Home Europe People cannot be returned to countries where they are not safe, Johansson says

People cannot be returned to countries where they are not safe, Johansson says

by editor

The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, discusses a new pact to better manage migrant and refugee applications to the EU and if it will repair fraught relations between some Member States.

Euronews

So, it’s a dire situation in the Mediterranean. 700 people already died this year. The United Nations Migration Agency director, António Vitorino, is insisting that state initiatives are lacking when it comes to rescue efforts at sea. Will there be a new joint EU mission?   

Ylva Johansson

I must say that what we see now from the Italian Coast Guard is really impressive. They have rescued, I think, already more than 30,000 people this year. And we also have the NGOs, but to a much lesser extent, of course. The state initiatives are the big ones when it comes to search and rescue. But we have to prevent these dangerous departures in the first place because there is always a risk that somebody will go missing or lose their life if they depart on these dangerous journeys. That’s why it’s so important with prevention – fighting the smugglers, but also offering legal pathways, safe pathways to the European Union.  

Euronews

We see that, in the end, Italy is the main arrival point, it is at the forefront. The government just declared a state of emergency for six months. And we also saw the Interior Minister of France criticising the [Italian] government, saying it’s not able to manage migration. What would you say to this? 

Ylva Johansson

I think that Italy is under huge pressure, and I think they are managing it pretty well. The state of emergency in Italy is, of course, a national decision. But, as I understand, this helps Italy to cope with a quicker reception, improving the reception capacities in a quicker way. And that’s absolutely necessary due to the huge number of arrivals. But it is important to say that Italy should not be alone. We have to support Italy here. 

Euronews

Tunisia is currently a major departure point for migrants and refugees, for both nationals and citizens from other African countries. You recently visited Tunisia and discussed this with the government. What measures will be put in place to, somehow, steam this flow? 

Ylva Johansson

We have now reached a very good agreement with the Tunisian Government and authorities to deepen our cooperation, i.e. to step up our support for the protection of their borders, both with the Coast Guard and on their southern borders. This also includes helping them to build capacities for the registration and reception of migrants, but also to cooperate when it comes to police investigations, to go after the smugglers. We have also agreed on a legal pathway, called the ‘Talent Partnership’ so that there will be possibilities for Tunisians to legally come to the European Union. 

Euronews

So, let’s talk about the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is the instrument to promote greater solidarity, including relocation. There are ongoing negotiations on legislation that must be reformed. How confident are you that more countries will want to welcome refugees and migrants? And can some of these relocations, resettlements and other measures be binding so that not every Member State is allowed to opt out? 

Ylva Johansson

We’re working together to counter the high numbers [of deaths] in the Central Mediterranean Sea. So, we are working together to deal with emergency situations, but we are also working together to find a long-term legislative solution to create a stable way to manage migration, in an orderly way. And so far, we have made enormous progress when it comes to the negotiations. Of course, [let’s keep our] fingers crossed. Still, there are some steps to go, but I’m very confident, actually, that we will be able to reach a compromise before the end of this legislative term. 

Euronews

So, in spite of all those efforts for a common approach, we see that, for instance, the Council of Europe recently warned the EU against practices that push back migrants and refugees without processing their requests. This is, of course, illegal under international law. But Lithuania recently adopted a law that is looking to use this instrument in emergency situations. What do you think of this decision?  

Ylva Johansson

I’m in close contact with Lithuania. I was in Vilnius, in February, to discuss directly with the minister [of the Interior, Agnė Bilotaitė] and she is very open to, together with my services, looking into this legislation and seeing what kind of changes would be necessary to comply with the EU acquis. And we are in that process right now. 

Euronews

At the same time, we see that there’s a lot of talent, that a lot of people could be useful within the labour force, here in Europe, be it in Germany, or in Spain. I understand that they [these countries] are interested in some pilot projects with Tunisia, Morocco and other [countries]. How would this work? 

Ylva Johansson

It works, and it will work very well. We have a labour shortage in almost all Member States, in almost all sectors, I should say. And this is really a golden opportunity to find new relationships with many of our partner countries, investing in legal pathways. What we are offering from the European Commission side is the ‘Talent Partnership’, where we also can support, for example, the building of vocational training and language courses, before people leave to work in the European Union. And that could be a ‘win-win’ situation. For example, investing in training in Tunisia for example, that would benefit those who would like to stay in Tunisia, but also those that will come for a few years, or one year, to work in a Member State, and then maybe go back. 

Euronews

The other side of the coin is, of course, sending back people that are not entitled to international protection as refugees, but also those who have not applied for a contract to work in Europe in a regular way. Do you agree with the strategies by European Union governments of kind of threatening to withhold trade access, visa agreements, or even development aid to countries that refuse to cooperate with these returns? 

Ylva Johansson

People could not be returned to countries where they are not safe. That is one thing, but a lot of people could be returned to their country of origin in a safe way. So that’s why we are actually using Article 25 of the Visa Code, a mechanism for when a partner country is not cooperating well on readmission and returns. Then, from the Commission’s side, we are proposing some visa measures for that country, and now we can see many of those [countries] are starting to totally change their attitude and are cooperating much better on readmission and returns. And that in turn will open up more legal pathways. 

Euronews

Thank you very much, Madame Commissioner, for being with Euronews.

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