104,000 asylum applications in Sept alone, and no end in sight
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2023
Does the EU really have a “New Pact on Migration”? No, not yet
And even if the EU’s new Pact is ratified, it will have no teeth
Across the EU, migration is now a top issue for voters, just as in the UK. Yesterday (Thurs 21 Dec 2023) the EU Commission announced that asylum applications from illegal migrants had jumped to more than 100,000 in September alone.
In Brussels the previous day, the EU Commission announced its new “New Pact on Migration and Asylum” to great fanfare. There were numerous statements and press conferences from different Commissioners, from the EU Commission President down.
Going through the documentation, however, it is difficult to see anything which will dramatically reduce the flow of millions of illegal migrants into the EU – a proportion of whom will attempt to get to England.
1. How badly have EU’s illegal migrant levels and asylum claims spiralled out of control?
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
EU’s asylum claims from illegal migrants in last 10 years
- Over 7.5m (7,563,770) applications in total
- Numbers per month have almost doubled since Ursula von der Leyen became Commission President
- In September alone they peaked at 104,000
- Almost 100,000 of these were from new applicants – IN ONE MONTH
[Source: EU Commission, 21 Dec 2023.]
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2023 – click to enlarge
2. What is contained in this new putative immigration pact?
The EU’s putative pact contains very little of substance. Most of it contains worthy sentiments, without the backing of the practical measures needed to make a real difference to illegal migrant numbers. The preamble even seems to suggest an acceptance of the problem, saying :-
“[The Pact] is designed to manage and normalise migration for the long term, providing certainty, clarity and decent conditions for people arriving in the EU. It also establishes a common approach to migration and asylum that is based on solidarity, responsibility, and respect for human rights.”
– EU Commission, 20 Dec 2023
The agreement covers five key proposals of the Pact:
- Screening Regulation: Creating uniform rules concerning the identification of non-EU nationals upon their arrival, thus increasing the security within the Schengen area.
- Eurodac Regulation: Developing a common database gathering more accurate and complete data to detect unauthorised movements.
- Asylum Procedures Regulation: Making asylum, return and border procedures quicker and more effective.
- Asylum Migration Management Regulation: Establishing a new solidarity mechanism amongst Member States to balance the current system, where a few countries are responsible for the vast majority of asylum applications, and clear rules on responsibility for asylum applications.
- Crisis and Force majeure Regulation: Ensuring that the EU is prepared in the future to face situations of crisis, including instrumentalisation of migrants.
There finally appears to be a deal to redistribute migrants across the bloc but this merely spreads the problem out, rather than stopping it. There is also a promise to increase the number of Frontex border staff, but this has already been done to little if no effect.
In short, the Pact seeks to manage the effect of mass illegal immigration, without containing the tough measures required to stop it in the first place.
3. The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, former Immigration Minister, had this to say
“The EU is resigned to illegal migration – their hollow words fool no-one”
“This week ended with an agreement of sorts: the EU’s “New Pact on Migration and Asylum”. Cue much backslapping in Brussels. An ebullient Ylva Johansson, the European commissioner for home affairs declared: “We did it!”. I highly doubt the public will view it so fondly should they read its threadbare contents, nor history view it favourably.
For all their talk of “intensifying the fight against smugglers” and providing a “European response” to a “European challenge”, the EU’s plan for tackling illegal migration is not worth the paper it’s written on.”
The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, writng in the Daily Telegraph, 22 Dec 2023
4. As ever, the Commission announces ‘good news’ before it’s formally agreed
It has taken more than three years to get to this meagre point and still nothing will be formally agreed until well into next year, if at all. This is a notional ‘political agreement’.
As our Chairman often says: “The EU’s political agreements are generally not worth the hot air they’re written on.”
Observations
For many years we have been analysing the official data and reporting on the growing migrant crisis in the UK and across Europe. In the early days we risked being ‘shadow-banned’ by social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook – and indeed we were. Back then, even factual reporting such as ours on this subject laid us open to allegations of ‘racism’.
This has never been about racism. It has always been about the protection of the public from terrorists who enter the UK illegally under the guise of ‘asylum seekers’ and about the appalling effect that overall mass immigration has had on the public’s quality of life in the United Kingdom.
Today, this discussion is mainstream. As Robert Jenrick points out:-
“The chronic inability of the EU to enforce its external borders will create deep political fissures within the bloc and terrible outcomes for EU citizens for decades to come.”
“Despite incremental improvements, the French interception rate remains stubbornly low. Even as unseaworthy dinghies struggle in the Channel, the French navy adopts an extremely cautious approach to intervening, in stark contrast to their Belgian neighbours.”
“Time and again, the EU has proven geopolitically impotent… we must confront the reality that nation states must act unilaterally when the vital national interest of border security is on the line.”
Can you help us to keep going this Christmas?
We need to raise around £200,000 to keep us going through next year, Every £5 donation from members of the public helps to reach this goal. Reports like the one above take far longer to research, write and produce than many people realise. If they were easy, readers would see other organisations also producing these daily. However, there’s little point in the Facts4EU.Org team working long hours, seven days-a-week, if we lack the resources to promote them effectively – to the public, to MPs, and to the media.
We are a ‘not for profit’ team (we make a loss) and any payment goes towards the actual work, not plush London offices, lunch or taxi expenses, or other luxuries of some organisations.
We badly need more of our thousands of readers to become members, to support our work. Could this be you, today? It’s quick and easy, we give you a choice of two highly secure payment providers, and we do NOT ask you for further support if you pay once. We just hope you keep supporting us. Your membership stays anonymous unless you tell us otherwise.
Please don’t assume that other people will keep us going – we don’t receive enough to survive and we need your help today. Could you help us? We rely 100% on public contributions from readers like you.
If you believe in a fully-free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom, please join now by clicking on one of the links below or you can use our Support page here. You will receive a personal, friendly ‘thank you’ from a member of our team within 48 hours. Thank you.
[ Sources: EU Commission | Robert Jenrick writing in the Daily Telegraph ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Fri 22 Dec 2023
Click here to go to our news headlines
Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
And don’t forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!
Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.
Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.
We think facts matter.
Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.
Any credit card user
