Europe Defends Against Illegal Immigration
Several incidents involving the deaths of illegal migrants in the Channel, coupled with strong statements from European leaders at the European Political Community meetings in London, bring us back to the persistent issues of illegal migration in the EU. The results of the European Parliament elections also indicate that measures to counter unwanted migrant flows into the EU will intensify. However, the duty to provide asylum to legal migrants will be more evenly distributed among EU members.
On 19 July, another small vessel met with disaster in the Channel (the English Channel) while attempting to transport nearly a hundred illegal migrants to the UK. A French patrol vessel, assisted by a British patrol boat, rescued 86 people. Among them, five individuals were saved from the water, though tragically one person died. All the survivors were taken to the French side, to the city of Calais. Since the beginning of 2024, according to official data, 15,076 people have crossed the Channel to Britain, a 9% increase compared to the same period in 2023, and nearly the same number as in 2022. Of course, these figures likely do not reflect the actual scale of illegal migration, which is presumably higher.
This incident occurred the day after a similar, but more tragic, event in the same area. Each day, several hundred people attempt to cross the Channel in unsuitable boats to enter the UK illegally. However, this is not the only crossing point in Europe where migrants attempt to enter the EU or the United Kingdom illegally. Southern Italy is under tremendous pressure from illegal migration, with thousands of migrants arriving from Tunisia via the Italian island of Lampedusa near Sicily.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the deaths of illegal migrants at sea are a "terrible reminder of the human cost" of human trafficking.
Overall, the situation appears that illegal migrants are using increasingly dangerous routes to enter EU countries and the UK. In the Channel, French and British border patrol vessels are operating with greater coordination. This has led to a shortage of even unsuitable small boats in the region. Moreover, French police are trying to shut down illegal channels for selling such vessels. Consequently, smuggler gangs are resorting to using more dangerous boats and overloading them with even more people, leading to the deaths of illegal migrants.
Photo: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer believes the fight against illegal migration must be comprehensive. Source: Keir Starmer's X (formerly Twitter).
Who's Coming
The flow of migrants is quite diverse in terms of motives and status. There is a notable issue with the simultaneous existence of refugees seeking to enter Europe and obtain asylum legally, and illegal migrants attempting to enter Europe not only to escape war or famine in their home countries.
For instance, there is substantial evidence that in 2015-2016, the regime of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin actively used the flow of refugees from Syria to pressure NATO countries, a flow that the regime significantly contributed to creating. The strength of this flow is evident from the asylum application statistics. In 2010, 260,000 asylum applications were submitted to EU countries and associated Schengen Area countries, but by 2014, this number had risen to 627,000.
The war in Syria increased the number of applications to 1.323 million in 2015 (according to Eurostat and the European Union Agency for Asylum), the highest number on record. In 2016, there were still a significant number of asylum requests – 1.261 million. However, as the conflict eased, the number of asylum applications decreased, fluctuating between 473,000 and 745,000 annually from 2017 to 2021.
In 2022, the war started by Russia in Ukraine led to an increase in the number of applications to 962,000, up from 634,000 in 2021. In 2023, the number of asylum applications rose to 1.14 million. It is important to note that the increase in asylum applications in 2022-2024 is not solely attributable to the Russian war in Ukraine, as most Ukrainians fleeing Russian forces in Western Europe did not apply for asylum. They remain in EU countries under temporary protection status.
Temporary protection status grants broader rights, such as residence permits, access to the labour market and housing, medical care, and education for children. Crucially, these rights are granted immediately to all Ukrainian citizens who apply. In contrast, an asylum application for permanent residence is considered individually. Temporary protection status indicates that the Ukrainian citizen intends to return home eventually.
Moreover, it is worth noting that the majority of Ukrainians fled the war in 2022 – approximately 5 million people. In 2023, the flow not only decreased but also partially reversed. Therefore, at the beginning of 2024, according to Eurostat, 4.3 million people who had left Ukraine due to the war initiated by Russia were under temporary protection status in EU countries. Hence, the massive increase in refugee flows in 2022, and especially in 2023, is not primarily due to the war in Ukraine.
