Migration Crisis: Border Protection in EU Countries – 20 minutes

While tourists enjoy the sun and sea on the beach in Lampedusa, Hundreds of migrants squatting In a fenced area on sandy ground. But the EU still has no solution on how it wants to protect the borders together. Overview of the country taking measures:

Italy

According to the Welt website, Italy is heading for the largest number of illegal immigrants entering the country this year since the refugee crisis in 2016. So far, about 130,000 people have arrived via the Mediterranean route alone, and others via the Balkan route. The number is expected to continue to rise over the next few months.

Since it takes months for most migrants to enter the asylum system, they prefer to travel to other countries. The agreement with Libya brought calm for a short period; The Italian government paid the costs of intercepting tens of thousands of people at the border and returning them to Libya. The government also wants to build more deportation centres.

Greece

The Greek government concluded an agreement with Türkiye in March 2016 Refugee agreement far. The reason behind this was that in the run-up, more than 100,000 people had fled across the Mediterranean to Greece, and countless drowned. The conclusion of the Refugee Convention meant that the number of arrivals declined rapidly.

In February 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan canceled the agreement by announcing the opening of the borders with Greece. Since then, Greece has relied on returning asylum seekers at the border or forcibly expelling them, for example by abandoning migrants at sea.

Spain

As the newspaper “Welt” writes, the situation in the country is currently not as risky as in other countries, but migration numbers are also increasing there. About 25 thousand people arrived in the country by water.

The newspaper wrote, “Spain also owes the fact that the situation is somewhat under control to its currently good relations with the Kingdom of Morocco, which has reduced illegal immigration to Spain by more than 70 percent since 2022.” The Moroccan government received €624 million in EU aid this year, including €152 million for migration and border protection measures.

Croatia

The number of illegal entries and asylum applications submitted in Croatia has also increased. One reason for this is that the country On the famous Balkan Road He lies. Migrants try to reach Slovenia, Austria or Germany from Serbia or Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The country has responded by strengthening border protection, building border walls, and installing surveillance systems. Due to the existence of a bilateral readmission agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Croatian government is also allowed to repatriate third-country nationals without a valid residence permit. However, human rights organizations criticize that this happens without verifying the right to asylum and the use of excessive force.

Poland

Although a wall more than four meters high has been in place on the border with Belarus since last year, people from Africa and the Middle East are still able to cross. The newspaper “Wilt” reported that many migrants are being returned, sometimes with the use of force. Those who are not discovered often travel to Germany or the Netherlands.