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Brussels, Belgium, 10 April 2024 —  As MEPs today voted in favour of the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum, the ̽����ѡ (̽����ѡ) warns that it leaves “troubling cracks deep within Europe’s approach to asylum and migration”. 

We’re calling for EU leaders to guarantee that this new legislation will safeguard, rather than roll back, fundamental rights and protections for people seeking safety in Europe.

Marta Welander, ̽����ѡ’s EU Advocacy Director, says:

“The European Parliament has today voted through a Pact that leaves troubling cracks deep within Europe’s approach to asylum and migration, and fails to offer sustainable solutions for people seeking safety at Europe’s borders. It is unlikely to decrease pressure on states of first entry, prevent human rights violations at borders, adequately uphold the right to asylum, or create a common European asylum system with clear rules and regulations.

"As the Pact is put into action in the coming months and years, we need guarantees from EU leaders that it will safeguard - rather than erode - fundamental rights and protections for people seeking safety.

"In order for this to happen, the ̽����ѡ is calling on EU leaders to closely monitor how the Pact is being implemented, ensuring that it meets its requirements on integration and inclusion, prevention of pushbacks, access to asylum and protection - particularly for children who are now more likely to face detention at Europe’s borders. They need to prioritise the relocation of people seeking safety away from Europe’s southernmost states to those with more capacity to meet their needs. And they should ensure that people are not held in prison-like conditions while awaiting the outcomes of their asylum applications, with access to essential services and their rights upheld at every stage of this process.

"Finally, the adoption of the Union Resettlement Framework offers a glimmer of hope for the expansion of safe routes. While it is not a replacement for upholding the right to asylum for all those seeking protection in Europe - however they arrive - this key part of the Pact has the potential to bring about a more coordinated, predictable and protection-centred approach to EU refugee resettlement. With some 2.4 million people globally in need of resettlement, the EU should urgently put this Framework into practice, providing a precious lifeline for some of the world’s most vulnerable people and an orderly, effective way for EU states to welcome people in need.”