camps funded and supervised by the European Union where asylum seekers hoping for refuge in Europe would be registered and processed.
This revives an idea put forward more than a decade ago by Tony Blair, when he was the British prime minister, for the establishment of migrant reception centers in Africa and the Middle East that would effectively move offshore the processing of asylum claims. The plan, which Amnesty International condemned as “inherently unlawful,” never got off the ground.
But as European governments grope for ways to deal with the current crisis, keeping asylum seekers outside Europe would also solve what has become a major headache: what to do with the tens of thousands of people in Europe whose asylum claims have been rejected but who refuse to leave. In the second quarter of this year, according to Frontex, the European Union border agency, only 43,000 of the 72,168 failed asylum candidates left as ordered.
European Union interior ministers last week agreed on tougher measures to ensure the swift deportation of migrants who do not qualify for refugee status, including the “use of detention as a legitimate measure of last resort.”European Union interior ministers last week agreed on tougher measures to ensure the swift deportation of migrants who do not qualify for refugee status, including the “use of detention as a legitimate measure of last resort.”
Germany’s Parliament on Thursday toughened its own policy toward failed asylum-seekers as part of a package of measures that could help Ms. Merkel damp down protest in her own conservative camp that Germany’s considerable resources are being overstretched by the refugee crisis.
The package means that Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro will now be considered “safe,” and almost none of its citizens therefore eligible for asylum in Germany. Other measures will cut cash benefits paid to asylum claimants, reduce the amount of time to process claims and speed deportation of those who do not get permission to stay.
“I have looked very carefully at the figures,” Ms. Merkel said, “and Germany is nowhere near the top” in sending home those refused asylum.
Elizabeth Collett, director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe, a research group in Brussels, said the renewed emphasis on tougher border controls was in part “just political theater,” because leaders find it “much easier to agree on the need for strong borders” than on what to do with refugees once they arrive.Elizabeth Collett, director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe, a research group in Brussels, said the renewed emphasis on tougher border controls was in part “just political theater,” because leaders find it “much easier to agree on the need for strong borders” than on what to do with refugees once they arrive.
“There is a need to demonstrate action, so there is a lot of talk without the details being worked through,” she said.“There is a need to demonstrate action, so there is a lot of talk without the details being worked through,” she said.
Hungary, which faced strong criticism over the summer for using force to prevent asylum seekers from breaching a fence along its southern border, is now moving swiftly to beef up its own border security. Instead of waiting for the European Union to act, it has asked its neighbors to provide border guards to help its own forces, with the Czech Republic and Slovakia pledging a total of 200 officers.Hungary, which faced strong criticism over the summer for using force to prevent asylum seekers from breaching a fence along its southern border, is now moving swiftly to beef up its own border security. Instead of waiting for the European Union to act, it has asked its neighbors to provide border guards to help its own forces, with the Czech Republic and Slovakia pledging a total of 200 officers.
In a letter to European Union leaders this week inviting them to the summit meeting, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, warned that Europe faces even “bigger waves” of asylum-seekers once winter passes. “The exceptionally easy access to Europe is one of the main pull factors,” said Mr. Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, calling for tighter controls. In a letter to European Union leaders this week inviting them to the summit meeting, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council and a former Polish prime minister, warned that Europe faces even “bigger waves” of asylum-seekers once winter passes and called for tighter controls.
All the same, it is doubtful that Europe has the resources needed to bolster its external borders, particularly in Greece and Italy, through which 470,000 asylum-seekers have entered the union so far this year, according to Frontex.All the same, it is doubtful that Europe has the resources needed to bolster its external borders, particularly in Greece and Italy, through which 470,000 asylum-seekers have entered the union so far this year, according to Frontex.
Frontex, which mostly coordinates and advises national border services, has no guards, vehicles, boats or aircraft of its own. Last week, it appealed to European Union member states to provide 775 border guards to assist mainly Italy and Greece in patrolling their borders and ensuring that all asylum-seekers are properly identified and registered. Frontex, which mostly coordinates and advises national border services, has no guards, vehicles, boats or aircraft of its own. Last week, it appealed to European Union member states to provide 775 border guards to help ensure that all asylum-seekers are properly identified and registered.
According to diplomats, however, countries have offered only a few dozen officers to help out. A Frontex spokeswoman said that the agency had received offers of “over 100 officers” but that exact numbers could not be made public until the end of the week. In a presentation to leaders on Thursday, however, Jean-Claude Juncker, the union’s top executive, complained that only 48 officers had so far been offered.
Europe has been hamstrung since the start in its response to the migrant crisis by the wide chasm between bold plans and modest actions.
Five months after the union’s executive arm, the European Commission, announced a program to relocate 40,000 migrants from front-line states, a number later expanded to 160,000, only 19 Eritreans have so far been relocated, flying last week on a chartered jet from Italy to Sweden.Five months after the union’s executive arm, the European Commission, announced a program to relocate 40,000 migrants from front-line states, a number later expanded to 160,000, only 19 Eritreans have so far been relocated, flying last week on a chartered jet from Italy to Sweden.
Despite pledges by leaders in September to increase funding for humanitarian aid for migrants, only a handful of countries have actually followed through. “The response is far below what is required,” Mr. Timmermans said this week. Despite pledges by leaders in September to provide 2.8 billion euro in extra funding for humanitarian aid and migrants, only a handful of countries have actually followed through, offering a total of 450 million euro. “It is a question of credibility,” Mr. Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said Thursday, adding that leaders need to show “whether they can live up to their promises.”
The big plans for Turkey could prove equally or even more difficult to get off the drawing board, especially as it has little incentive to slow a flow of migrants to Europe that so far has relieved its own burden.
At the same time, some in Europe question the wisdom of reaching out to the increasingly authoritarian Mr. Erdogan. Turkey faces growing political unrest, particularly after the bombings in the capital, Ankara, over the weekend, the worst terrorist attack in the county’s modern history.
In a report issued on Thursday, Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, predicted that “Turkish elections, alongside a host of structural factors, will mean only limited progress is made on the E.U.’s key demand that Turkey stem migrant flows more effectively.” This, it added, would mean that the migrant crisis would continue to dominate the European political agenda in 2016.
Mr. Tusk, in his letter to leaders, said Europe’s porous borders meant that the summit meeting must involve a discussion about whether to scrap the so-called Dublin system, which requires asylum seekers to apply for refugee status in the first European Union country reach, and look at ways to strengthen the bloc’s external borders.
He said leaders also must determine the precise role of “hot spots,” a program of registration centers in Greece and Italy that has been so mired in confusion and disagreement that it still exists mainly on paper.
“Even if the influx of refugees slows down during winter, we must be ready for spring and the threat of bigger waves flowing to Europe,” Mr. Tusk warned, adding that there could be “millions of potential new refugees.”