Migration Pact Adopted by European Parliament’s LIBE Committee

The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) adopted the migration pact on Wednesday, according to the European Parliament’s website. The new regulation on asylum and migration management will provide for “mandatory solidarity” with EU countries recognized as being under migratory pressure, reports Magyar Nemzet. The Hungarian government continues to reject the new migration pact.

The European Parliament’s press release points out that within the new legal framework, “member states can choose between hosting asylum applicants or making financial contributions or to provide operational support.” Moreover, migrants will be subject to stricter checks on arrival, with their facial images and fingerprints recorded, and identification of children from the age of six. The document foresees faster processing of asylum applications and mandatory security and health checks for people entering the EU illegally.

“The asylum procedures regulation establishes a common procedure across the EU to grant and to withdraw international protection, replacing different procedures used in member states,” states the press release. The reformed Eurodac database will improve the identification of those arriving irregularly in the EU by adding facial images to fingerprints.

Authorities will also be able to record if someone might pose a security threat.

The new rules will set common standards across the EU for the recognition of applicants for international protection and the type of rights granted to those entitled to such protection. The main aim of the revised reception conditions directive is to ensure equal reception standards in the EU Member States in regard to material conditions, including housing, healthcare, and an adequate standard of living for asylum seekers. Registered asylum seekers will therefore supposedly be better able to integrate, and the new rules will discourage applicants from moving around the EU after initial registration.

György Bakondi, the prime minister’s chief advisor on homeland security, commented on the new pact: “The elements of the migration pact are not forward-looking, do not serve the security of the European people, and are not in line with the interests of the European people.”

He warned that

the pact would bring back quotas, meaning that a Brussels-based center would decide how many migrants arriving illegally which Member States should take in.

Hungary would have to set up camps where illegal migrants would be housed, cared for, and their asylum applications assessed.”

The EU asylum and migration package backed by the European Parliament’s LIBE at its Wednesday meeting would open Europe’s doors to illegal migration, Balázs Hidvéghi, Fidesz MEP, told journalists in Brussels.

The politician stressed that the EP’s committee had decided to adopt the Soros plan by approving the legislation.

According to the Brussels proposal, illegal migrants in Europe should be distributed on the basis of quotas. If a country refuses to do so, it could be fined,”

he explained.

The new rules would allow illegal migration to enter the EU, as they would still not allow decisions on migration and asylum applications to be made outside the borders of Europe. This creates an unmanageable situation, as illegal migrants cannot be found and sent out of Europe, he said. “It is unacceptable that the decision would effectively create migrant ghettos in EU Member States,” he underlined.

The MEP noted that

the only well-functioning system to curb illegal migration is the Hungarian system. Hungary maintains the decision made years ago on the physical and legal closure of its borders. In doing so, it is protecting its own territory and that of the EU against illegal migration flows.”

He concluded by stressing that the EU asylum and migration package and its adoption is an attack on the well-functioning Hungarian system. “We will continue to protect Hungary from illegal migration and we will not allow the country to become a ‘migrant country,'” Hidvéghi added.

Via MTI, Magyar Nemzet; Featured image: Facebook/SOS MEDITERRANEE France