Members' Research Service By / October 4, 2021

Effective remedies for asylum-seekers at EU external borders: A new pact on migration and asylum

Effective management of EU external borders is key to improving the security of those living or travelling within the Schengen area. The aim is to facilitate legitimate border crossings; manage migration effectively; improve internal security in the EU and safeguard the principle of free movement of persons.

© Jonathan Stutz / Adobe Stock

Written by Anja Radjenovic.

The European Union’s objectives in the field of external border protection are to safeguard freedom of movement within the Schengen area (an area without internal borders) and to ensure efficient monitoring of people who cross the EU’s external borders. To strengthen its external borders and prevent irregular migrants from reaching EU territory, the EU has focused on extending its partnerships with third countries as well as on reinforcing and providing its border agencies with stronger means and powers.

Furthermore, a new pact on migration and asylum, presented in 2020 but still the subject of negotiations between the Council of the EU and the European Parliament, introduces a new set of border procedures as a key ‘migration management tool’ in the event of the arrival of a large number of asylum applicants from third countries.

When conducting border management and immigration control, states’ authorities need to respect international legal requirements that protect the human rights of non-nationals who are subjected to border checks, by providing effective remedies for human rights violations at borders, such as a possibility to lodge an appeal against a decision before a competent, independent and impartial national authority.

At the European and EU level, a range of human rights standards have been developed that regulate the powers of individual states when allowing or refusing entry to irregular immigrants and asylum-seekers and when implementing their expulsion to countries from which they have come or transited on their way.

Walls and fences at EU borders

Read the complete briefing on ‘Effective remedies for asylum-seekers at EU external borders: A new pact on migration and asylum‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.


Related Articles

Be the first to write a comment.

Leave a Reply