Refugee crisis: EU ministers vote to end passport-free travel | The Week UK

Passport checks could be re-introduced between neighbouring EU nations and Greece faces being "effectively sealed off"  as Europe struggles to control the influx of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa.

For more than 20 years, the Schengen agreement has allowed free movement between 26 European nations. This is now under threat after politicians in Amsterdam yesterday agreed it should be suspended for two years.

Speaking after the talks, Dutch immigration minister Klaas Dijkhoff said Schengen member governments would ask the European Commission for permission to put the agreement on hold.

"These measures are inevitable at this point in time," he added.

The refugee crisis is the "biggest challenge the union has faced", says The Guardian, adding that the talks were characterised by "gloom and confusion in the face of ever-rising numbers of people heading into Greece from Turkey".

Greece itself came under special scrutiny during the summit. It now faces being "effectively sealed off" after ministers discussed re-defining the Schengen zone to exclude the country altogether, says the Daily Telegraph.

There were also calls on Greece to set up vast holding camps for as many as 300,000 refugees in an attempt to stem the flow. At the moment, the country does not attempt to register migrants and refugees or prevent them from heading deeper into Europe.

Athens reacted with "fury" to the proposals, continues the Telegraph, with ministers saying they would turn Greece into a "cemetery of souls".

The crisis "threatens to tear the EU apart", adds the newspaper, with British Home Secretary Theresa May telling the summit: "Unfortunately, what we've had is more talk than action."

May is a noted Eurosceptic and could lead the No campaign in the EU referendum, says the Telegraph. However, the UK vote may not happen this summer if the refugee crisis and Schengen dominate next month's EU summit.

Refugee crisis 'putting EU in grave danger'

22 January

The ongoing refugee crisis is putting the Europe Union in grave danger of collapse, it was claimed yesterday.

Speaking at the Word Economic Forum in Davos, European leaders said the passport-free Schengen zone is at risk of collapse unless the flow of asylum-seekers can be stemmed.

More than a million refugees arrived in Europe last year, with Syria lying at the epicentre of the crisis. At least four million people have fled the country since the civil war began in 2011.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said more than 35,000 people had made the sea crossing from Turkey into Greece in the first three weeks of 2016 and that the situation was reaching breaking point.

"When spring comes, the numbers will quadruple. We cannot cope with the numbers any longer," he said. "We need to get a grip on this issue in the next six to eight weeks."

EU leaders are still hoping to reach an agreement which would see states agree to accept quotas of refugees, but admitted such a deal remained elusive, says Reuters.

Austria this week announced it would be capping the number of people allowed to apply for asylum at 1.5 per cent of its population, raising fears of a "domino effect" across Europe.

Rutte's comments were echoed by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who told the BBC the crisis was putting Europe in grave danger and called for the external borders to be secured.

"If Europe is not capable of protecting its own borders, it's the very idea of Europe that will be questioned," he warned.

Refugee crisis: Europe set to scrap 'first country' rule

20 January

The European Union looks set to scrap rules that say refugees must be dealt with by the first European country they enter.

The change will "revolutionise" Europe's migration policy and "shift the burden from its southern flank to its wealthier northern members", says the Financial Times.

The present policy, which has become "politically toxic" for EU leaders, essentially broke down last year, when Germany waived its right to send hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers back to other EU member states, says the newspaper.

Nevertheless, "frontier countries" such as Greece and Italy have faced criticism for failing to properly shelter and register more than one million people who have come into Europe from the Middle East and North Africa.

Brussels says the current rule is "unfair" and "outdated" and is expected to reform the system, part of the so-called Dublin Regulation, in a proposal to be unveiled in March, officials told the FT.

As a consequence, Britain may find it more difficult to send refugees back to neighbouring EU states, further encouraging them to head to the UK – a change that could be "problematic" for David Cameron ahead of Britain's EU referendum, claims The Independent

"One of the main arguments of the British campaign to remain in the EU is that the regulations allow the UK to deport asylum-seekers if Britain is not the first European country that they arrived in," it says.

"If those regulations were to be changed, the UK might be forced to accept refugees who have managed to enter the country from across the Channel, regardless of where they first arrived in Europe."

However, the newspaper notes that "with no land border with any other country in the passport-free Schengen zone, Britain is not expected to see a strong surge in migration".

According to the Daily Telegraph, Britain is currently allowed to deport around 1,000 failed asylum-seekers a year to other EU states. A move to change these rules would "present Downing Street with a bruising battle in the middle of the renegotiation".

