The EU can and must show leadership in managing refugee movements effectively in accordance with international law.
Changes in the political scene may lead to the reformation of migration policy in EU countries, and that in turn may be another impulse towards weakening the community as a whole.
The new EU Agency for Asylum will play a crucial part in the near future in making a robust migration management system for the EU come true.
A meaningful legal response would be the establishment of global privacy standards – a ‘new universal law on surveillance’. Undoubtedly, EU law and case law could provide a guiding light.
There is a disconnect between law and practice whereby the EU is continually reforming the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) but seems incapable of implementing it.
The perspective of those who are at sea, whatever the conditions, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year, to make the maritime environment safer and more secure.
Dublin IV is built on deterrence… the overriding imperative being to prevent asylum seekers from arriving spontaneously; and block them in the member state of first entry.
"The people we rescue are increasingly reporting having been exploited, abused, beaten, kidnapped for ransom or tortured along the journey from their country of origin to the Libyan coast."
From national authorities to EU institutions and international organisations, it is imperative that efforts to tackle the threats are coordinated.
The European Council should review progress on the overall approach at its meetings in March and in June 2017, on the basis of a report from the Maltese EU Presidency.
