Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/510672
2 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 13 MAY 2015 News EU migration plan 'most ambitious ever' MIRIAM DALLI PRIME Minister Joseph Muscat has described a plan by the Euro- pean Commission to tackle irregu- lar migration as its "most ambitious plan" yet. The European Commission today unveils its European Agenda for Migration (see below) expected to include politically sensitive propos- als on possible binding rules to dis- tribute asylum seekers and refugees among member states. Muscat was yesterday in Doha, Qatar, attending a conference. While EU leaders had largely sidelined the matter during last month's emergency summit, it now appears that the proposal – mostly pushed by Commission President Jean Claude Juncker – is back on the table in an effort to help ease pressure on member states largely hit by the migration crisis. "The EU needs a permanent sys- tem for sharing the responsibility for large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers among member states," the leaked draft document reads. The proposal still faces opposi- tion, with Hungarian Prime Min- ister Viktor Orban describing the plan as "mad and unfair". The leaked Commission text pro- poses member states to resettle around 20,000 new refugees every year. For the first time, the system will share responsibility for "mass in- fluxes" of non-EU migrants among the 28 member states during times of "emergency", as decided by the Commission. "We have to wait and see the out- come but definitely it will be a heat- ed discussion," Muscat said. "The EU is finally attempting a comprehensive solution to some sort of redistribution. There are quite a number of countries root- ing for it, including Germany and I believe that the French attitude is moderately positive. I am not putting up expectations, but the positive thing this time round is that we are finally discussing solu- tions." On Monday, the EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, sought the help of the United Na- tions for "saving migrants' lives" and approval for the EU's plan to use force against people smugglers. But a military operation to inspect and possibly destroy traffickers' boats has raised concern on how the operation would distinguish between smugglers' boats and fish- ing boats. "It is not only a humanitarian emergency, but also a security cri- sis since smuggling networks are linked to and in some cases finance terrorist activities, which contrib- utes to instability in a region that is already unstable enough," Mogh- erini said. The Prime Minister, one of the first to support the plan, said he had no doubt that military forces were equipped with the latest tech- nology and the necessary intelli- gence to know what's going on on the seas. Muscat said it was a very positive step that the High Representative addressed the UN Security Coun- cil, "something which doesn't hap- pen very often", sending a strong signal about the EU's position. Muscat said the fact that there were technical discussions on whether the use of the United Na- tions Chapter 7 would be enough or whether there should be some sort of written agreement by the Libyan authorities – as proposed by Mogh- erini – on an intervention, the information at the government's disposal was that there was "a clear game plan" and the situation ap- pears to be in hand. But while there is rising concern over the possibility that Russia may veto the EU strikes, Muscat said that while "things are not straight- forward, there appears to be will- ingness for a solution to be found." He added that Russia may not nec- essarily be the most "problematic" country, and that he was equally confident on Libya's position, de- spite the fact that the main political forces in the North African country are against a military action target- ing smugglers' boats. "I think we are close to a solu- tion and there is more than meets eye [in Libya]. The feedback I have is that things are actually moving now," he said. A report by Amnesty Interna- tional however calls for alternative solutions, arguing that migrants and refugees could be trapped in Libya and exposed to serious hu- man rights abuses. "There is no one solution and tar- geting the boats is part of a wider plan... Lives are being saved but is it enough? The destruction of smuggler boats can work," Muscat argued, pointing out that the short- ages of boats in Libya has currently led to a slowdown in migrant cross- ings. "Targeting the supply [the boats] does hinder the criminals who are behind the trafficking. Is it a solu- tion on its own? It's not, just as it's not a solution on its own having rescue missions." Draft plan proposes resettlement quotas THE European Union is propos- ing a 'four-pillar' approach for the management of migration, in a bid to provide legal channels for mi- grants, stem the flow of irregular migration and counter the indus- try of human smuggling through a search-and-destroy action