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NL €20,000 per asylum seeker - solidarity hard to find in new EU migration pact
Photo: Detention centre in Amygdaleza, Greece - Wikimedia Commons Discussions on a new migration pact, a common system to manage migration EU-wide, have been ongoing since 2020. Reforming European asylum and migration policy - necessary given the failing system characterised by ineffective measures, political polarisation and human rights violations - was until then [...]
Does EU enlargement mean a new wave of brain drain?
Photo: Wikimedia Commons With the prospect of several eastern and south-eastern European countries joining the European Union, the question arises as to what this means for internal migration within the EU. The idea is that joining the EU would boost national economies by making them part of the single market. [...]
10 years after Lampedusa: a history that need not be repeated
Ten years ago, two terrible shipwrecks occurred off the island of Lampedusa. At least 368 refugees died during the first shipwreck on 3 October. Just eight days later, during a second disaster, at least 268 more refugees, including 60 children, drowned. The high death toll is not only explained by the [...]
New Pact on Migration and Asylum - mere wishful thinking by the EU?
Photo: Refugees at a detention centre in Edirne, Greece - Wikimedia Commons The European Council has reached an agreement on the final part of 'The New Pact on Migration and Asylum', which was proposed by the European Commission in 2020 to finally come up with clear rules on migration applicable to all [...]
Netherlands still pushes stick for Schengen membership Bulgaria
Photo: Border crossing between Romania and Bulgaria near Lom - Wikimedia Commons Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia were all set to join the Schengen zone, which allows free movement of people and goods between members, on 1 January 2023. However, in November 2022, the Netherlands and Austria vetoed the accession of Bulgaria, Austria as [...]
Tunisia continues deadly mass expulsion of Black immigrants as EU deal is implemented
Photo: European Commission On 16 July 2023, the EU signed a migration deal with Tunisia, as announced a month earlier. The deal includes an aid package worth more than €1 billion, designed to support the Tunisian economy and strengthen Tunisian border control, with the aim of reducing the number of refugees entering Europe [...]
How do we do deal with migration?
The shipwreck off the Greek coast that killed hundreds of people last week is the deadliest accident in the Mediterranean in years. This is yet another maritime disaster as a result of European migration policies. For instance, many illegal pushbacks of migrants take place by the European border agency FRONTEX and by southern European countries themselves. [...]
How walls are still seen as a solution in 'Fortress Europe'
Today marks exactly 23 years since the Berlin Wall fell. For Europe, it seemed the impetus to blur borders and bet on unity and free mobilisation. Divisions caused by physical walls seemed to be a thing of the past. Today, however, walls are on the rise again Between Poland and [...]
Disturbing reports of discrimination on Polish-Ukrainian border
On Sunday 20 March, a protest will take place in The Hague to draw attention to equal treatment for all those fleeing Ukraine because of the Russian invasion. Several disturbing reports of discrimination at the Ukrainian-Polish border, with segregation taking place between refugees, emerged over the past week.
Migration policy from a labour perspective
With elections less than nine months away, most political parties are busy writing their election manifestos. So too is the Labour Party. From the Foreign Affairs Committee, the memorandum "A PvdA migration policy from our labour perspective" was written and submitted. Because migration is of all times and therefore a fair migration policy based on facts and an approach per migrant category that does justice to each group is needed. What do you think the next cabinet's migration policy should look like?
