Regional migration system: UN’s Grandi welcomes EU deal

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees on Wednesday (December 20, 2023) welcomed a key deal by members of the European Union (EU) to overtake their joint migration system which guarantees a recent and unified strategy to deal with asylum claims.

Agreement in Brussels on the New Pact on Migration and Asylum reportedly adopted three years of intense negotiations, and it ought to begin taking impact in 2024.

The deal will try and distribute migrants extra evenly throughout the bloc, offering enhanced assist and coordination for processing claims away from frontier states reminiscent of Italy and Greece, by a so-called “solidarity mechanism”.

In a publish on X, previously Twitter, High Commissioner Filippo Grandi congratulated Member States for reaching a deal.

UNHCR able to advise and assist

He congratulated each the EU and European Commission “for reaching a political settlement on the European pact on migration and asylum,” thanking particularly the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson “for her persistence and management.”

“It is a really optimistic step. Now to its implementation! UNHCR stands able to advise and assist,” Mr. Gandi added.

Migration has lengthy been a divisive situation inside Europe, with some nations compelled to bear a disproportionate share of the challenges of managing irregular migration, they’ve argued, at a value to nationwide border safety.

The New Pact

According to European Commission (EC), the New Pact on Migration and Asylum is a set of laws and insurance policies to create a fairer, extra environment friendly and extra sustainable migration and asylum course of.

The settlement covers 5 key areas, together with laws regarding identification of non-EU nationals upon their arrival; growing widespread databases; making asylum, return and border procedures extra environment friendly; establishing the brand new solidarity mechanism; and making certain the bloc is ready to deal with future migration crises.

Prior to the settlement, the Pact had already delivered numerous outcomes suggestions and steering on search and rescue, in addition to a voluntary solidarity mechanism amongst EU members.

‘A European problem that requires European options’

Welcoming the settlement, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, famous migration administration as “a European problem that requires European options.”

“Every yr, a whole lot of 1000’s of irregular migrants undertake perilous journeys to succeed in our borders. They are sometimes the victims of criminals, smugglers and traffickers who lure them with false guarantees of secure passage and extort cash from them,” she stated in a press release.

She stated the pact would guarantee Member States “share the trouble responsibly, exhibiting solidarity with people who defend our exterior borders whereas stopping unlawful migration to the EU”.