Understanding Migration and Asylum in the European Union
The word “migrant” describes a person who leaves home to seek a new life in another region or country. The word is used broadly. It includes those who move through legal channels—to take a job in another country or region, for instance, or to rejoin family members—as well as those who move across borders without a visa or government approval. (The latter is often called irregular or undocumented migration.)
The word “refugee” describes someone fleeing war, persecution, or natural disasters. Under international law, no one can be sent to a place where they face a real risk of being persecuted or seriously harmed by others. Those claiming this status can ask for asylum—legal permission to stay as a refugee—which brings with it rights and benefits. This application process can be lengthy and complicated. Not every asylum seeker will be recognized as a refugee, but every refugee is initially an asylum seeker.
What is the European Union’s asylum policy?
The EU has spent years building the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), which is intended to ensure that the rights of refugees under international law are protected in its member states. The system sets out minimum standards and procedures for processing and assessing asylum applications, and for the treatment of both asylum seekers and those who are granted refugee status. However, many EU states have yet to properly implement these standards. What exists instead is a patchwork of 28 asylum systems producing uneven results.
Where an asylum seeker travels through several EU countries, the CEAS allows one EU country to send that person to the first EU country reached by the asylum seeker, so long as that country upholds the rights of asylum seekers. This so-called “Dublin system” privileges EU countries in the north, the desired destination of many refugees, at the expense of the south, where most refugees first arrived.
But only a very small proportion of asylum seekers are transferred this way, and failures of asylum systems in Greece, Italy, and Hungary have led courts to block transfers. Unlike settled residents and tourists, asylum seekers do not have the right to move freely within the EU’s .
Member states have reinstituted border controls at times, endangering the Schengen system of free movement, as well as erected fences along borders, notably in Hungary and Bulgaria. Several countries in Central Europe have been openly dismissive of resettling refugees, and far-right anti-immigrant parties have risen in popularity across Europe.
How has the European Union responded to refugee movements?
Under the revised , the EU pledged to take immediate action to prevent further losses of life and to improve conditions for those seeking protection in Europe.
The EU plans to relocate migrants who reach the EU from countries at the EU’s external frontiers—like Italy, Greece, and Hungary—to countries which have few arrivals. The plan is to relocate 160,000 people across the EU over the next two years. This decision was reached following months of negotiations to overcome the reluctance of governments. Individual states, like the United Kingdom, have plans to resettle refugees directly from countries neighboring Syria.
Support teams of experts from EU agencies such as the European Asylum Support Office will be deployed at major European arrival points, like the Greek islands, to assist in the registration of arriving refugees.
The EU has pledged one billion euros to world food programs to help reduce the flow of arriving refugees. These funds will be directed to host countries like Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan to manage their significant refugee communities. In the fall of 2015, the European Commission launched inquiries against many of its member states that failed to adhere to common rules for granting protection and providing decent conditions to asylum seekers, such as housing, food, and health care.
In the current surge of arrivals, those reaching Europe are only a fraction of the world’s refugees. According to UNHCR figures, developing countries host over 86 percent of the world’s refugees.
What are the Open Society Foundations doing?
Open Society’s work on refugees and migrants involves different programs and builds on our 25-year presence in Europe.
We believe that the EU should commit to building a single asylum and migration system that establishes safe, legal means of migration. This requires the political will to recognize that existing approaches to migration have created the appearance of failure and crisis. Europe needs sustainable, affordable migration systems and popular understanding and support for these.
The ultimate goal is to create migration policies and practices that protect refugees and enable legal movement for work, family, and study without violating human rights. Our teams work to conceive and support the development of effective and sustainable policy proposals to form a cohesive and progressive European asylum system.
We work in all European countries affected by large migration movements to support civil society organizations looking to respond in humane and responsible ways.
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