Explained: Why a new European pact on migration and asylum is controversial

It was eight years in the making. After delays and deadlocks, the European Parliament has okayed a major reform that tightens migration and asylum rules in the European Union (EU).

The EU Migration and Asylum Pact, which has been in the works since 2015, will be implemented in two years. It hopes to end years of division over how to manage the entry of thousands of people without authorisation, as it hardens border procedures and forces all the bloc’s 27 nations to share responsibility.

The pact will speed up the asylum process and return of irregular migrants to their home countries.

However, the legislation is considered controversial and has left leaders in the EU divided. The European Parliament’s main political groups overcame opposition from far-right and far-left parties to pass the new migration and asylum pact.

The 27 EU member countries must now endorse the reform package, possibly in a vote in late April before it can take effect.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen hailed the vote, saying it will “secure European borders… while ensuring the protection of the fundamental rights” of migrants. “We must be the ones to decide who comes to the European Union and under what circumstances, and not the smugglers and traffickers,” she said.

We take a look at the agreement and the divisions over it.

What are the EU’s new migration and asylum rules?

A plan to regulate the entry of migrants was drawn up after 1.3 million people, mostly those fleeing war in Syria and Iraq, sought refuge in Europe in 2015. The EU’s asylum system collapsed, reception centres were overwhelmed in Greece and Italy, and countries further north built barriers to stop people from entering.

The reform was approved after years of negotiations and requires all EU nations to share responsibilities for asylum seekers.

Belgium’s prime minister Alexander De Croo, European parliament president Roberta Metsola and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen participate in a media conference at the European Parliament in Brussels. Lawmakers voted on Wednesday on the major revamp of the European Union’s migration laws. AP

Under the proposed rules, the 27 EU member states are expected to take in thousands of migrants from “frontline” countries like Italy, Spain and Greece. If they fail to do that they are obligated to help their EU partners by offering to house people eligible for asylum or, failing that, to pay the costs of lodging them elsewhere.

The new rules include controversial measures: facial images and fingerprints could be taken from children aged six and people may be detained during screening. Fast-track deportation could be used on those not permitted to stay. Another contentious measure is sending asylum seekers to countries outside the EU that are deemed “safe” if a person has some ties to that country.

The reforms also propose faster processing at the borders with new procedures to establish status swiftly on arrival. Migrants would find out within five days whether they could stay in Europe or have to leave with the help of a “screening” procedure on entry. This includes identity, security and health checks and fingerprinting.

The new rules aim to deal with asylum requests within 12 weeks and in case of rejection, asylum seekers would have to be returned forcibly to their home country within the same period, reports the BBC.

Demonstrators wear a message on their shirts which reads “This pact kills” while standing in the visitor’s gallery, as members of the European Parliament participated in a series of votes, during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels, on Wednesday. AP

How the reforms have left the EU divided

In a series of 10 votes, members of the European Parliament endorsed the regulations and policies that make up the Pact on Migration and Asylum.

The agreement received the support of the bloc’s two main political groups – the centre-right European People’s Party Group (EPP Group) and the centre-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D). They overcame opposition from far-right and far-left parties to pass reforms.

The far-right parties, rising in popularity in Europe, opposed the reforms as they felt they were not tough enough. They hoped to use the chaos around migration to their advantage ahead of the June elections. But Wednesday’s approval will now deprive the far-right of campaigning on the issue.

The far-left also objected to the overhaul of the EU’s migration laws. They believe the reforms are too stringent and are pushing Europe to abandon its values of compassion and human dignity and are more in tune with the demands of the far right.

The EU parliament’s far-left grouping maintains that the reforms are incompatible with Europe’s commitment to upholding human rights. It was a “dark day”. It was “a pact with the devil”, said Damien Careme, a lawmaker from the Greens group.

People hold signs that read ‘Rescue is not a Crime’ during a demonstration for the rights of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe in Berlin, Germany. File photo/Reuters

EU governments, a majority of which previously approved the pact, welcomed its adoption. However, there was criticism from some leaders.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Greece’s migration minister, Dimitris Kairidis, both called it “historic”.

French president Emmanuel Macron said Europe was acting “effectively and humanely” while Italian interior minister Matteo Piantedosi hailed what he termed “the best possible compromise”.

But there was dissent when Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban derided the reform as “another nail in the coffin of the European Union”. “Unity is dead, secure borders are no more. Hungary will never give in to the mass migration frenzy! We need a change in Brussels in order to StopMigration!” Orban said in a post on social media platform X.

Other far-right lawmakers also opposed the passage of the 10 laws making up the pact as insufficient to stop irregular migrants they accuse of spreading insecurity and threatening to “submerge” European identity.

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk rejected as “unacceptable” the mechanism of taking in some asylum seekers or paying into an EU fund for frontline states.

Marine Le Pen, the figurehead of France’s far-right National Rally, complained the changes would give “legal impunity to NGOs complicit with smugglers”. She and her party’s leader who sits in the European Parliament, Jordan Bardella, said they would seek to overturn the reform after EU elections in June, which are tipped to boost far-right numbers in the legislature.

What do human rights activists say?

For reasons far different, migrant charities also slammed the pact, which includes building border centres to hold asylum-seekers and sending some to outside “safe” countries.

Amnesty International said the EU was “shamefully” backing a deal “they know will lead to greater human suffering” while the Red Cross federation urged member states “to guarantee humane conditions for asylum seekers and migrants affected”.

Migrants sit in a boat, after a Spanish Salvamento Maritimo (Sea Search and Rescue agency) vessel rescued around 250 migrants in three different boats at sea, at La Restinga port, in the municipality of El Pinar on the Canary Island of El Hierro last year. File photo/AFP

How many migrants enter Europe?

Since the 2015 migration crisis, which saw a massive influx of migrants – 1.8 million arrivals in one year – arrivals of foreigners have been in the spotlight.

Last year saw some 380,000 people illegally crossing the EU’s borders, the highest number since 2016, reports the BBC.

In 2022, almost 3.7 million new residence permits were issued in European Union (EU) member states – not including the influx from Ukraine – compared to 2.9 million in 2021 and three million in 2019. Eurostat said there were 875,000 new asylum applications, still not counting Ukrainian applicants, up 52 per cent compared to 2021 and 38 per cent compared to 2019.

With inputs from agencies