Turkey accused of illegally deporting 'up to hundreds' of refugees to Syria

15 January

Amnesty International has accused Turkey of breaking local and international law by deporting refugees back to Syria. 

The charity claims that scores - and possibly several hundred – of refugees have been detained and forced to cross back into a war zone by Turkish authorities.

"Covert detention, deportation to a war zone: the charges are grave," says the BBC's Mark Lowen.

Andrew Gardner, the head of Amnesty in Turkey, says such treatment is "absolutely illegal because you cannot forcibly return someone to a place where their lives and rights are in danger". 

He adds that Europe needs to "wake up" to the fact international law is being broken on its own borders.

Refugees spoke of how they had been mistreated at EU-funded detention centres and then transported back to the border, where they were coerced into signing voluntary return documents.

"They drove us to the border and forced us to sign a piece of paper on which was written, 'I want to go back to Syria,'" said one man.

"I didn't want to go back to Syria. Some of my friends have now been put in prison there, and many people were afraid of returning to a war zone."

An estimated two million Syrian refugees are now in Turkey. Last November, Ankara signed a deal with the EU to receive €3bn (£2.2bn) in exchange for slowing the flow of refugees to Europe.

"But that is contingent on improving conditions for refugees so more feel they can stay here, not deporting them back to a war zone," says Lowen.

Turkey has "categorically denied" the accusations and insists the United Nations' refugee agency interviews all returnees at the border to make sure they're going to Syria voluntarily.

Denmark debates seizing valuables from refugees 

13 January

Danish MPs are debating a controversial immigration bill which would allow the government to seize valuables from refugees arriving in the country.

Under the proposed legislation, police will be given the power to confiscate gold, money and other items of value worth more than 10,000 kroner (around £1,000).

The bill was recently amended to allow asylum seekers to keep items that hold sentimental value. Items with a practical use – such as mobile phones and watches – will also be exempt.

The move has prompted comparisons to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany and been condemned by the United Nations' refugee agency, which warns it could further fuel fear and xenophobia.

"Refugees have lost their homes and almost everything they possess," UNHCR spokesman William Spindler told the BBC.

"It beggars belief that somebody would want to strip them away from the little they have managed to salvage from their lives."

The ruling centre-right Venstre party defended the law, calling it the "most misunderstood bill in Denmark's history".

Integration minister Inger Stojberg said similar laws already apply to Danish nationals seeking help from the welfare state.

"It is already the case that if you as a Dane have valuables for more than 10,000 kroner, it may be required that this is sold before you can receive unemployment benefits," she said.

Denmark is thought to have accepted 20,000 refugees last year, far fewer than neighbouring Sweden, which welcomed 163,000.

The bill will be voted on later this month and the Venstre party will require support from the Danish People's Party, the Liberal Alliance and the Conservative People's Party if it is to pass.

Refugee crisis: Sweden imposes ID checks at key link

4 January 2016

Sweden has introduced border checks for travellers from Denmark to stem the influx of migrants.

From today, all train, bus and ferry passengers on the Oresund bridge-and-tunnel link will be required to show photo identification before being allowed across the border, reports the BBC.

Lengthy delays are expected at the link, which has been a major entry point for migrants and refugees. Travellers had been able to cross borders between the two Nordic countries without passports since the late 1950s.

The Swedish government hopes the move will keep out undocumented migrants. Sweden, which received more than 150,000 asylum applications in 2015, has taken in more asylum seekers per capita than any other European nation. It says it can no longer cope with the unregulated flow of new arrivals.

But a spokesman for the United Nations said it viewed the development with "growing concern". Mattias Axelsson, from UNHCR in northern Europe, told a Swedish news agency: "There is a tremendous strain to be on the run and you cannot expect that those who are entitled to asylum will also have the right documents with them from the beginning – it is quite impossible."

Passenger groups are also concerned. After a temporary fence was built at Copenhagen airport's Kastrup station, where trains will be stopped for the mandatory controls, a spokesman for the Kystbanen commuters' association said: "It's as if we are building a Berlin Wall here. We are going several steps back in time."

Sweden has secured a temporary exemption from the European Union's open-border Schengen agreement, in order to impose the border controls.

Several other European Union countries, including Germany, Austria and France, also re-imposed border checks last year as the continent faced a major refugee crisis. One million migrants arrived in Europe by land or sea in 2015, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

Refugees sew lips shut in protest at Macedonian border

24 November

Refugees have sewn their lips together in protest against not being allowed to cross the border into Macedonia.

