An unexpected turn in the European Union’s policy towards refugees

As recently as six weeks ago, Poland began building a wall on its border with Belarus. , asylum seekers and migrants who wish to enter the EU from Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan via Belarus are to be stopped. The tragedy of several thousand people who had to survive in the freezing cold in the border zone and who were not allowed to enter Poland or return to Belarus made headlines for weeks.

And now a completely different reaction. Poland, like all other European Union countries, has opened its borders wide to war refugees from. Everyone and everyone is to be accepted – this was the promise made by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

Quite a different answer

“What a difference!” Says Catherine Woollard, director of the European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) in Brussels. Woollard has been working on migration policy for many years in an association of several dozen aid organizations. The current crisis, in which up to four are expected millions of refugees is the biggest crisis Europe will have to face since World War II – The EU is able to deal with it It was able to deal with this problem also in 2015, but today we see a completely different response – says the refugee expert.

In 2015, around one million refugees from the Syrian civil war arrived in Central Europe via the Balkan route. The EU entered a deep political dispute over their deployment that continues to this day.

In the case of people coming from Ukraine, the EU has so far reacted differently, rejoices Catherine Woollard. – We are grateful and hope that it will continue to be so. It is obvious that a common response to such a large number of refugees makes the situation somewhat manageable, believes the director of ECRE.

Rare unanimity

EU Commissioner for Migration, Ylva Johansson, was also pleasantly surprised by how quickly EU Home Ministers were able to agree on assistance to people arriving from Ukraine. There has been no unanimity in the EU on migration policy for years.

– I am proud to be a European. I am proud of the solidarity shown by individuals, local authorities, border guards, aid organizations, governments, Johansson said after 27 ministers agreed to grant all refugees from Ukraine the right to stay for at least twelve months in any EU country without unnecessary bureaucracy.

In addition, refugees receive accommodation, medical care, schools for children and the right to work. They do not have to undergo a lengthy asylum procedure, as do migrants who travel to Italy, Greece or Spain by boat in much smaller numbers.

Double standards

Not wanting to criticize the current readiness to accept refugees, Catherine Woollard of ECRE pointed out that of course there are “embarrassing double standards” in refugee policy, particularly visible in Poland or Hungary, which also closed their border with a strong border fence.

– Unfortunately, the norm is that migration and asylum policy depends on factors such as race, religion or country of origin. There are prejudices in the system. This has to be dealt with in the long run, says Woollard in an interview with DW. – There should be a readiness to accept, no matter where and how people come to Europe – the expert believes.

Students must leave the EU

The EU is currently assisting Ukraine’s neighboring countries with additional funding from the Emergency Fund; Romania and Moldova in particular need help. In addition, the rule that the country of first contact is responsible for the refugee is to be suspended.

Ukrainian residents can continue to travel to other countries even if they do not have a biometric passport, which is actually required. However, these rules do not apply to third-country nationals who hold long-term residence permits in Ukraine, e.g. students from Africa.

– We help them get out of Ukraine. All are welcomed in Europe first and board and lodging are provided. We then contact the countries of origin, ‘said EU Commissioner Johansson on how to deal with students planned. “They will then be picked up by airplanes and taken home.”

2022 is not 2015

The new solidarity and “paradigm shift” in refugee policy, says Johansson, may also have a wider impact on the EU’s “toxic migration policy”, which has been controversial for years. Why is 2022 going where 2015 was not? “This is the crucial question,” she said.

Germany’s Social Democratic Interior Minister Nancy Faeser does not have a ready-made answer, but has some speculation. – The only explanation I can think of is that the war is very close. It is conducted in the center of Europe. There is just a different sense of danger when you see what is happening.

Now, the draft laws on the reform of migration and asylum policy, which were discussed long before the war in Ukraine, are to be presented quickly.

“All the ministers at the table say we need to move faster than before. Often times, a crisis can break blockades. We have to communicate. We need to make progress, “said French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, setting the political course for action until the end of June. Darman is now president of European interior ministers.

“As it should be”

Quickly accepting millions of refugees from Ukraine fleeing the Russian aggressor is also in the EU’s interest, analyzes Catherine Woollard from the European Refugee Council. In her opinion, we must continue to act. Panic and paralysis in the EU would only benefit Vladimir Putin. – We must at all costs avoid a political crisis similar to those we experienced after 2015 and 2016.

At that time, the EU was divided into countries that rejected migrants altogether and those that accepted them. Heated disputes over the so-called “upper limits”. Gradually, however, a general attitude of isolation and deterrence prevailed. Asylum procedures were to be transferred to the frontiers, which has not yet been implemented.

According to Woollard, the actions taken so far in connection with the influx of refugees in 2022 are: “A proper and cooperative response, as it should be”.

The article comes from the website