man- dated by international law. In a draft plan seen by MaltaTo- day, the European Commission plans increasing budgets to front- line member states, treble Frontex resources in the Mediterranean, and trigger emergency support mechanisms in a host of 'immedi- ate actions' to be taken in May. In the longer term, the EC wants to reduce the propensity for mi- grants to enter the EU illegally by addressing root causes in third countries through €82 billion in external cooperation assistance. It also intends enforcing returns of apprehended irregular migrants to countries of origin, establish a new monitoring and evaluation system for the Common European Asylum System and guidance to improve standards on reception conditions and asylum procedures. As for legal migration, the EU said it would create an "attractive EU-wide scheme for highly quali- fied third-country nationals". The Blue Card Directive already provides such a scheme, but in its first two years, only 16,000 Blue Cards were issued and 13,000 were issued by a single member state. But the Commission also wants to look at the possibility of devel- oping, with the member states, an "expression of interest system". This would use verifiable criteria to automatically make an initial se- lection of potential migrants, with employers invited to identify prior- ity applicants from the pool of can- didates, and migration taking place after the migrant is offered a job. This would allow for the crea- tion of an "EU-wide pool" of quali- fied migrants, accessible to both employers and Member States' authorities – but with the actual selection and the admission pro- cedure remaining national, based on Member States' actual labour market needs. Immediate actions • Trebling budget for Frontex joint-operations Triton and Po- seidon, amending budget for 2015 but to be presented for 2016 by the end of May. In par- allel to this increase in EU fund- ing, assets (ships and aircraft) are being deployed by several Member States. • Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) operations to sys- tematically identify, capture and destroy vessels used by smug- glers, taken under international law. • Better pooling and use of infor- mation to identify and target smugglers through Europol in joint maritime information op- eration (JOT MARE) – to create a single entry point for inter- agency cooperation on smug- gling. • Frontex and Europol will also develop profiles of vessels which could be used by smugglers, following patterns to identify potential vessels and monitor their movements. Europol will identify illegal internet content used by smugglers to attract mi- grants and refugees, and request its removal. Responding to high-volumes of arrivals within the EU: Relocation • At the end of May, the EU will trigger the emergency response system envisaged under Art.78.3 of the Treaty for a distribution mechanism for persons in clear need of international protection to ensure a fair and balanced participation of all Member States to this common effort. • The receiving Member State will be responsible for the examination of the applica- tion in accordance with estab- lished rules and guarantees. A redistribution key based on criteria such as GDP, size of population, unemployment rate and past numbers of asy- lum seekers can be found in Annex. • Target 20,000 resettlement places for the EU per year by the year 2020, with the EC rec- ommending EU-wide reset- tlement scheme, backed by an extra €50 million in 2015/2016 to support this scheme. If nec- essary this will be followed up with a proposal for a binding and mandatory legislative ap- proach beyond 2016. Working with third countries to tackle migration upstream • Regional Development and Protection Programmes will be set up, starting in North Africa and the Horn of Africa, with €30 million made avail- able in 2015/2016. • Pilot multi-purpose centre will be set up in Niger by the end of the year, with IOM, UNHCR and Niger authorities offering "information, local protection and resettlement opportuni- ties for those in need" and to provide "a realistic picture of the likely success of migrants' journeys." • Ongoing Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions already deployed in countries like Niger and Mali will now also patrol borders. • Dedicated summit will be organised in Malta in the au- tumn with key partners, in- cluding the African Union. Using the EU's tools to help frontline Member States • Commission will set up new 'Hotspot' approach, where the European Asylum Support Of- fice, Frontex and Europol will work on the ground with front- line Member States to swiftly identify, register and fingerprint incoming migrants. • Commission will mobilise an additional €60 million in emer- gency funding, including to sup- port the reception and health- care system of Member States under particular pressure. Jean Claude Juncker (right) pushed the European Agenda for Migration Federica Mogherini called for UN help to save migrants' lives