A group of men, some of whom were believed to be from Iran's Kurdish minority, staged the protest after authorities deemed them to be "economic migrants" and denied them entry into the country.

Balkans nations have tightened border controls in the wake of the Paris attacks and will only accept those fleeing war in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, the BBC reports.

The decision has left thousands of people, including young children escaping conflict in other parts of the world, stranded in the remote village of Idomeni in Greece.

Asked where he wanted to go, an Iranian man involved in the protests told Sky News: "To any free country in the world. I cannot go back. I will be hanged," he said.

Temperatures continue to plummet and aid organisations are growing increasingly concerned about refugees forced to spend winter out in the open.

"Cold weather is coming to Europe at greater speed than its leadership's ability to make critical decisions," The Guardian reports.

Peter Bouckaert, the director of emergencies for Human Rights Watch, has accused European institutions of failing to respond to the humanitarian disaster. Those in need are forced to rely on volunteers for basic needs like shelter, food, clothes and medical assistance, he says.

"We have found out that one country after the other are closing their borders," said Marian, a 24-year-old refugee from Afghanistan. "With winter just around the corner, what will happen to us? What will happen to my children?"

Refugee crisis: is border-free Europe on the verge of collapse?

20 November

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has warned that Europe's passport-free zone could collapse in the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris.

The free movement of people guaranteed under the Schengen agreement is one of the founding principles of the EU, but it has come under increasing pressure during the ongoing refugee crisis.

The events in the French capital have increased support for tighter controls, with Valls saying some of those involved in the attacks may have taken advantage of the "chaos" at Europe's borders.

One of the suicide bombers involved in the Paris attacks left a fake Syrian passport at the scene. He had allegedly used it to gain entry into the EU through Greece.

Valls's warning comes as leaders meet for yet more crisis talks in Brussels. Today's emergency security summit is likely to result in increased checks across the union's borders, says Sky News.

A number of European nations have already introduced temporary controls at their own borders as they struggle to deal with huge influx of people coming through the EU's porous external frontiers.

But these security checks can are allowed for a maximum of two months and are only allowed for "public policy or national security" reasons.

"What you hear repeatedly from European officials and politicians is this: if the EU's external borders cannot be fixed then the Schengen zone cannot survive," says the BBC.

Finland's interior minister, Petteri Orpo, is among those warning that the end of the agreement is looming. "Tens of thousands of people were coming into Europe and they are not being registered," he warned. "We don't know who they are." 

But the Centre for European Reform argues that Europe should not dismantle Schengen – but rather improve the system by processing refugees more effectively, boosting external border security and sharing intelligence.

It also suggests that the fake Syrian passport in Paris could have been a deliberate plot to reignite the debate about Europe's asylum policies.

"Why would a terrorist leave a passport behind? European governments should not fall into [the] trap by responding with knee-jerk reactions such as closing borders."

Doing so would also do nothing to stop home-grown terrorists – like the French and Belgian nationals involved in the Paris attacks – as international law prohibits a country from denying entry to its own nationals.

So what does this mean for the future of the Schengen? "It is most unlikely that the Schengen agreement will be suspended because it is a core European freedom," says the BBC's Gavin Hewitt.

"What is more likely in the weeks ahead is that countries in the Schengen zone quietly begin reinforcing their national borders."

Refugee crisis: is EU aid offer to Africa 'bordering on blackmail'?

11 November

European leaders are meeting with their African counterparts at a summit in Malta today to discuss solutions to the worsening refugee crisis.

On the table is a controversial proposal to increase funding and other forms of aid to African nations that help stop the flow of hundreds of thousands of people across the Mediterranean.

"The aim is to tackle the economic and security problems that cause people to flee," reports the BBC. It is also hoped the deal will help persuade countries to take back failed asylum seekers.

European Council President Donald Tusk said efforts would focus on poverty reduction and conflict prevention. "It also includes the issue of taking back those who do not yet qualify for a visa, or those who do not require international protection," he said on the eve of the summit.

The European Commission is in the process of setting up a €1.8bn "trust fund" for Africa and is encouraging its 28-member states to match that amount – though this seems unlikely.

Observers have raised a number of concerns about the proposals. There are fears human rights could suffer if African nations seeking aid benefits prevent refugees from fleeing.

Cecile Kyenge, a Congo-born Italian member of the European parliament said the offer was "bordering on blackmail," according to South Africa's News24.

There are also concerns that plans to sharply reduce the number of people arriving in Europe would cut off a vital source of remittance income from their economies, Channel 4 News reports.

