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In January, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made a prominent appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Among a variety of topics, he was asked to comment on immigration. In an interview with CNN’s Richard Quest on the sidelines of the forum, he confidently stated that “Greece has probably handled the migration issue better than most other European countries.” “We won a resounding victory. [in the elections] One reason is that we have succeeded in controlling immigration through tough but fair immigration policies. ”
However, this “tough but fair immigration policy” resulted in the deaths of more than 500 people, including 100 children, in a single accident when a migrant boat sank off the Greek coast near Pylos on June 14. . The Greek coast guard attempted to tow the boat into Italian waters in what is considered one of the worst maritime disasters in the Mediterranean.
Greek authorities denied responsibility, instead arresting nine of the survivors and claiming they caused the shipwreck. While Mitsotakis was on his way to Davos, the investigation was closed and handed over to prosecutors after the survivor’s lawyers refused a request to review key evidence for his defense.
The injustice and shocking disregard for human life in this story is not an aberration, but the culmination of a policy that systematically denies protection and violations of refugee rights. And they are reflected in the new migration agreement that the European Union has just concluded.
The story of tragic deaths on Europe’s borders, and the inaction in response, points to the direction Europe is headed as it unites under the far-right “law and order” banner and racist anti-immigration policies. It is heading towards a dark future where human rights may be lost.
racist EU migration deal
Immigration has always been a useful political tool and is one of the cornerstones of Europe’s far right. But over the past decade, other political forces have increasingly taken advantage of the policy, gradually introducing it in a desperate attempt to improve their declining electoral fortunes. As a result, European immigration policy has moved to the right and increasingly reflects the racist agenda and exclusionary rhetoric of the far right.
The EU’s new Migration Pact is a case in point. The European Parliament and the European Council reached a tentative agreement five days before Christmas. European Parliament President Roberta Mezzola called it a “historic day”. Human rights groups called it a “disaster.” EU member states approved it on February 8, and it is currently awaiting final formal approval by the EU Parliament and the European Council.
The agreement introduces regulations that cover all aspects of the asylum process, from screening asylum seekers on arrival and collecting biometric data, to rules determining which member state is responsible for processing the application. Target stages. However, the provision, which aims to “fundamentally change the response to migration and asylum”, contains a number of gaps that could allow for the abuse and further intensification of violent policies at the EU’s borders.
Rights groups say the deal could result in asylum seekers, including families with children, being detained in prison-like facilities. leading to further violence by border authorities. and authorizing deportations to unsafe third countries.
It will not provide a safe and dignified path to the potentially life-saving asylum process, nor will it prevent tragedies like the Pyrrhus from happening again. Instead, as Amnesty International points out, the new deal will result in “an explosion of suffering at every stage of the asylum-seeking journey” in Europe.
Additionally, countries such as Poland and Hungary have rejected migration mechanisms that would require them to accept refugees. The agreement gives them an alternative to paying 20,000 euros ($21,550) per refugee. In other words, they can pay their obligations under European and international law.
This not only places an even greater burden on countries on the EU’s outer borders, but also means that fundamental legal norms regarding refugee protection are being eroded.
Fortress Europe’s dark future
Overall, the Migration Agreement reflects a trend within the EU to reduce the scope of international law to the point where it becomes irrelevant to the people it was created to protect.
The failure to introduce a common European asylum system with clear rules and regulations, the failure to relieve pressure on countries of entry, the further militarization of border controls and the outsourcing of migration issues to third countries are It reflects the EU’s continued efforts to evade its obligations under the law. For asylum seekers.
The long-term effect of ignoring and disrespecting international legal norms is the potential collapse of the global international system, which would mean the end of the human rights system as we know it.
Another worrying aspect of the European Migration Agreement’s asylum policy is that it discriminates against people seeking asylum. The EU announced that its provisions do not apply to Ukrainian refugees. In other words, Brussels officially applies international law selectively. It openly declares that people of a certain race deserve to pass the road to safety, and that other races do not.
This is all the more egregious given that migration agreements are aimed at keeping people away from conflicts and other crises in Africa and the Middle East, in which European countries are often directly involved.
The EU is setting a dangerous precedent by drawing clear and formal distinctions between who deserves safe and legal asylum and migration routes and who does not. Discrimination over the right to claim protection under international law and the differential allocation of rights to different groups opens the door to legal apartheid.
The EU seems to have appointed itself the arbiter of who has the right to life and dignity and who does not. This is clear from the reaction to the war in Gaza.
Europe turns a blind eye to accusations of genocide in Gaza, as European countries continue to sell weapons to Israel and parrot outrageous claims about a “right of self-defense” from Israeli-occupied populations. doing.
It should be noted here that some of Europe’s most fervently pro-Israel forces include the far-right, who are using the Gaza war to advance their agenda, promote culture war ideas, and gloss over anti-Semitism. It means that there is power.
Support for the far right is surging in Europe, but it is not because of “illegal immigrants” as some EU officials, such as Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, claim. That’s because European “centrist conservatives” like Mitsotakis have embraced the agenda of the far right for their own narrow political and economic interests.
This will certainly be reflected in the European Parliament elections scheduled for June.
Without a thorough review of the anti-humanitarian and inhumane direction European politics and policies are taking, the future of the EU will be very bleak. At the moment we are looking to Europe where Victor Orbans, Geert Wilders and Marine Le Pen have a stronger say in what is and is not on the agenda. I’m on a straight path.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.
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