Migration is dominating Thursday's European Union summit in Brussels, with Poland calling for a united EU stance against Russia and Belarus, accusing them of using migrants as a weapon. Poland is also pushing for stricter laws on deporting irregular migrants, while the Netherlands mulls a controversial plan to send asylum-seekers to Uganda.
The summit will cover a range of topics, including Ukraine, the Middle East, competitiveness, and climate change. But migration, particularly how to handle arrivals coming by land from the east and by sea from the south, is expected to take centre stage.
Most EU governments see the influx of irregular migrants as a political and security risk, feeding the rise of far-right and populist parties across the continent.
Summit chair Charles Michel said leaders would focus on concrete measures to prevent irregular migration, including strengthened border control, enhanced partnerships, and reinforced return policies.
While irregular arrivals last year were less than a third of the 1 million seen during the 2015 migration crisis, the number fell even further in the first nine months of 2023 to 166,000, according to data from Frontex, the EU’s border agency.
However, Frontex reported a 192 percent surge in people arriving at the EU’s border with Belarus in January-September, bringing the total to 13,195. Arrivals in the Spanish Canary Islands also doubled, reaching 30,616.
A 'top priority'
Diplomats note that although the overall number of arrivals is decreasing, public perception remains different, fuelled by high-profile incidents like the Solingen knife attack by an Islamic State sympathiser in Germany this August.
Migration has become one of the top political priorities in most EU countries, a senior EU diplomat said, adding that right wing politicians framed events like Solingen as a failure of the immigration debate.
"It's populist parties using fear to turn this issue into something that helps them, and the result is that in order to battle this perception, you actually need to do something," the diplomat added.
Germany, ahead of elections next September, has reintroduced border checks with its neighbours, suspending the passport-free Schengen zone. France, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Italy and Slovenia have also implemented border controls.
Dutch plan fuels debate
In the Netherlands, a plan to send rejected African asylum seekers to Uganda has gained support from two of the four coalition parties.
Far-right leader Geert Wilders of the PVV Freedom Party, the largest in the Dutch parliament, called the proposal "fantastic", national broadcaster NOS reported.
He posted on social media: "Fewer asylum seekers, more Netherlands."
Coalition partner SNC Social Contract is also "generally positive" about the idea of setting up return hubs outside the EU.
SNC MP Diederik Boomsma said the plan could help tackle the problem of rejected asylum seekers who cannot be deported, but stressed that human rights must be respected.
"People must be treated well," he said, adding that Uganda’s track record on this issue is worrying. "That is a concern. Therefore, we need to make good agreements."
Nicholas Opiyo, one of Uganda's most prominent human rights lawyers and the director of Chapter Four Uganda, criticised the proposal, warning that "if rejected asylum seekers are forced to go to Uganda, they will end up in a sort of no man’s land".
He called the plan "very concerning," adding, "in Uganda, they have no status. In the Netherlands, they have no status. They fled their countries. You're only putting people in further danger."
The plan, unveiled by the PVV earlier this week, would see Uganda receive financial compensation from the Netherlands in exchange for hosting rejected asylum seekers.
It mirrors similar proposals by the UK and Denmark to send migrants to Rwanda, both of which were later scrapped, as well as Italy’s recent deal to send them to Albania.
(with newswires)
