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71. The refugee ‘crisis’ in Greece: politicisation and polarisation amidst multiple crises

Author:
Angeliki Dimitriadi and Antonia-Maria Sarantaki
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:
The European refugee “crisis” of 2015 first and foremost unfolded in Greece at a critical period for the country and its place in the EU. Amidst the threat of Grexit and domestic political turmoil, the arrival of the refugees raised to the forefront questions of responsibility and burden sharing between Greece and its EU partners. Drawing from de Wilde’s analytical framework, this paper tried to explore whether the question of responsibility became an issue of politicisation in Greece as well as polarisation and whether it resulted in policy change on migration. The analysis draws from three types of sources: online media, parliamentary debates & party announcements, and public opinion polls. Two periods are investigated: the discussion on relocation from May 2015 to November 2015 and the discussions on the EU-Turkey Statement of March 2016. Politicisation of migration pre-existed the crisis and acquired further salience during 2015-2016. Polarisation, in contrast, featured less in 2015, due to the focus on Grexit, but acquires salience in 2016 following the EU-Turkey Statement. Nonetheless two common themes underscore both periods. There is convergence (with varying degrees of intensity) in blaming the member states for failing to adhere to their responsibility and for showing little solidarity. Similarly, there is a broad convergence that migration policy is designed by the European Union and its institutions, with Greece only responsible for the implementation. Thus, the polarisation of 2016 over migration focuses more on the government’s poor implementation and less on the policies initiated at the EU level.
Topic:
European Union, Refugee Crisis, Asylum, and Polarization
Political Geography:
Europe and Greece

72. Asylum-seekers’ integration: The time has come

Author:
Haris Malamidis
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:
Although four years have passed since the 2015 refugee “crisis”, Greece’s reception system is still inadequate in serving the needs of the arriving populations. Since current debates focus on the weaknesses of the reception system, the issue of asylum-seekers and refugees’ integration has been indirectly outweighed. Without underestimating the issue of reception, this policy brief argues that the current political, social and environmental developments highlight the need to move towards decentralized and locally-oriented integration policies. After discussing the past context and the current developments of migration in Greece, we highlight the political, utilitarian and moral reasons that render integration policies both necessary and beneficiary for the domestic and migrant populations. Finally, we conclude with some recommendations regarding the way forward.
Topic:
Migration, European Union, Refugees, Asylum, and Integration
Political Geography:
Europe and Greece

73. From Tampere 20 to Tampere 2.0: Towards a new European consensus on migration

Author:
Marie De Somer, Philippe De Bruycker, and Jean-Louis De Brouwer
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
European Policy Centre (EPC)
Abstract:
To mark the 20th anniversary of the 1999 Tampere European Council conclusions, the European Policy Centre, together with Odysseus Academic Network, European Migration Network Finland and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, embarked on a year-long project to assess the legacy of the Tampere conclusions and how they continue to shape and inspire EU policymaking today. Centred on four pillars – partnerships with countries of origin, a common European asylum system, fair treatment of third-country nationals and the management of migration flows -, these conclusions provided guidelines and sketched out principles that remain relevant two decades later. The project included a series of expert roundtables, culminating in the Tampere 2.0 conference held in Helsinki in October 2019, in the margins of the Finnish Council Presidency. The ideas and suggestions discussed at these events were brought together in this publication.Based on the current state of the EU’s migration and asylum policies and the lessons learned from the 2015-2016 crisis, the book argues that solidarity and the implementation of common policies are the two building blocks for a new European consensus on migration. It puts forward a set of concrete ideas on a new institutional and financial framework for migration policies, on legal migration, the common European asylum system, Schengen, integration, border control, return and readmission, the Global Approach and Partnership Framework, and development. Commission President von der Leyen’s proposal for a new pact on migration is a promising start, but what is perhaps more needed is a compromise uniting the Commission, Parliament and Council, and representing the member states under the auspices of the European Council. Patience and determination will be crucial in securing the successful completion of such a deal. However, that would be a small price to pay for an agreement that will still be as solid and relevant twenty years from now.
Topic:
Migration, European Union, Refugees, and Asylum
Political Geography:
Europe