"Illegal Migrants are Enemies of the Legal Ones"
On 17 July, the day before the European Political Community summit in London, the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum took place in Tripoli, Libya. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that "illegal migrants are the enemies of legal ones." This is true because the resources of host countries are diverted to process the flow of illegal migrants. Studies have also linked illegal migration with crime, including organised crime.
Undoubtedly, organised crime thrives on the income it receives from migrants trying to reach the EU. The scale of this process is indirectly indicated by the fact that the number of migrants to EU countries since the early 2000s is estimated at 87 million.
Of course, the issue of illegal migration not only contributes to the rise in crime. It also fuels populist sentiments among voters and significantly boosts the popularity of far-right political forces and ideologies. This is evident in the results of both national elections in EU countries and European Parliament elections. Giorgia Meloni's party, Brothers of Italy, is among the far-right political forces in Europe. However, as Meloni currently holds the highest position in her country's executive branch, she must generate realistic and pragmatic messages regarding the migration agenda. She has done this before, especially since Italy is a frontier country facing the influx of illegal migrants from the Middle East and Africa through its southern coast and islands.
Overall, the Italian government's position is to create a new system of cooperation with African countries to eliminate or at least mitigate the main factors contributing to illegal migration. This is a sensible idea that should extend further: suppressing aggressor states that start wars generating refugee flows, and combating corruption in authoritarian regimes that foster poverty, leading to economic migration.
Photo: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni believes that the first line of defence against illegal migration should be the fight against human traffickers. Source: Giorgia Meloni's X (formerly Twitter).
"The Right Way is Cooperation with Migrants' Countries of Origin"
During her speech at the Trans-Mediterranean Migration Forum in Tripoli, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the strengthening of migration policies to uphold the rights of legal migrants to asylum:
"In recent years, we have not been able to allow many legal migrants to come to Italy because we had too many illegal ones.
Criminal organisations want to decide who has the right to enter our country and who does not.
There are people making a lot of money exploiting the desperation of the vulnerable, and we cannot allow this.
My government has issued decrees to increase quotas for legal migrants over the next three years, especially from countries that help us fight human traffickers.
I think everyone can see that the Mediterranean is a priority for this Italian government, and the Mediterranean cannot function without the joint efforts of Italy and Libya.
Partly because of this, we have significantly improved cooperation on various fronts over the past two years.
We need a 360-degree approach to seriously tackle this issue. Italy is working hard on this, especially on a multilateral level.
The first line of intervention is combating human traffickers.
The UN tells us that this is one of the most powerful criminal human trafficking networks in the world today.
I do not consider charity to be the right approach, although a predatory approach is certainly wrong.
The right way is strategic cooperation between equals, involving investment in Africa that addresses problems for both sides."
Addressing the Root Causes of Migration
The dominance of the centre-right in the previous European Parliament led to the initiation of stricter migration controls. A law to this effect was passed on 14 May 2024, but it is set to come into full effect only in 2026. This legislation established framework rules for EU member states regarding illegal migrants. Specifically, it is expected to expedite the deportation process by issuing an automatic order to leave the territory following the refusal of asylum to an individual. Simultaneously, it strengthens the requirements for a more or less even distribution of the burden of accepting legal refugees among EU member states.
It appears this trend will continue following the re-election of the European Parliament in June of this year. This is because Ursula von der Leyen retained her position as President of the European Commission, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, representing the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE, a centre-right and centrist political force), became the High Representative/Vice-President. ALDE promotes humane treatment of migrants while insisting on active cooperation with countries of origin to significantly reduce migration flows.
This trend is likely to be realised despite resistance from Hungary, which assumed the presidency of the Council of the EU for six months starting 1 July. Hungary, along with Poland, opposed the migration pact approved this spring. Hungarian representatives in the European Parliament argue that migration should be stopped rather than improving the regulation of the migration that is allowed.