Sharing the burden of irregular immigrants and asylum seekers in the EU is not working, according to a report published by the European Commission.
The Commission’s Third Annual Report on Immigration and Asylum showed the majority of member states did not take part in a pilot programme under which member states were asked to relocate asylum seekers from Malta.
The pledges made by those who did were just “token”.
Since the start of the Eurema (European Relocation Malta) project in 2009, a total of 12 member states out of 27 made pledges to relocate 589 recognised asylum seekers and persons with international protection from Malta. Other non-EU member states, such as Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein also made token pledges.
During the first phase, which ended last year, 10 member states pledged to take 227 migrants. The majority, more than a 100, were taken by Germany while others offered to take no more than 10 migrants or “just a family”.
On Malta’s further insistence, particularly in view of the Libyan conflict, the Commission last year accepted to introduce a second phase of Eurema.
Despite the Commission’s pressure to persuade member states to help Malta, such as organising a special conference in Luxembourg, just eight member states pledged to take another 362 immigrants, including some which made second pledges, such as Germany, Portugal, Luxembourg, Romania and Hungary.
However, this time round, the majority of pledges were made on a bilateral basis and not through the Eurema project.
“The project has so far helped Malta relocate almost 600 migrants. We know this is not enough as the pressure on the island is huge, however, we can’t force member states to show solidarity. EU rules don’t permit that,” a Commission official told The Times yesterday.
Over the past few years, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has repeatedly appealed to member states to walk the talk on solidarity. Still, many member states prefer rhetoric over action.
Sources close to Brussels said the Commission was evaluating the Eurema project to decide whether to propose a more permanent intra-EU relocation programme, similar to the one already in place in developed countries such as the US and Canada.
“Once the study is finalised, we will have to decide whether to propose a more permanent burden-sharing mechanism.
“However, this will still be voluntary,” the official said.
At the same time, Ms Malmström warned that the EU should become accustomed to receiving migrants and that these should be looked at as an “opportunity”.
Speaking following the launch of the latest report, the Swedish Commissioner said “political leaders should put an end to anti-immigration rhetoric, which is becoming more and more widespread, as immigration is here to stay and will probably increase in the future”.
She said that by the end of the year, the Commission wanted to launch a broad consultation on the role of the EU in promoting the “opportunity” provided by immigrant workers.
The EU has for years been stating that due to demographic changes, member states will need to start “importing human resources” if they want to retain their lifestyle and economic prosperity.
The EU estimates that millions more migrants are needed by Europe. Millions already work and live regularly in the EU, most of them doing dangerous and odd jobs, such as in construction, cleaning, maintenance, housekeeping and assisting old people.