74. Diminishing safeguards, increasing returns: Non-refoulement gaps in the EU return and readmission system

Author:
Olivia Sundberg Diez
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Policy Centre (EPC)
Abstract:
Increasing the rate of return of third country nationals without a legal right to remain in the EU looks set to remain a policy priority for this European Commission. Nevertheless, the European Union and member states must ensure that their return and readmission policy complies in full with their international obligations, particularly the principle of non-refoulement. In this discussion paper, Olivia Sundberg Diez argues that recent trends are creating a growing accountability gap over how returns are conducted, with implications for refoulement: First, procedural safeguards are increasingly diminished in order to accelerate returns. The Recast Return Directive proposal, and the Council’s partial general approach, could curtail access to effective remedies within return procedures. Regarding readmission, cooperation with third countries is becoming ever more informal and frequently bypasses democratic and judicial scrutiny. Second, significant divergence remains between national return practices. EU mechanisms are sometimes strategically avoided when pursuing controversial agreements that are EU-wide or involve the Union, leading to a blurring of responsibility. At the same time, problematic bilateral agreements continue to be concluded with limited data and without EU guidance. Third, there is a lack of suitable monitoring mechanisms within return practices and readmission agreements. This hinders the EU and member states’ ability to guarantee returnees’ safety, and is worsened by the recast Return Directive proposals. In particular, considerations regarding the risk of indirect refoulement are notably absent. These three trends amount to structural shortcomings in EU and member states’ efforts to prevent refoulement. This paper analyses the risks at hand so that they can be better addressed in the next legislative cycle, and calls for strengthening safeguards and accountability measures in future readmission cooperation and the negotiations for the recast Return Directive.
Topic:
European Union, Refugees, Asylum, and Non-refoulement
Political Geography:
Europe

75. Fleeing Violence in Central America: Time to Implement Canada’s Resettlement Policies

Author:
Rachel Kiddell-Monroe and Celine de Richoufftz
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University (ISID)
Abstract:
Canada should take proactive and concrete actions to protect Northern Central American refugees fleeing violence including: Implementing its policy to offer resettlement to Central American refugees caught in legal limbo in Mexico. Ensuring it welcomes asylum seekers who are at risk under the US immigration system. Supporting Northern Central American states in their efforts to build fairer and more efficient immigration systems. Advocating for safe passages, legal pathways and for an end to the criminalization of clandestine immigration.
Topic:
Immigration, Border Control, Refugees, Violence, and Asylum
Political Geography:
Central America, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador

76. Border games: Has Spain found an answer to the populist challenge on migration?

Author:
Shoshana Fine and José I. Torreblanca
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
Abstract:
Spain, and Europe, need a new story about migration – there is some recognition of this in Spain but it remains to be seen how the country will put this into practice. Spaniards are relatively open towards migration, but the policy challenge for their government should be to allay, and not provoke, fears of migrant invasion. The Spanish government has called for reform of the EU asylum system, favouring solidarity and shared responsibility as opposed to simply stopping ‘secondary movements’. Spain’s migration diplomacy aspires to work with origin and transit countries rather than acting in a coercive way towards them. The Spanish experience should inform EU member states’ efforts to seek to answers to the populist challenge: they should enact comprehensive, planned, and proactive policies that see migration as normal and necessary.
Topic:
Government, Migration, Border Control, European Union, and Asylum
Political Geography:
Europe and Spain

77. Untying the Gordian Knot of the Common European Asylum System: Dublin IV Reform

Author:
Shang-Yen Lee and Christian Kvorning Lassen
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
The latest policy paper by our Shang-Yen Lee and Christian Kvorning Lassen focuses on the reform of Dublin IV regulation under the Common European Asylum System and its prospects after the EP elections. The reform of Dublin IV regulation under the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) has stagnated for years, leaving the EU ill-prepared for future migration and asylum challenges. A reform of Dublin IV is a prerequisite to a comprehensive CEAS reform towards greater solidarity and fairer sharing of responsibilities between the Member States, yet divisions between Parliament and Commission as well as liberal and ‘illiberal’ fault lines have complicated the reform process. The EP elections will most likely stagnate the process further due to a surge in nationalist Eurosceptic MEP’s, which could delay CEAS reform for the foreseeable future, to the detriment of the EU.
Topic:
Reform, Elections, European Union, and Asylum
Political Geography:
Europe

