Current Immigration Debates in Europe: A Publication of the European Migration Dialogue (original) (raw)
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Border Management and Migration Controls in Poland
Global Migration: Consequences and Responses, 2019
The report focuses on the laws and practices of border management and migration control in Poland. It includes a description of the main developments in migration policy and laws concerning border control and since 2011, focusing on the arrival of asylum seekers, the lack of significant changes in the law, and substantial changes in the state's attitude towards immigration. Furthermore, the report provides a detailed description of the legal framework and implementation related to border management and migration control concerning different phases of the migratory process: before entry, at the border, within the territory, and during return procedures. The report also discusses problems and challenges as identified by experts in immigration issues. The topics identified as requiring attention and improvement concern: (1) the situation at the Polish eastern border and the restricted access to apply for international protection in Poland (due to refusals of entry issued to non-nationals appearing at the border without the required visas), (2) the dual role of the Border Guard at the border and the consequences of it for the process of receiving applications for international protection, (3) problems with the lack of legal aid for persons in the process of the return procedure, and (4) issuing decisions on detention despite negative prerequisites to do so, especially in case of families with children.
The Czech Centre-Right Solutions to the Political Challenges of 2017, 2016
The mass influx of refugees since August 2015 has re-opened questions of the security of the EU external border and the functioning of the EU asylum system. The crisis has revealed the weaknesses of the existing border control, asylum and immigration policies and a lack of collective action. Certain front-line member states have proved unable to effectively guard their borders, while others have opted not to implement the existing asylum legislation or accept their part of responsibility. Concrete steps, both short and long-term responses, have been taken, from the launch of the new European Border and Coast Guard to increased cooperation with third countries. Restoring control of the external borders, while fulfilling obligations to protect people who are fleeing war and persecution, remains the central concern for European politicians. To this end, EU member states need to work together to arrive at joint solutions, acknowledging that nationally-based approaches are bound to fail. They should also ensure the effective application of the existing EU legislation, including the return of failed asylum seekers and irregular economic migrants. Czech centre-right parties should continue in their efforts to temper the public debate on asylum and refugees and constructively contribute to EU-level policymaking
The Immigration and Asylum Policy of the European Union
2016
Mass migration, as it appears in the 21st century, is one of the greatest challenges of our globalized world. The unanswered questions of European Union (EU) immigration policy that emerged over the past few decades have become more pressing than ever. One of these urgent questions is: how can we provide for a developing European economy in an era of demographic decline in a way that it is based on the opportunities opened up by legally regulated forms of migration. A second question is: how can the EU ensure the safety of the newly arriving people in need and, at the same time, keep away illegal migrants and eliminate criminal activities related to migration. The European Union is destined to spread the principles of peace and unconditional respect for human rights not only within its own borders, but also on a global scale, when engaging in international affairs. In addition to observing human rights, however, the EU must also take into account all security considerations that are...
Reform of the Asylum Policy and Control of Illegal Migration: Pan- European and Polish Approaches
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This article considers the development of pan-European and Polish asylum policy and control of illegal migration after the peak of the migration crisis in 2015–16. A sharp increase in the migration burden on the European Union (EU) during this period revealed systemic problems of political regulation of migration in the EU and provoked a confrontation of the interests of national and supranational actors. Despite the decline of migration flows from developing countries in Africa and Asia, the migration policy crisis has worsened over time. It is shown that the consistent position of Poland, coupled with the consolidation of the Visegrad Group, had a noticeable impact on the direction of migration policy reform. This study is based on the regulation acts of the EU, the new Migration and Asylum Pact, the diagnostic document of the Polish migration policy, and other programme documents that are positioned as the basis for the upcoming reforms. The results of the analysis of the provisi...
Migration Policy and the Cross-Border Security
Toruńskie Studia Międzynarodowe, 2017
The essence of the modern migration crisis is the rapid increase in the number of migrants traveling to Europe to obtain asylum. 2015 is recognised as the beginning of the crisis, when 1.2 million asylum applications were filed in the EU, although the number of migrants has been steadily increasing for several years. Population flow to and within the European Union was almost out of control, and short-term blockades and restrictions were introduced at the borders of individual Member States to change the selection of migrants brought chaos and misunderstandings. This phenomenon has led to diplomatic impasse, humanitarian threats and, above all, a serious reduction in cross-border security. The crisis has exposed one of the greatest weaknesses of the European Union-the lack of a common migration policy. The European migration program, combined with efficient management of the EU's external borders, is becoming a solution. Its fulfilment starts to bring first effects.
