The EU must increase its capacity for proper border management and efficient enforcement at the external borders while fully complying with the EU charter of fundamental rights towards migrants, the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament states. The migrants and asylum seekers stranded under freezing conditions in the former Lipa camp in Bosnia without adequate shelter is only the latest example of questionable handling at the EU's external borders, not to mention the situation in the Canary Islands where overcrowding and lack of capacity and reception facilities have been witnessed.

Renew Europe stresses the critical need for a sustainable approach to the bloc’s external borders and EU migration and asylum policies and insists it is crucial to put into force a well-functioning Common European Asylum System. Crucial for Renew Europe is the need for a solidarity mechanism between EU Member States, combined with a solid European approach on the external dimension of migration. Renew Europe has in its position paper presented the building blocks with its comprehensive vision on Europe's migration and asylum policy.

Malik Azmani, First Vice-President of Renew Europe and co-author of Renew Europe’s vision paper on Migration and Asylum Policy, commented:

"We've been debating the humanitarian situation of migrants at our European borders for too long, with too little to show. My patience is running out. New partnerships between the EU and third countries are indispensable to a future-proof migration policy. It would relieve pressure on our external borders, provide help to refugees closer to the homes they fled and break the business model of human smugglers once and for all. Europe needs to address this without delay."

Jan-Christoph Oetjen, co-author of Renew Europe’s vision paper on Migration and Asylum Policy, added:

”European values are not negotiable, including at our external borders. People arriving at EU borders must be ensured full access to the asylum system, fair procedures as well as dignified reception conditions. The current humanitarian crisis at the Croatian-Bosnian border and the continuous reports of pushbacks cannot be tolerated any longer.”

Photo credit: European Parliament 2020 / Philippe Bussin