The 9th edition of the European Migration Forum took place in Brussels in November. High on the agenda was the role of civil society in the implementation of the new Pact on Migration and Asylum. Launched in April 2024, the document replaced the former Dublin III Regulation and seeks to support the European Union’s efforts to untangle the current migration gridlock by strengthening border security, facilitating asylum and repatriation procedures and strengthening solidarity with Member States located at the Union’s external borders. Far from being unanimously welcomed, the Pact was met with criticism from NGOs, publications and specialists across the European continent – both from anti-migration and far-right parties (for whom the new regulation does not propose sufficient measures to stop migration) and from leftists and activists (for whom the document poses a threat to human rights). At the end of 2023, for instance, 50 NGOs signed an open letter to the European Commission voicing fears about a future system with possible flaws. This system would favor the normalization of arbitrary detention of migrants, racial profiling, and would use “crisis” procedures as a reason to reject entry at the border and redirect people to so-called safe third countries, thus exposing them to risks of violence, torture and imprisonment.
Professor Cristian Pîrvulescu, the Dean of the Faculty of Political Sciences at SNSPA and President of the Integration and Immigration Group of the European Economic and Social Committee, tried to account for part of the hesitancy towards the new regulation:
“We had our misgivings towards the Pact, primarily regarding the definition of third countries, because the list of third countries where people who are denied asylum in the European Union are expelled is not at all certain. There are, from our point of view, many shortcomings in the way the Commission has compiled this list, and there are states that are apparently safe, but which the geopolitical situation can turn into completely unsafe states. Moreover, one of our problems concerns the right to apply to enter the territory of the European Union and to go through asylum procedures, which is essential for all those who arrive at the EU borders, whether we are talking about Schengen or non-Schengen borders. In addition, the asylum procedures, as explained by the new Pact, are greatly shortened”.
In 2023, over 117 million people were forcibly displaced, and the UNHCR estimated that by the end of 2024, this figure would increase to 130 million. However, the majority remain in their regions of origin, and only a small share seek protection in Europe.
On the sidelines of the European Migration Forum, RRI spoke to Flavius Ilioni Loga, executive director of the LOGS Association, a grassroots organization operating in Timișoara since 2019, which promotes the integration of vulnerable migrant groups through education and combating human trafficking. Flavius Ilioni was designated “Urban Hero” in Timișoara in 2021, and his team is made up of social workers, psychologists and cultural mediators. I asked him about the vulnerabilities of the new Pact on Migration and Asylum:
“We could not say that we ideally suited to make a legal analysis of the Pact. But there is criticism at the level of organizations regarding policies related to pushbacks, what is happening at the external borders, including on the Romanian border with Serbia, the presence of FRONTEX — how many FRONTEX employees are inspected to actually protect the rights of those who are refugees and who have the right to seek asylum. There is also criticism regarding the implementation of the Pact exclusively with support of the authorities versus that of civil society. We are talking about this exclusive responsibility of national governments to determine who will be involved in the resettlement or integration of people arriving from abroad. The processing of asylum applications, obviously, is the remit of national authorities, but when it comes to legal assistance, counseling, how will this be done? This can be seen as a barrier in the way of organizations like ours, to have direct access to the authorities in Bucharest, for example, which are 600 kilometers away from Timișoara, and that might raise issues when it comes to helping and supporting the solidarity effort at the local and community level”.
According to data provided by the General Inspectorate for Immigration submitted for publication and analysis to the European Council for Refugees and Exiles, in 2023 Romania received a total of 10,346 applications for international protection, of which, by the end of 2023, only 5,561 had been processed. Of these, only 491 had received refugee status, and 438 subsidiary protection. (VP)
