Frontex

The Pact on Migration and Asylum is at risk of simply worsening existing problems and even creating new ones.

A crisis point has emerged, whereby the figure of the ‘irregular’ migrant is seen as both a security threat to the European Union (EU) and its borders and as a life that is itself threatened and in need of saving by the EU and its agencies.

Confronted with the obscene images that have been reaching us ever since the influx of refugees entered new dimensions in the summer 2015, we may wonder: why is it that Germany behaves with much more dignity and efficiency than France, let alone the UK or Hungary?

Over the past year, Europe, besides the economic crisis, has had to face another big challenge: the largest refugee flow since the Second World War.

What responses are being prescribed by Greens who hold office in places heavily affected by these developments?

The influx of refugees to the shores of Greek islands has generally been met with overwhelming support from locals, eager to provide much needed aid to the refugees.

This year, hundreds of thousands of refugees have entered the EU in the hope of a new life and a safer future for themselves and their families. However, instead of welcoming them, European politicians are trying to keep them out EU territory, or at least away from their own countries.

To avoid further catastrophes and deaths in the Mediterranean we need a radical shift in the priorities of EU asylum policies. Increasing the budget of the “Triton” operation of the EU border surveillance agency FRONTEX and doing another minute of silence is not enough!