Border security and asylum rights: The questionable construction of a European asylum regime
The 2015 European refugee crisis highlighted some inherent shortcoming in European migration and asylum policies. Hundreds of thousands of people moving across the borders of Schengen and seeking international protection were quickly classified by the highest institutional offices of member states as " irregular migrants " , they were associated with threats such as organized crime and terrorism and they have been exposed to the risk of being criminalized. These official reactions are both the consequence and the reflection of the Eu-ropean asylum system. A regime that has been created in almost thirty years-from the Schengen agreement to the most recent immigration conventions-on the basis of an obsession for border security which, on the one hand, led to the approval of increasingly restrictive immigration and asylum policies, and, on the other hand, have transformed asylum seekers from victims of political persecution , wars, natural or human disasters to disguised economic immigrants or " false refugees ". Two interesting interpretations of this trajectory have been provided by Valluy-who explains it as the result of a competition between three political ideological views-and Huysmans-who analyzes it in terms of a classical securitization process. In the last part of our paper, we briefly address three main points: 1) the generative power of borders; 2) the need to critically reconsider the vocabulary we as scholars use to analyze human mobility; 3) the link between the European immigration policy framework and the reworking of a European cultural and ethno-racial identity.
Border Management and Migration Control in the European Union
This report is the first deliverable of Work Package (WP2) Border and Migration Controls of the Horizon 2020 Project RESPOND -- Multilevel Governance of Mass Migration in Europe and Beyond. RESPOND explores the multilevel governance of migration in countries of origin, transit and migration, focusing on the Eastern Mediterranean route. WP2 addresses border management and migration control, including European Union (EU) and domestic legal regimes, policy developments since 2011, the implementation of border management and migration control policies by EU member states and third countries, and how refugees and migrants experience and respond to the EU border management regime. The aim of the report is to provide an overview of the current EU border management and migration control regime in order to contextualise further research on domestic regimes and their implementation. It outlines the key components of the European Union framework on border management and migration controls. It also presents an overview of historical developments, an analysis of discursive aspects of border and migration control on the level of Union institutions between 2011 and 2017, as well as a detailed description of control measures in the different layers of the European Union external border. We use the term border management to refer to the EU’s ensemble of legislation, policies, implementation practices, institutions, and actors that are concerned with defining, conceptualising, and policing of the external border of the member states of the European Union. We use the term migration control to capture modes of control that might fall outside the scope of border management, especially as defined by the 2016 European Border and Coast Guard Directive. We elaborate on these definitional issues in Concepts and Definitions section. We then move on to a detailed analysis of these policies and their legal codification and key legislative and policy developments since 2011. We conclude the report with a discussion of the complexities involved in researching this intersection of various legal frameworks, policy fields and implementation challenges in connection to the larger process of Europeanisation.
Defending the right to seek asylum – a perspective from Poland. In ‘Legal Dialogue’, 8 August 2018.
While the number of forced migrants moving out of conflict-ridden or otherwise troubled regions into relatively stable and safe parts of the world is higher than ever, the countries of destination are increasingly trying to prevent migrants from reaching their territories. Given the scale of forced displacement and current trends of tightening immigration policies, it should be expected that tragedies at the borders, similar to that recently witnessed in Europe, will become the norm rather than the exception and that new discourses and practices will continue to emerge, transforming territorial borders in various parts of the world into highly conflictual and politicised 'borderspaces'. This article is a contribution to the understanding of borders through a case study of the recent policy of 'closed doors' that Poland has adopted towards Russia's North Caucasus asylum seekers at the country's eastern border with Belarus, preventing them from entering the territory and claiming protection. It demonstrates that, through the process of 'bordering', power is no longer exercised only by the border guards at the crossing point in Terespol from where asylum seekers are being returned and that it is increasingly to be found in social practices that occur on both sides of the border, away from the clearance points. The article examines the various practices of resistance undertaken by the asylum seekers and other actors on several different levels in response to the changed reality at the border. It also analyses the meanings and discourses developed by Polish state actors in order to legitimise restrictive migration policies.