Sweden won’t make any pledges to relocate asylum seekers under a French-inspired EU agreement because it says there is no legal basis for it.
“It is not possible for our government to commit itself to something which does not have a clear legal base,” said Lars Danielsson, Sweden’s ambassador to the EU.
“So it’s more of a technical reason why we have not been able so far,” he said. But he also noted migration is an issue “where you can lose or win elections.”
Asked if the Swedish EU presidency intends to advocate for more relocations under the so-called EU solidarity mechanism, he did not respond.
The mechanism, launched over the summer, managed some 8,000 relocation pledges across 11 EU states plus Norway and Liechtenstein.
Only around 117 people have been relocated under the scheme. Greece made a recent appeal to have another 400 relocated, following a rescue south of Crete.
“It’s clear we need to step up on implementation,” said Ylva Johannson, the EU home affairs commissioner, earlier this week. The commission says it is working with member states to ensure that the pledges are delivered.
“We will revise standard operating procedures to speed up relocations and we will look at financial contributions being effectively matched,” she said.
But Sweden’s technical and legal worries over the scheme to divide out arriving asylum seekers on European shores is also likely mired in its domestic politics.
There’s no point to it because almost all will want to go to Germany. Out of the ones France took in from Italy, a bunch had already left for Germany to join their cousins.
Relocation is a red herring. Europe can not sustainably take in all the millions that would want to reach it. We’ve been sweeping the issue under the rug, by paying off neighbouring undemocratic countries like Turkey and Libya to stave off the problem for us, but that won’t hold forever. Europe needs revised immigration and asylum legislation to face challenges that weren’t thought of when the current laws were written.
This coming from the “humanitarian superpower” …
what about “HUMAN RIGHTS” now?
Nothing has hurt unity in the EU as much as the forced intake of migrants. If we want the EU to remain strong then this has to end.
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Sweden won’t make any pledges to relocate asylum seekers under a French-inspired EU agreement because it says there is no legal basis for it.
“It is not possible for our government to commit itself to something which does not have a clear legal base,” said Lars Danielsson, Sweden’s ambassador to the EU.
“So it’s more of a technical reason why we have not been able so far,” he said. But he also noted migration is an issue “where you can lose or win elections.”
Asked if the Swedish EU presidency intends to advocate for more relocations under the so-called EU solidarity mechanism, he did not respond.
The mechanism, launched over the summer, managed some 8,000 relocation pledges across 11 EU states plus Norway and Liechtenstein.
Only around 117 people have been relocated under the scheme. Greece made a recent appeal to have another 400 relocated, following a rescue south of Crete.
“It’s clear we need to step up on implementation,” said Ylva Johannson, the EU home affairs commissioner, earlier this week. The commission says it is working with member states to ensure that the pledges are delivered.
“We will revise standard operating procedures to speed up relocations and we will look at financial contributions being effectively matched,” she said.
But Sweden’s technical and legal worries over the scheme to divide out arriving asylum seekers on European shores is also likely mired in its domestic politics.
There’s no point to it because almost all will want to go to Germany. Out of the ones France took in from Italy, a bunch had already left for Germany to join their cousins.
Relocation is a red herring. Europe can not sustainably take in all the millions that would want to reach it. We’ve been sweeping the issue under the rug, by paying off neighbouring undemocratic countries like Turkey and Libya to stave off the problem for us, but that won’t hold forever. Europe needs revised immigration and asylum legislation to face challenges that weren’t thought of when the current laws were written.
This coming from the “humanitarian superpower” …
what about “HUMAN RIGHTS” now?
Nothing has hurt unity in the EU as much as the forced intake of migrants. If we want the EU to remain strong then this has to end.