EU migration pact ‘bows to’ anti-migration governments

Anti-poverty organisation Oxfam said that the EU has bowed to pressure from anti-migration governments.

“The tragic fire, which completely destroyed Moria refugee camp in Greece, has exposed Europe’s failure to uphold a humane migration and asylum system. The EU ‘hotspot’ approach established in 2015 has clearly failed, and should be abolished – not expanded or reformed. Instead of offering a fair and timely asylum process, expedited procedures resulted in mass suffering in overcrowded, squalid refugee camps. Greece has been breaking EU law, and Europe has turned a blind eye on it,” Marissa Ryan, Head of Oxfam’s EU office said.

It reacted to proposals to use development aid to stop migration. “It is worrying that the EU continues to advocate the spending of scarce development money to curb migration. Development aid should be spent on poverty reduction. The EU’s obsessive focus on migration has yielded few positive results, and it has undermined its credibility as a partner with African countries,” Ryan added.

“As the world is struggling with the social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Europe must seize this opportunity for change and use development aid to overcome poverty and to enable a green recovery. It should not be invested in training and support for security forces and border guards that often only increase danger for migrants and the local population,” she said.