‘Great success’: EU countries reach agreement on fresh rules on migrant hosting

The European Union, on Wednesday (Dec 20) agreed on rules to share cost and work of hosting of migrants more evenly resulting in an agreement which is being welcomed by EU countries, especially on the border of the bloc. The rules also seek to limit the number of migrants coming on the shores of EU nations.

The agreement, called the New Pact on Migration and Asylum was arrived at after all-night talks. The rules should come into effect next year.

The provisions in the law have in their purview, screening of irregular migrants upon their arrival in the EU, processing of asylum applications and rules to determine which EU country is responsible for handling applications.

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Europe has been dealing with the issue of migrants for nearly a decade. Especially countries like Italy, who are at the borders of the bloc, have seen scores of migrants landing on their shores after making perilous sea journey on vessels that are hardly seaworthy. Such countries have been demanding that responsibility of tackling the migrant issue should not fall on their shoulders alone.

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The number of migrants arriving in EU are down from the peak of 1 million (in year 2015) but after a low in the year 2020, the numbers have steadily crept up. This year till November, about 255,000 migrants arrived. More than half of these came from Africa and arrived in Italy.

After EU countries agreed onrules of the pact, Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi hailed the development as a "great success" for Europe and for Italy. He said that countries like Italy who are on EU border would no longer feel alone.

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the agreement as well. He said that the pact was important to relieve countries which are affected due to migrant flow, including Germany.

What do the new rules say?

As per the new system, countries that are not at the border of EU should choose between two options. They can handle their share of 30,000 asylum applications or contribute at least 20,000 euros ($21,870) per person into a European Union fund.

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The new rules also seek to create a screening system that will be able to effectively distinguish between asylum seeker who are genuinely in need of international protection and those who are not in such a situation.

The rules also seek to speed up the processing of applications.

(With inputs from agencies)