AbolishFrontex  denounces  agreement on Migration Pact reached by the @EUCouncil  on 8 June

.AbolishFrontex, a decentralised and autonomous network of groups, organizations and individuals  has  denounced the agreement on the Migration Pact reached by the @EUCouncil  on 8 June.

The pact, according to a post on its Twitter handle,  @abolishfrontex,  strengthens the EU’s racist & violent border  regime. It reduces protection standards and erodes the (human) rights of people on the move. 

“The Pact will see new detention centres & camps arise at the EU’s external borders. Detention will be mandatory if ‘the applicant is a danger to national security or public order, he/she has misled the  authorities with false information or by withholding information and if the applicant has a nationality with a recognition rate below 20%.’ 

“This includes the detention of families with children, a practice which has been denounced by for example @PACE_News, @OSCE and @Refugees, as a violation  of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

While we reject any form of migrant detention, we point to specifics of the new Pact: 

Mandatory detention for undocumented people would mean jail for people who had to flee war or repression, fearing for their lives,  unable to get or gather identity documents. 

Mandatory detention for nationals with a recognition rate below 20% means jail for people fleeing e.g. ‘safe’ Morocco where they suffer from violent repression against political opposition, critical journalists/NGOs and  the LGBTQ+ community. 

This piece by @ecre offers a more detailed analysis of the consequences of  the pact for people on the move.

They warn about an increase in pushbacks, quicker deportations and pushing responsibilities to non-EU  countries (border externalisation). 

Meanwhile, we note that the Council on the same day also agreed upon its position on the Single Permit Directive about legal migration to the EU labour market.

While we support more opportunities for legal migration, the hypocrisy is staggering. 

As @MariaStenergard says: ‘When labour shortages slow down our companies and prevent them from growing and innovating they should be able to more easily hire foreign professionals.’ 

‘Useful’ migrants are welcome to help the EU’s interests, for others there’s jail or death.

→ consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press…

Frontex  plays a central role in the EU’s border regime, such as in increasing  deportations, as @StatewatchEU recently noted. 

‘Frontex aided the deportation of almost 25,000 people in 2022, a record high’, including instances of ‘the use of force and coercive measures’. 

The new Pact is all the more reason to join the next #AbolishFrontex international action day on 20 June 2023 (World Refugee Day). 

Let’s stop the war on migrants and fight for freedom of movement for everyone.