Danish Refugee Council's statement on the adoption of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum

Danish Refugee Council is concerned that with the new EU Pact, asylum seekers will either be kept out of Europe through violent pushbacks or will be contained in centers under deplorable conditions at the EU's external borders to an even greater extent than today. The EU Pact will not provide solutions to the real challenges faced by people seeking protection in Europe, nor to the lack of responsibility sharing between EU's member states.  

It is a wasted opportunity for both refugees and for the EU. 

Those supportive of the EU Pact emphasize that the reform will improve the current system, among other things because it introduces a solidarity mechanism: the idea is that the member states at the EU's external border must process a certain number of asylum applications at the borders, and that other member states can chose how to contribute from a variety of “solidarity options”. However, the EU Pact maintains that the country that registers an asylum application (usually the countries at the EU’s external borders) will also be responsible for processing it unless other countries offer to help. 

At the same time, asylum seekers are expected to stay in closed centers while awaiting a decision - placing an additional responsibility on the countries that are already receiving many asylum seekers. DRC fears that asylum seekers will pay the price for inadequate responsibility sharing and solidarity. 

The EU's new asylum pact does not address the fundamental challenges that asylum seekers experience when they come to Europe. 

Firstly, the Danish Refugee Council and other organizations have over many years documented how Member States systematically subject refugees and migrants to pushbacks and violence to prevent them from entering the EU. With the EU Pact, the risk of asylum seekers being denied access to protection is likely to increase because they want to allow Member States to waive asylum seekers' rights if they experience so-called "instrumentalization of migrants".  

"Instrumentalization of migrants" is a term introduced with the EU Pact, partly in response to the situation at the Polish-Belarusian border. It allows for Member States to derogate from or restrict the rights of asylum seekers - including denying entry - in situations perceived by a Member State a crisis because a third country allows or facilitates the movement of asylum seekers towards the EU.