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On 4 October 2023, EU member state representatives reached a preliminary agreement on the “Crisis Regulation”. This regulation establishes how member states will deal with a sudden increase in the number of people seeking asylum.
This new agreement represents a serious political disregard for the protection of human lives. Far from offering a solution to the immense suffering and distress of people seeking safety and protection at Europe’s borders, it enables European States to further deviate from their responsibilities towards those in need.
Instead of fixing a broken asylum system in Europe and guaranteeing safe and legal pathways for those in need, this new agreement implicitly condones the harmful practices we have seen across Europe.
For years, MSF has been treating the physical and mental health consequences of inhumane European migration policies. Policies that have seized upon this notion of ‘crisis’ and ‘instrumentalisation’ as a reason to diminish minimum standards and rights.
In times in which migrants and asylum-seekers face an ever more lawless Europe, where push-backs at borders and detention are the new normal, the protection of individuals seeking safety must be at the heart of the EU’s migration policies
We have seen across our projects in Greece, Poland, Lithuania, Libya, and the Central Mediterranean Sea, how European states have capitalised on this notion of extraordinary measures to lower safeguards for people in dire need. These notions have been a breeding ground for violent practices such as pushbacks at borders and prolonged and arbitrary detention, such as the agreement between Italy and Libya that supports the system of exploitation, extortion and abuse in which so many find themselves trapped.
“In times in which migrants and asylum-seekers face an ever more lawless Europe, where push-backs at borders and detention are the new normal, the protection of individuals seeking safety must be at the heart of the EU’s migration policies”, says Juan Matias Gil, MSF Search and Rescue representative.
We know from experience that these measures have also often served to restrict independent humanitarian aid and civil society monitoring, making assistance to individuals in need increasingly difficult, including when it comes to lifesaving operations in the Central Mediterranean. There are numerous concrete examples of this: since 2017, MSF and other non-governmental organisations have faced frequent harassment by the authorities, including prolonged inspections and detainment, with the aim of preventing their lifesaving activities at sea. In 2023, Italy has introduced a new law, reducing rescue capacities at sea, hence making one of the world’s deadliest migration routes even more dangerous.
MSF calls upon European states to immediately change course; to prioritise the safety of those seeking sanctuary, and cease the instrumentalisation of human suffering for political currency.
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