Destination Europe
July 16, 2009
During a meeting in Stockholm on Thursday, EU interior ministers addressed Europe's illegal immigration problem. All agree that something needs to be done to alleviate the stress on Mediterranean countries, but not all can agree how.
"Two issues are the most important: one is the creation of a common European asylum system, which would mean that we would have increased solidarity between member states and more shared responsibility," said Sweden's migration minister Tobias Billstrom, who led the informal meeting.
"The second thing is the question of legal migration: we need to open more ways for people to come to Europe and work here," Billstrom added.
According to EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot, all member states support efforts to strengthen the EU border-control agency Frontex.
Every year, thousands of people from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea for a chance at a better life in Europe. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees estimates that in 2008 alone, more than 67,000 people tried to enter Europe illegally via the Mediterranean.
The influx has caused a major strain on the reception services of four EU-member states in particular - Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Malta - and they have repeatedly called for other European countries to shoulder some of the burden.
More solidarity needed
EU leaders first called for greater cooperation with European countries most affected by illegal migration during a June meeting, but they also maintained that such efforts should be voluntary. Critics of that viewpoint, such as Cypriot interior minister Neoklis Sylikiotis, say that relying on voluntary assistance isn't sustainable in the long term.
"It is time that we have more solidarity from the other member countries," said Sylikiotis. "Countries that are the first point of contact should not have to shoulder the entire problem."
Italy's interior minister Roberto Maroni shared Sylikiotis' feelings, stating that "burden sharing" should be one of the top priorities for the EU's new five-year plan on justice issues, also discussed in Stockholm.
However, many countries outside of the Mediterranean zone believe that instead of focusing on greater cooperation within the EU, the bloc should be working with migrants' countries of origin to reduce the number of people wanting to leave in the first place.
EU members have often been critized for their handling of illegal migrants, who may not necessarily be escaping economic hardship, but who face political persecution or violence in their homeland. The UN, human rights groups, and the Vatican have all publically denounced Italy and Greece for sending back migrants who were in need of asylum.
The German refugee organization "Pro-Asylum" has also criticized other EU members for not doing enough.
"Countries like Germany can no longer sit on their hands...an unbureaucratic and speedy distribution of those seeking protection - like those stranded in Greece - is a question of humanity and solidarity."
vj/dpa/AP/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Neil King