The European parliament has approved the bloc’s new migration and asylum pact.
The pact was passed despite earlier uncertainties over whether all parts of it would receive sufficient backing.
The votes came after years of deadlock, debates and negotiations over the EU’s migration and asylum policies.
Some Members of the European Parliament said that they voted in favour of the migration deal, despite criticism and doubts.
The 10-part pact, amongst other things, requires all EU member states to take some form of responsibility for managing asylum applications.
If an EU country does not want to accept people applying for asylum, then that member state must give alternative assistance like financial contributions to a support fund.
Also, EU member states experiencing significant spikes in applications for asylum may call for the applicants to be distributed to other EU countries.
The most controversial part of the package involves establishing border facilities in the EU to host asylum seekers and screen and quickly send back applicants found not to be ineligible.
Roberta Metsola, the European parliament President, wrote on X, “History made. We have delivered a robust legislative framework on how to deal with migration and asylum in the EU.”
She added, “It has been more than 10 years in the making. But we kept our word. A balance between solidarity and responsibility. This is the European way.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, said after the votes that the migration and asylum pact will be making a “real difference” for Europeans.
She said it would bring more secure borders, knowing who crosses the borders, while ensuring respect for fundamental rights.
“We have successfully put an end to the political deadlock that has characterised migration for many years,” the centre-right European People’s party MEP Tomas Tobé said in a statement after the voting ended.
“Delivering on the new Migration Pact will allow us to regain control over our external borders and reduce the migration pressure on the EU,” he said.
The new laws must now be approved by European leaders.
Voices Of Opposition
The Hungarian government reiterated its opposition to the migration pact.
The French National Rally’s Jordan Bardella, a critic of the migration pact, called it “terrible” and called for a “defeat” for the project in the upcoming European parliament election.
The Greens in the European parliament said after today’s votes that “with the migration pact, the lack of solidarity towards asylum seekers & between member states will only get worse.”
“Real solidarity is about sharing the responsibility fairly both within the EU and international partners & standing up to our values & fighting for human rights,” the Greens said.
“EU institutions are now shamefully co-signing an agreement that they know will lead to greater human suffering,” said Eve Geddie, Amnesty International’s lead of the European institutions office.
“For people escaping conflict, persecution or economic insecurity these reforms will mean less protection and a greater risk of facing human rights violations across Europe – including illegal and violent pushbacks, arbitrary detention and discriminatory policing,” she said.
“Europe has missed a vital opportunity to build a migration and asylum system that places human rights at the centre, and to unconditionally uphold people’s human right to seek asylum no matter where they come from or how they have arrived.
“This pact is a failure to show global leadership on refugee protection and building safe, fair and dignified pathways for people to reach Europe – whether in search of safety or of opportunity.”
Eve Geddie
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