EUROPE cannot hope to participate in a debate on morality anytime soon. This became abundantly clear when the EU decided to rework its asylum system and migration policies, ending in a political agreement between the European Parliament and Council — the EU Pact on Asylum and Migration. This will entail detention centres and rapid deportations. Racist and xenophobic, it has been labelled “dangerous” by migrant charities and has triggered disquiet regarding asylum-seekers and vulnerable people among human rights groups. The settlement stands on five crucial proposals: screening regulation, Eurodac regulation, asylum procedures regulation, asylum migration management regulation and crisis and force majeure regulation. They prescribe heightened security in the Schengen region, the detection of illegal activity, “making asylum, return and border procedures more effective”, a “solidarity mechanism between member states”, and EU’s preparedness for crises, including the inflow of migrants.

These terms form a watertight case for ethnic ‘supremacy’ that is carefully worded as ‘economic drain’; a reason disproved by surveys that show economic progress led by migrants. Therefore, we are left with the million-euro question: will the pact also apply to white asylum-seekers? Clearly, the idea of an inclusive European civilisation with laws that assure parity is a castle in Spain. As the accord puts finishing touches to Fortress Europe, the underprivileged world must not allow the EU to forget that the refugees it wants to keep out were spawned by Europe and its policy of abandonment. Many belong to conflict zones such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan. Finally, the EU has betrayed its own so-called core values by plugging borders and forsaking people fleeing turmoil, hunger, war and persecution. While the refugee problem cannot be refuted, the solution lies within these barriers: a return to last century’s empathy so that more lives are not lost to human trafficking.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2023