78. Refugee Sponsorship Programs: A Global State of Play and Opportunities for Investment

Author:
Susan Fratzke, Lena Kainz, Hanne Beirens, Emma Dorst, and Jessica Bolter
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
A pair of contradictory trends is challenging humanitarian protection systems around the world: the number of refugees in need of protection has climbed to an all-time high, while at the same time, many countries have reduced their commitments to refugee resettlement. With protection needs high and generosity low, it has become more important to find new ways for refugees to reach safety and to rebuild public consensus around the value of offering protection to those in need. To meet these challenges, governments and civil-society groups in a growing number of countries have begun to explore refugee sponsorship (also called community or private sponsorship), either as a complement or alternative to traditional protection pathways. This MPI Europe policy brief takes stock of sponsorship programs worldwide—from the well-established Canadian private sponsorship program, to much newer and smaller-scale initiatives in countries such as Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Although government investment and support for such programs are essential, this study also lays out a variety of ways private philanthropic actors can support these programs. Among them: funding the development of informational materials and hotlines for sponsors; investing in program infrastrucrture, such as staff positions within civil-society organizations; and monitoring and evaluation by civil society and/or government. Crucially, the authors note that while much effort in recent years has gone into developing and launching new initiatives, existing programs also face important capacity and funding gaps. “To ensure the capacity of refugee protection systems at a global level,” they write, “strengthening these programs should be viewed as a priority equal in importance to setting up new schemes.”
Topic:
Immigration, Law, Refugees, Investment, and Asylum
Political Geography:
Global Focus

79. Creative Financing Could Help Cities Like Portland, Maine, Integrate Asylum Seekers and Tackle Other Challenges

Author:
Matthew Eldridge and Charles Cadwell
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
This summer, several hundred asylum seekers—most fleeing violence in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—arrived in Portland, Maine, igniting a debate on how to support these new arrivals, most of whom have immediate housing and service needs, as well as issues related to trauma and navigating a new country, and whether to encourage more immigration to bridge local labor shortages. The responsibility of providing services for asylum seekers—unlike refugees, who have access to some supports—falls into a gray area without clearly delineated roles for local, state, and federal government agencies. If granted asylum, these individuals would be eligible for federal supports, but that process could take months or years. Capacity constraints among local service providers are limiting their ability to expand services to meet these new needs. Although there may be long-term, quantifiable benefits for integrating these new, mostly younger residents into communities with workforce needs, the short-to-medium-term integration and support costs, coupled with unclear funding responsibilities and tight budgets, present barriers to action.
Topic:
Refugees, Asylum, and Integration
Political Geography:
Africa, North America, Angola, United States of America, and Congo

80. An Overview and Critique of US Immigration and Asylum Policies in the Trump Era

Author:
Paul Wickham Schmidt
Publication Date:
08-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on Migration and Human Security
Institution:
Center for Migration Studies of New York
Abstract:
This article provides an overview and critique of US immigration and asylum policies from the perspective of the author’s 46 years as a public servant. The article offers a taxonomy of the US immigration system by positing different categories of membership: full members of the “club” (US citizens), associate members (lawful permanent residents, refugees, and “asylees”), friends (nonimmigrants and holders of temporary status), and persons outside the club (the undocumented). It describes the legal framework that applies to these distinct populations and recent developments in federal law and policy that relate to them. It also identifies a series of cross-cutting issues that affect these populations, including immigrant detention, immigration court backlogs, state and local immigration policies, and constitutional rights that extend to noncitizens. It ends with a series of recommendations for reform of the US asylum system, and a short conclusion.
Topic:
Immigration, Border Control, Domestic Politics, and Asylum
Political Geography:
United States and North America