The United Nation estimates that nearly 800,000 refugees have arrived in Europe so far this year, while more than 3,000 have died or gone missing making the dangerous journey.

The vast majority of them are fleeing war in countries like Syria and Iraq, but many are also escaping conflict in Eritrea, South Sudan and Somalia.

Today's summit comes as yet more deaths are reported in the Mediterranean. At least 14 people, including seven children, drowned after their boat sank between Turkey and the Greek island of Lesbos.

Refugee crisis: Tony Abbott tells Europe it should turn back boats

28 November 

Former Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, has raised eyebrows with a speech condemning Europe's response to the growing refugee crisis.

In his first major speech since being ousted from power, Abbott told guests at an annual event in London to honour Margaret Thatcher that "misguided altruism" was "leading Europe into catastrophic error".

More than 670,000 people have entered Europe this year in the largest migration since the end of the Second World War. The vast majority of them are fleeing war in countries like Syria and Iraq.

But Abbott disputed these facts, arguing that many of those arriving in Europe are economic migrants. He urged EU leaders to urgently adopt Australia's hardline policy towards refugees and migrants.

"This means turning boats around, for people coming by sea," he said to applause from the Conservative crowd. "It means denying entry at the border, for people with no legal right to come. And it means establishing camps for people who have nowhere to go."

He admitted such hard action "will gnaw at our consciences - yet it is the only way to prevent a tide of humanity surging through Europe and quite possibly changing it forever".

Abbott's stance was praised by Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who described his speech as "heroic".

"There is a very big difference between being a civilised country that recognises that there are genuine refugees from time to time and having a lunatic policy that I'm afraid [Europe] has pushed," Farage said.

However, his comments weren't as well received by opposition politicians and human rights groups at home. "I'm not sure Tony Abbott on a victory lap giving a Margaret Thatcher Lecture is exactly what Europe needs to solve its problems," opposition leader Bill Shorten told ABC News.

The president of the Refugee Council of Australia, Phil Glendenning, warned that Abbott's approach would have horrific consequences. "It would be an utter catastrophe if people fleeing from persecution were told to go back there, were pushed back to sea where they would likely drown," he said.

Australia's refugee response has been widely condemned by human rights organisations in recent years. Authorities refuse to accept boats carrying asylum seekers, instead sending them to offshore detention camps where allegations of abuse are widespread.

Refugees 'will freeze to death' in the Balkans unless Europe unites

26 October

Refugees will freeze to death in the Balkans unless European leaders can offer a coordinated response to the growing crisis, senior officials and aid agencies have warned.

European leaders managed to agree on a raft of new measures at an emergency summit in Brussels this weekend, but deep divisions remain over how to respond to the crisis.

The new plan involves increasing the capacity of reception centres in Greece and the Balkans by 100,000 as well as strengthening border controls along Greek and Slovenian borders.  

But the deal is nothing but "a watered down version" of the co-operation European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had been hoping for, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson.

Even before the summit began, Croatia's Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said the "unrealistic" plan had been created by someone "who had just woken up from a months-long sleep". 

The Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksander Vucic, said the agreement would not be "immediately helpful" to refugees already in Europe. We're looking at "small steps," he said.

More than 670,000 people have crossed into Europe this year in the largest movement of people since the end of the Second World War. Nearly 10,000 refugees arrived every day in Greece last week.

Juncker says a solution is urgently needed as thousands of refugees could freeze to death when temperatures begin to plummet in the Balkans. "Every day counts," he said, according to the Daily Telegraph. "Otherwise we will soon see families in cold rivers in the Balkans perish miserably."

His calls are echoed by human rights organisations which warn that refugees won't survive the winter without immediate help.

"As winter looms, the sight of thousands of refugees sleeping rough as they make their way through Europe represents a damning indictment of the EU's failure to offer a coordinated response to the crisis," says John Dalhuisen of Amnesty International.

The latest EU agreement comes as the bodies of men, women and children continue to wash up on Europe's shores. A woman and two children drowned and seven other people are missing after their boat sunk off the Greek island of Lesbos.  

Neo-Nazis infiltrating refugee centres, German media reports

22 October

Far-right extremists are infiltrating refugee centres across Germany and putting refugees at risk, an investigation by the German state broadcaster has revealed.

The ZDF documentary highlighted several cases where men with ties to far-right extremist groups were working in hostels housing asylum seekers.

In one case, a convicted member of the neo-Nazi group Sturm 18 was employed as a security guard in the city of Heidelberg, The Daily Telegraph reports.

