EU members agree to reform immigration policies

EU member states have agreed on an action plan for the refugee crisis in the bloc to pave the way for managing the influx of refugees.

The revised policy partly aims to ensure EU countries work together when faced with a sudden influx of asylum seekers.

The European Union is in the process of approving its new immigration plan, which seems to bring more restrictions and problems for asylum seekers.

In a meeting in Brussels, the representatives of the EU member states agreed on the main text of the reformed immigration policy before the 27 heads of states meet in Granada, Spain, on Friday.

According to Shia Waves Agency citing the Lebanese Elnashra News outlet, the current agreement has taken into account Italy’s considerations in regards to the issue.

The purpose of the new law is to encourage a common response by EU in the face of a migrant influx to one of the member states; an influx resembling the crisis that affected the bloc in 2015-2016.

Based on this agreement, the member states of the Union will show a common reaction against the large wave of immigrants and asylum seekers entering one of the countries.

Negotiations on the agreement are supposed to continue. Diplomatic sources say that Hungary and Poland were the two main opponents of the immigration reform and voted against it. Private details about the new text of the agreement are not yet available, but NGOs believe that the new changes could increase the risk of refugees being returned to their country of origin.

According to the new law, the detention period of immigrants at the external borders of the European Union can be extended upon approval of the European Parliament.

The Prime Minister of Greece has called for the deportation of immigrants who do not meet the conditions of asylum in European countries during a speech at the summit of the southern member states of the European Union in the capital of Malta.

Immigration to EU countries should be in accordance with the conditions and needs of the member countries, Mitsotakis noted, adding that, currently it is the human traffickers who decide on the entry of people into Europe, and this process must be changed.

For the past few months, Germany has been opposing the plan to reform the European Union’s immigration policy for humanitarian reasons, but eventually, the European Union’s interior ministers were able to gain Berlin’s consent during their meeting in September.

Italy had criticized Germany’s immigration policy, which provides financial aid to several NGOs to help asylum seekers. The two EU states were finally able to reach an agreement on a joint plan on Wednesday.

Some analysts believe that the subject of the European Union’s immigration policy on how to deal with asylum seekers will be the main focus of the EU leaders’ talks in Grenada.

The European Union has made efforts to prevent excessive migration through Mediterranean crossings by tightening surveillance and militarizing its southern maritime borders. It has also reached out to regional governments for help in stemming migration.

Since the start of the year, the number of people fleeing North Africa by boat to the European Union has increased significantly.