David Cameron and Francois Hollande both opposed recent proposals by the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, to put in place a fairer EU-wide system for resettling asylum seekers landing in Greece and Italy.
I therefore found it deeply hypocritical of the French and UK governments to now call for an EU-wide approach to deal with the situation in Calais.
Of course, they are right. We need to find an effective EU-wide solution. But this can only be based on a just and equal system, where everyone takes their fair share of genuine asylum seekers and much more is done to tackle the root causes of this complicated crisis.
Politicians in France and the UK, along with many others, have rightly condemned the Hungarian president, Viktor Orban, for planning to build a four-metre-high wall on the border separating his country from Serbia. But, fearful of domestic criticism from nationalists keen to exploit the migrants’ misery for their own political ends, the British and French governments plan to build another wall in Calais.
As Europeans, we should know all too well that building walls is never a solution.
Instead of building divisive and ineffective walls that divide us further, Britain and France should be working together to help process asylum claims and provide humanitarian assistance to those in need.
Both countries have the means to do more to help the asylum seekers in Calais. Potential refugees here and elsewhere must be able to register their claims more quickly and should be provided with adequate accommodation while they wait for an answer. That would reduce the risk of more unnecessary deaths.
As the Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, has rightly argued, the UK government should also reconsider its decision to opt out of EU proposals to resettle a small number of the asylum seekers currently on EU territory. The UK has a proud history of helping those in need. Cameron and his Conservative party should think again and ensure this tradition is upheld.
The deaths in Calais and the ongoing humanitarian crises in many EU countries are reminders that the European asylum and migration system is not fit for purpose. The existing system is based on the Dublin regulation, which puts significant pressure on EU countries with external borders by forcing asylum applications to be made in the first country of entry.
We need to replace the Dublin regulation with a centralised European asylum system that allocates genuine refugees more fairly between EU countries. This could be coordinated by an enhanced Easo (European Asylum Support Office). Deaths in Calais and the humanitarian crises in EU countries are reminders the asylum system is not fit for purpose.
Such a European approach would promote greater solidarity between member countries and ensure that international commitments to provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution are upheld. To accompany this, a new European policy on economic migration is needed. This means providing more legal routes into Europe to meet demographic challenges and address labour market needs.
This could be done by extending the scope of the existing “blue card” scheme to cover both skilled and non-skilled workers.
Stronger measures are also required to tackle irregular migration, by reinforcing the border agency Frontex and putting in place proper return and readmission mechanisms. We must also do much more to demand reform from the countries that many migrants flee, to tackle the root causes of migratory flows.
We can no longer turn a blind eye to the political repression that ruins the lives of so many young people in Africa. Development aid from the EU must come with more stringent conditions attached to provide incentives for good governance and political reform. There is no single, simple solution to this so-called migrant crisis.
I have no doubt it will require political leadership to deliver, but a comprehensive European approach could help solve what is a growing humanitarian crisis.
I do know that succumbing to nationalists, finger-pointing and building fences won’t.
— Guardian News & Media Ltd
Guy Verhofstadt is leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European parliament
