The recent tragedies in the Mediterranean demonstrate just how crucial it is for Europe to take a concrete stand on migration and move towards longer-term, more sustainable solutions. In view of the European Committee of the Regions emergency resolution on migration, which was adopted on 8 July, Roland Freudenstein, Deputy Director and Head of Research of the Martens Centre, called for a new definition of "political asylum" while debating the role of regions and cities at the EPP Group in the Committee of the Regions pre-plenary meeting.
"The old definition was based on the experience of totalitarianism in Word War 2 and the Cold War. It referred to relatively small groups of political dissidents or persecuted minorities. Today, Europe faces a flow of a different group of refugees, who flee from the collapsed states or conflict zones like Syria. We need to develop new strategies on how to deal with refugees who do not fulfil our asylum criteria anymore" – argued Freudenstein.
While more work needs to be done on a truly European approach towards migration, the Martens Centre Deputy Director proposed four principles upon which further discussions could be based:
- Immigration as a necessity
- More secure borders
- Protection of the fundamental rights of refugees
- Shared burden between Member States and regions in Europe
Finally, Freudenstein announced that the Martens Centre is conducting research into culture and identity aspects of the recent migration flows.
Following the adoption of the resolution, the European Committee of the Regions will continue its work on migration through a full opinion, which is being prepared by the CIVEX Commssion.