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Rabat – The European Parliament today approved a strict new pact that aims to further restrict migration to Europe by radically speeding up asylum procedures and spreading refugees among member states.
The new EU Asylum and Migration Pact is the result of 8 years of negotiations, with the deadlock broken by centrist parties who appeared eager to bolster their anti-immigration credentials in an election year where the right is expected to make large gains. The left has denounced the new pact as inhumane, while right-wing parties lamented it did not go far enough in shielding Europe against perceived mass immigration.
Centrist parties labeled the passing of the new migration act as “historic,” with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasizing the increased “efficiency” in processing the asylum claims of people seeking refuge in Europe.
The new EU Asylum and Migration Pact will aim to “process” asylum claims within five days, often with the claimants having to wait outside of Europe’s borders while the procedure is ongoing.
Within this narrow timeframe, the EU aims to verify claimants’ identity, health and security status. Claims deemed to have low chances of being accepted are sped up significantly, and rejected asylum seekers should be returned to their countries of origin within 12 weeks.
The new act, which comes into effect in 2026, will aim to distribute refugees among member states, despite protests from the east of the bloc.
Poland and Hungary have already vowed to refuse any migrants into their country, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk describing the new act as “unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, richer countries in the north will be able to avoid taking in new refugees by funding refugee housing in traditional entry countries such as Italy, Spain and Greece. Hungarian PM Viktor Orban declared that “secure borders are no more, Hungary will never give in to the mass migration frenzy.”
German outlet Deutsche Welle highlighted that “asylum-seekers from countries whose nationals’ applications are generally rejected — such as Tunisia, Morocco and Bangladesh, for example — are to be fast-tracked in detention centers close to the EU’s external borders, enabling them to be deported quicker.”
NGOs and human rights organizations have roundly decried the new act as a disgrace, citing concerns of human rights abuses. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) lamented “the normalization of detention and speedier processes at borders.”
