The more than five-hour emergency meeting of EU interior ministers held on Tuesday (August 31) ended. The EU is determined to prevent the uncontrolled large-scale flow of illegal immigrants from Afghanistan by increasing aid to neighboring countries in the region. However, they did not discuss the amount or the number of people to be placed.
“Based on the lessons learned, the EU and its member states are determined to take action together to prevent the uncontrolled large-scale illegal immigration campaigns they faced in the past from recurring,” the ministers said in a statement. Joint Statement.
They also stated that they intend to increase financial support to Afghanistan’s “relevant international organizations” and “neighboring or transit countries” to “strengthen their ability to provide refugees with protection, dignified and safe reception conditions, and sustainable livelihoods.” . No country was mentioned in the statement.
They stated that efforts will also include strengthening border management capabilities and preventing migrant smuggling and human trafficking, and called for strengthening the tasks of relevant EU institutions, especially the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), Frontex and Europol.
However, the ministers’ statement did not specify the size or source of the funds.
After the immigration crisis in 2015, the European Union set aside 6 billion euros for Turkey in exchange for Ankara’s pledge to withdraw migrants who crossed the Greek islands. Most of the funding comes from the EU budget.
European Commissioner for the Interior, Ylva Johansson, stated that the European Union is prepared to quadruple the humanitarian assistance provided to Afghans, but the development aid will be developed until the Taliban show sufficient commitment to the rights of women and minorities. Will be suspended.
“We are committed to increasing support for third countries hosting large numbers of immigrants and refugees. These countries need help in providing adequate reception capacity, and EU member states will also decide on a voluntary basis to help them by providing permanent settlement,” Slovenia’s Minister of the Interior, Ales Hoys, told reporters after the meeting.
The joint statement stated that the evacuation of EU citizens and Afghan nationals working with the EU and its member states and their families remains a priority and will continue. The United States no longer controls the Kabul Airport, and the evacuation is now in the hands of the Taliban.
Johnson said in a speech after the emergency meeting that the EU should admit Afghan women, children, judges, journalists, and human rights activists who are considered vulnerable to the influence of the Taliban after gaining 20 years of greater rights and freedoms.
She said after the meeting, “The best way to avoid the immigration crisis is to avoid the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.”
Johnson said that as far as she knows, there has been no “big movement for Afghans to leave Afghanistan”, but added that “if the Taliban turns out to be the same Taliban we have seen in the past, then there is a huge risk of a humanitarian crisis.” .
“Everyone wants to avoid situations like 2015,” Johnson said.
Speaking of the potential flow of refugees from Afghanistan, she said that it is necessary to reach a global agreement because this is not just a challenge involving the European Union.
They stated in the statement that the EU and its member states are determined to prevent the recurrence of the uncontrolled large-scale illegal immigration movement in the past through coordinated and orderly response measures, and emphasized that the encouragement of illegal immigration should be avoided.
Member States do not want to resettle
However, the irregular arrivals after the 2015 immigration crisis have strained the social and security systems of EU countries, fueled anti-immigration sentiment, and led to conflicts among member states over how to try to share the burden equally.
When Luxembourg threatened to block the joint statement, the joint statement almost derailed because some people complained that the statement did not express enough solidarity with the Afghan refugees.
Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn criticized some member states, including Austria and Slovenia, for “doing all they can to prevent refugees from coming to Europe”.
“We can’t accept them all, it’s true, but at least a certain amount,” he added.
After Johnson promised to hold a special meeting of the high-level resettlement forum next month to discuss potential refugee resettlement issues, Asselborn withdrew his veto.
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As part of follow-up #JHA @EU Council Today, I will convene a high-level resettlement forum in September to discuss specific priorities with Member States and provide sustainable solutions for the most vulnerable Afghans, especially women…-Ilva Johnson (@YlvaJohansson) August 31, 2021
Hawes told reporters after the meeting that seeking consensus to pass the statement is very difficult, and sometimes the debate is “very intense”
“But in the end, we were able to sign a joint statement, which is crucial at the moment,” he added.
Earlier on Tuesday, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer stated that all member states should play their part. Since 2015, Germany has received most of the new immigrants. Germany believes that its economy needs immigration.
However, the EU’s interior minister has again failed to make progress on burden-sharing and the way the EU accepts asylum seekers in the future.
However, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, and Poland opposed accepting Afghans, while Warsaw and Budapest refused to accept refugees, saying that they posed a security threat and challenge to the traditions of their own society.
In addition, the specter of terrorist attacks carried out by Islamic radicals in Paris, Brussels, Nice, Berlin and other cities has aroused hostility towards Muslim immigrants from the Middle East and Africa in parts of Europe.
“We are worried that this situation may once again lead to terrorist attacks on EU territory,” said Slovenia’s Interior Minister Hawes.
Human rights organizations have also criticized, and Oxfam accuses EU countries of “failure to fulfill their international obligations to provide asylum for those seeking safety and to promote them to other countries”.
According to reports, although millions of people have been internally displaced in Afghanistan and need humanitarian assistance, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated that it is difficult to estimate how many people will leave the country and the region for Europe.
(Editing by Georgy Getoff)