In another case near the city of Dresden, a man was suspended from his job at a hostel for allegedly posting an image on Facebook which redefined the word Nazi as "Not Adjustable to Islamisation".

The documentary blamed the infiltration on poor screening, with a separate investigation by authorities in Brandenburg revealing that many known extremists are working in the security sector, the Telegraph says.

The investigations come amid a surge in support for the far-right movement in Germany, led largely by the Pegida group.

Dubbed "Nazis in pinstripes", the group's members oppose the German government's willingness to accept up to 800,000 refugees fleeing conflict in places like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Earlier this week, Pegida marked its first anniversary with a large rally in Dresden. One of the speakers at the event is currently under investigation for hate speech after inflammatory comments about refugees.

"Of course there are other alternatives," he told cheering crowds, "but the concentration camps are unfortunately out of action at the moment."

German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel said the movement was "a reservoir of racist xenophobia" and accused Pegida's leaders of using the "battle rhetoric" of the early Nazi party.

Despite Pegida's surge in popularity, their rallies are often outnumbered by counter-demonstrations and support for refugees is sweeping the nation, The Guardian reported last month.

"Thousands of Germans have pitched in; they take food and clothes to the camps, take refugees to meetings with the authorities in their own cars, pay their fares, foot their medical bills, teach German, and go on demonstrations against rightwing attacks across the country."

Refugee crisis: thousands stranded in Balkans

19 October

Thousands of refugees remain stranded in the Balkans after their path to Western Europe was stalled by new controls.

Following the closure to refugees of Hungary's border with Croatia on Friday, Croatia asked its neighbour Slovenia to accept 5,000 refugees daily. But in a bid to limit the flow of people into Western Europe, Slovenia – a country of two million people – said it would take only half that number.

This led to thousands spending the night in the open air, in cold and wet conditions, while nearly two thousand people were stranded on a train near the border. Some of the passengers disembarked and walked along the tracks, wrapped in plastic sheeting to protect themselves against the rain.

Hungary closed its border after its right-wing government said the mainly Muslim migrants posed a threat to Europe's prosperity, security and "Christian values". The unrelenting flow of people was then diverted to Slovenia, which is now accepting only around 2,500 arrivals daily, massively stalling the movement of people as they fled their countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

This has led to crowded and shambolic scenes at the border. A reporter said exhausted and cold refugees chanted: "Open the gate, open the gate!"

Meanwhile, a charity official working at the border says the situation is deteriorating. "We don't have any more raincoats," Dr Ramiz Momeni, director of the UK-based Humanitas Charity, told Reuters.

"There's a bottleneck of people that can't get anywhere so they have to stay here in the rain. Some of these people have been here under sheets for 12 hours. Of course, they're going to get sick."

Refugee crisis: EU and Turkey agree action plan

16 October

The EU and Turkey have agreed an action plan to try to stem the flow of refugees from the Middle East, most of them Syrians travelling through Turkey to reach Europe. Turkey has agreed to take concrete steps in return for "political support".

The BBC says that the EU has agreed to look again at Turkey becoming a member state and to accelerate visa liberalisation for Turks wanting to enter the open-bordered Schengen area of Europe. Turkey has also asked for €3bn (£2.2bn) in financial aid.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to travel to Istanbul on Sunday for further talks with the Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, said he felt "cautious optimism" as he announced the plan in Brussels last night.

But the Guardian warns that the chances of a "meaningful pact with Ankara" to stem the flow of refugees are slim and would probably entail Europe accepting many of the two million displaced Syrians currently in Turkey.

Every area of discussion at yesterday's summit, the fourth this year on refugees, was "hotly contested", says the paper. Diplomats said afterwards that the €3bn aid package was not available and warned of resistance among Schengen leaders to the visa proposal.

Nothing was finalised in Brussels, warns the paper. The German chancellor admitted that there was "still a huge amount to do" and could only say that the talks have "not achieved nothing".

"The likelihood is high that the actions following the summit will fail to match the rhetoric," says the Guardian.

Also discussed at the summit yesterday were German and European Commission plans to force member states to take refugees on a quota basis – and the beefed-up policing of the EU frontier, measures the Guardian calls "repressive".

According to the Daily Telegraph, some 350,000 people have entered Europe via Turkey since January. The paper quotes Merkel as saying it "makes sense" for the EU to give Turkey the €3bn that the Telegraph dubs a "sweetener".

Merkel points out that Turkey has spent €7bn coping with the influx of refugees and policing its borders.

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