About: asylum policy
Lithuanian parliament votes to allow mass detention of asylum seekers
Lithuania’s parliament on Tuesday (13 July) approved the mass detention of migrants and curbed their right of appeal, a move meant to deter high numbers crossing the border with Belarus but which stirred an outcry among humanitarian groups. Eighty-four lawmakers...
NGOs slam UK plans to copy Danish offshore asylum centres
UK plans to follow the lead of Denmark in seeking to establish offshore asylum processing centres have been met with swift condemnation from civil society groups and lawyers who argue that it would breach the country’s international obligations on refugees.
Assist developing countries to find solutions to migratory causes
Debate on the external dimensions of migration and asylum, including effective ways to address the root causes, should not be taboo in the EU, the world’s largest donor of development aid, writes Tomas Tobé.
Greece defends use of anti-migrant sound cannons
Greece's minister for migration and asylum on Wednesday (9 June) defended his country's use of "sound cannons" to deter irregular migrants, as a senior EU official called their use "strange" and legally questionable.
EU adopts strategy on sending irregular migrants back
The EU is looking to plug a big gap in migration policy by boosting measures to have irregular migrants voluntarily returned to their countries under a strategy adopted on Tuesday (27 April).
EU Presidency: Council meeting on migration ‘extremely constructive’
EU foreign and home affairs ministers had an “extremely constructive” joint meeting on Monday that gives confidence that progress can be made on the new Pact on Migration and Asylum, Portugal’s interior minister Eduardo Cabrita has said.
EU needs ‘mandatory’ migrant solidarity system, Johansson says
The EU home affairs commissioner, who is to unveil a much-awaited asylum reform this week, urged Saturday (18 September) that a system of "mandatory" solidarity on migration be agreed between member states.
Germany’s Seehofer cautiously optimistic on EU asylum reform
Germany said on Tuesday (7 July) it wants EU nations to overcome a deadlock on how to handle refugees and migrants this year, and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) expressed "justified confidence" that a deal can be found. EURACTIV Germany reports.
Rescue boats return to the Mediterranean as 20,000 migrants prepare to cross from Libya
Two charity boats have headed back to the Mediterranean after a two-month hiatus in migrant rescue operations, as humanitarian groups await a new wave of arrivals.
Visegrad leaders hold first face-to-face talks of virus crisis
Masks and gloves will be the order of the day when the prime ministers of four ex-communist countries on Thursday (11 June) hold the first major face-to-face meeting of European leaders since the coronavirus crisis.
Hungary accused of holding migrants in ‘unlawful detention’
Hungary was accused on Thursday (23 April) of holding asylum seekers in a camp on the border with Serbia in "unlawful detention" by the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Greece to start setting up closed-type migrant camps
Greece will begin setting up closed-type camps for asylum seekers on its Aegean islands in March, the country's migration minister said Monday (10 February), in response to growing tensions over the migrants' current overcrowded facilities.
Host migrants or pay, France and Germany propose
European Union governments that refuse to host refugees could instead pay to be excused from the bloc's system of sharing out migrants, France and Germany proposed on Thursday (6 December) as they sought to end a long-running EU feud over migration.
Angela Merkel’s legacy in the Middle East
German Chancellor Merkel's momentous 2015 decision to accept asylum-seekers from the region fell flat: the Chancellor did not rise to the occasion and chart a new course for both Europe and the Middle East, writes Faisal Al Yafai
Merkel’s would-be successor questions Germany’s sacrosanct asylum pledge
Friedrich Merz, trailing in the race to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel as leader of her Christian Democrats (CDU), sparked uproar by questioning Germany's constitutional guarantee of asylum at a hustings late on Wednesday (21 November).
Why are we not reforming the Dublin Regulation yet?
In view of the long-blocked negotiations about the reform of the EU's Dublin asylum system, Luigi Achilli argues that it is not migration but the lack of a common European response that is putting the EU's future at risk.
What to do with rejected asylum seekers?
As the EU considers tougher rules for returning asylum seekers who had their application rejected, more people might be placed in detention and the possibility of voluntary return could be limited, writes Anna Lundberg.
Czech MEP: I want to be ECR’s lead candidate, not an EU top job candidate
Czech MEP Jan Zahradil has recently announced his intention to become the ECR's lead candidate for the 2019 European Elections. He is a supporter of a multi-speed Union, with freedom for member states to pursue a foreign policy that best suits their own interests.
Juncker’s dismal speech
At a time when Europe needs something to inspire the 2018 State of the Union speech disappointed, writes Dick Roche.
Political scientist: Germans are used to V4’s strong “No” from time to time
The EU's stand on migration policy is moving towards the demands of the Visegrad group, one of the best functioning groups in the bloc, says Dr Kai-Olaf Lang, adding that in many respects, Germany and V4 are much closer to each other today than Germany and France.
EU raps Hungary for ‘Stop Soros’ law, steps up legal battle
The European Commission yesterday (19 July) stepped up a legal battle with Hungary over EU migration rules and denounced as illegal its "Stop Soros" law that criminalises support for asylum seekers.
Austrian far-right minister doubles down on asylum reform plans
Austria's hardline interior minister Herbert Kickl said yesterday (10 July) he would push to change the EU's migration policy to make it impossible to make asylum requests on European soil.
Four major EU countries in favour of joint asylum policy for refugees -poll
In a wide-ranging opinion poll on migration led by Avaaz, the citizens of four major EU countries overwhelmingly said they were in favour of solidarity and a joint European asylum policy for refugees.