Brussels- In a highly debated move, the European Union (EU) lawmakers voted on Thursday to require member countries to host refugees and migrants during times of high arrivals. The reform comes ahead of the 2024 pan-European election and has been a contentious issue among EU member states.
The European Parliament adopted its position on the migration and asylum rules reform, which has long been a divisive topic among the 27 EU member states. The issue of obligatory relocations, where countries are legally bound to host new arrivals, has caused disagreement among member states. Poland and Hungary have refused to host any refugees or migrants, while Italy and France, where many people from the Middle East and Africa arrive on smugglers’ boats across the Mediterranean Sea, have argued that they cannot cope with the influx alone.
Countries like Poland, Hungary, and their allies have suggested providing financial aid, personnel, or equipment instead of being required to take in refugees and migrants. However, Mediterranean countries that are the first point of entry for many irregular migrants, as well as wealthier destination states like Germany, have argued that these measures are not enough.
The EU’s migration and asylum system faced a crisis in 2015 when over a million people, mostly fleeing the war in Syria, arrived on Europe’s southern shores. The EU was caught off guard, leading to strained reception and security capacities, and fueling anti-immigration sentiment across the bloc.
Since then, the EU has tightened its external borders and asylum laws to deter irregular migration, and the issue has taken a backseat due to the COVID-19 pandemic restricting global mobility. However, arrivals in the Mediterranean region increased last year, with Frontex, the EU’s border agency, reporting around 330,000 unauthorized arrivals.
As irregular immigration continues to rise, some member states, including Italy’s far-right government, are calling for the EU to take more action to reduce sea arrivals. Ideas that were previously seen as hardline, such as building border fences or processing asylum claims outside of Europe, including in countries like Rwanda as proposed by Denmark, are once again being discussed as part of the EU’s political discourse on migration management.
Despite the EU’s efforts to reform its migration and asylum system before the 2024 bloc-wide election, the issue of obligatory relocations remains unresolved, according to diplomats. As debates and negotiations continue, the future of EU’s migration policy remains uncertain.
 lawmakers voted on Thursday to require member countries to host refugees and migrants during times of high arrivals.){kind=link}