UNHCR trusts the "leadership" of Spain so that the EU advances in the asylum pact

The number two of the agency defends the positive aspect of migration against those who stir fear, "usually without evidence"

MADRID, 29 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been "optimistic" about the possibility that the EU will reach a pact on migration and asylum before February 2024, for which it trusts in the "leadership" of Spain taking advantage of the bloc's presidency in 2023.

"We encourage negotiation," said the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Gillian Triggs, in an interview with Europa Press, alluding to an initiative aimed at increasing solidarity between member states and which is claimed, mainly, by countries with external borders.

The problems of several EU countries to manage the arrival of thousands of refugees in 2015, especially Italy and Greece, led the European Commission to try to promote a reform of the migration and asylum policy that would redefine the principles of solidarity and responsibility in the reception of migrants who arrive irregularly in the Union.

The differences between the southern countries, such as Spain and Italy, which require greater solidarity from partners further away from the common external border, and those, such as Hungary or Poland, flatly refuse to accept refugees who have arrived in other EU members, have stalled the reform.

The Community Executive resumed the reform in 2020 with a new 'Migration Pact' with which it proposes a solidarity that allows the most reticent countries to compensate with other means - economic or logistic - for their refusal to share the burden of reception. The negotiations continue to encounter resistance but the Twenty-seven have managed to resolve some of the obstacles, which allows them to think about a possible agreement before the end of 2023.

Triggs trusts that, if a complete pact as such is not reached, at least some "elements" will be agreed upon that will allow progress towards "shared responsibility" among the entire EU, given that he considers that there are "positive signs ".

The UNHCR number two has praised the role in this context of Spain, which faces "significant challenges" that derive mainly from North Africa. He trusts that the Spanish authorities will continue working to grant protection "quickly" to those who need it and that, if not, they will be expelled in an "appropriate and safe" way.

Triggs has admitted that "some countries use migrants for political purposes", a "global concern" that he has not wanted to personalize, questioned specifically about the alleged role of the Moroccan authorities in the migratory spikes.

At the end of 2021, there were more than 89 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, either within the borders of their own country or already in other countries. Triggs has warned of "unprecedented figures" that may continue to worsen at the onset of conflict or climate change.

The war in Ukraine has contributed to giving "visibility" to this "global phenomenon", according to the UNHCR official, who has applauded the protection provided by the EU to these refugees. However, she has also called for resolving the "underlying causes" behind this and other massive movements, to the extent that stopping the cycle depends on it.

Triggs did not want to enter into specific cases such as that of Italy, but he did acknowledge the "concern" that some countries that once promoted international asylum policies "are now moving away from those principles."

Migrations, in addition, have also become a breeding ground for "fear" messages that are spread, according to Triggs, "usually without evidence." In this sense, he has called for turning the discourse around, because there are actually countries that "need" this group.

Thus, he has called for moving from the "negative aspects", from "concern", to emphasizing the "resources" that migrants can provide to strengthen the workforce or to compensate for the decline in birth rates in societies increasingly " aged".