Europäischer Wirtschafts- und Sozialausschuss
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After nine months of war in Ukraine, the EU institutions and the Member States are still striving to overcome the challenges of the migration crisis caused by Ukrainians fleeing the war on a massive scale. Civil society organisations (CSOs), NGOs and national stakeholders are also seeking practices to ensure the protection and integration of Ukrainian refugees, paying special attention to children and people with disabilities, with winter and war fatigue making these efforts harder.
European organised civil society and citizens have shown unprecedented solidarity with Ukrainian refugees, throwing open their homes, helping these refugees enter the labour market and quickly integrating Ukrainian children into European schools. The EU should now learn from this success story to help all refugees and migrants, the 2022 Forum said.
The state-sponsored instrumentalisation of migrants, aimed at destabilising the EU, and the current war in Ukraine, resulting in an unprecedented influx of refugees, call for a review of European migration policy. The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) insists that solidarity and burden-sharing among Member States are needed for a common response to refugee crises. At the same time, the EESC highlights the need to guarantee migrants' safety and human rights.
With the threat of war at its doorstep, the Schengen area should be further strengthened through better police and judicial cooperation, with its internal borders kept open
Responding to the state-sponsored instrumentalisation of migrants at the EU's external borders, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held a conference on this topic, highlighting the momentum of the Europeanisation of migration policy. So far, authoritarian leaders have instrumentalised humanitarian suffering to blackmail Europe, as they are aware of the gap on migration policy on the continent. Nowadays, the geopolitical atmosphere calls for a common, holistic and cohesive migration policy that cannot be further delayed.
Often a source of labour exploitation, the employment of illegally staying migrants is also a pull factor for migrant smuggling which claims thousands of lives every year of people embarking on dangerous journeys to reach Europe. Both criminal practices should be met with resolute action at national and EU level
The two-day European Migration Forum (EMF), held virtually by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the European Commission, stressed the indispensable role of migrants during the pandemic and the great potential of their contribution to the EU's economic and social recovery after the COVID-19 crisis.
The EESC says it fears that, without proper guarantees and strong reintegration measures in countries of origin, voluntary returns of migrants could result in a violation of their fundamental and human rights
The speech delivered by von der Leyen in the 2021 State of the Union Address has to be critically received, mainly for what it lacks in terms of ambition and clarity, despite naming virtually all the key challenges Europe faces.
Building talent partnerships with countries of origin and transit is a key policy in addressing migration. Europe has to shift the focus of migration policy's external dimension and make it part of a broader geopolitical and geo-economic agenda that will be given its rightful place other policies. Otherwise, the new pact will be too weak to deal with the rising numbers of migration flows.
