European Union attempts to get a grip on the migrant crisis are doomed to fail, a damning new report has claimed.
The bloc is still dealing with large numbers of people entering the bloc illegally, although the number of “irregular border crossings” in the first four months of 2024 fell by almost a quarter (23 percent) to about 63,400 compared with the previous period, according to preliminary data from Frontex, the EU’s borders agency.
Significantly however, the Western African and Eastern Mediterranean routes experienced the highest increases (375 percent and 105 percent respectively).
And Chris Changwe Nshimbi of the University of Pretoria and Inocent Moyo, an Associate Professor at the University of Zululand, argue the bloc’s attempts to get tough will inevitably backfire.
Their report, published on The Conversation website, points out: “Nearly a decade has passed since migration to Europe from Africa and the Middle East reached a peak in 2015, referred to as the year of the ‘migrant crisis‘. Over a million people from Africa and the Middle East applied for asylum in the European Union (EU).
“Since then, numbers have continued to be high. In 2023 the number of migrants who reached Europe’s shores through the Mediterranean Sea was 275,000, up from about 180,000 in 2022.”
The two academics highlighted a three-pronged strategy aimed at “erecting barriers” namely:
- Heavily policing borders and transforming the resources used to manage them, including the use of facial recognition software and military-grade drones used to detect refugee boats
- Harassment of Europe-based NGOs which support migrants, with some organisations effectively being criminalised
- Exporting or subcontracting the asylum process to African countries – an approach which has similarities to Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation scheme
The report warns: “The EU’s ‘fortress’ approach is a waste of resources that could be put to better use in more humane and sustainable ways.
“No matter what measures European countries take, irregular migration will continue.
“Mobility is natural to human life. People will always seek out better options.“
The report concludes: “Based on our expertise, it’s become clear to us that European countries must accept that migration will happen.
“They must therefore create legal pathways and better processes to handle migrants.”
One example would be for the EU and the African Union to set up apprenticeship-like skills and technical training for irregular migrants in the sectors which draw them to EU labour markets, Mr Changwe Nshimbi and Prof Moyo suggested.
They added: “This would help meet the demand for labour in Europe and create regular channels of migration for Africans. The migrants would acquire skills for use in Africa if they returned.
“Another would be for the EU countries to adopt Canada’s approach. It adheres to the UN refugee protocol by not penalising asylum seekers for unauthorised entry, as reflected in its Criminal Code.”