Analysis: Many obstacles on the way to resolve the EU migration node

The most obvious obstacle concerns solidarity within the Union. Countries such as Greece and Malta have received the majority of EU asylum seekers and believe that more countries need to be involved and take responsibility. An opinion that is shared by most countries in the west while the countries in the east, especially Poland and Hungary, oppose a mandatory refugee distribution. The fact that Greece and Malta are taking on greater freedom in the hunt to stop migrants is a direct consequence of the EU's inability to agree on the distribution issue. Malta has refused to let boats with migrants go into port in the country and in Greece the government wants to build closed camps where asylum seekers are to be kept in custody until their case has been tried. Two examples of measures that do not align with EU values ​​but which the countries say were forced in the absence of solidarity from the rest of the EU.

Another growing, and more recent, acute problem is the agreement with Turkey which, as late as the end of February, completely broke down when the country's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he was again opening the border with the EU. Tens of thousands of migrants reached the border and were met by tear gas from EU border guards. Now the borders are closed again but the agreement from 2016 hangs on a fragile thread. The € 6 billion that the EU paid to, among other things, refugee organizations in Turkey to stop migrants from entering the EU is almost over. The question now is whether the EU wants to renew the agreement with Turkey's whimsical president. It certainly does well, but the alternative, instead of receiving all the people who want to seek asylum in the EU, currently feels even more frightening to EU politicians.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that no politician wants to talk about the fact that the EU protects the right to asylum, but at the same time does as much as you can to make the most of it. It's the elephant in the room. While Ylva Johansson is urged to keep the borders as closed as possible, she must also ensure that there are legal ways to seek protection in the EU. But if only a fraction of everyone who would probably be entitled to asylum in the EU could apply via a new "legal" path, the system would fail completely because few, if any, countries would like to receive more refugees. The assignment itself is thus a contradiction in itself.

Migration and asylum policy is one of the EU's biggest challenges. An acute problem that is not least apparent in the sea between Greece and Turkey where men, women and children are shuffled between the countries in seaworthy boats. They are so undesirable that the coastguards on both sides are prepared to risk their lives to avoid receiving them. The situation is a nail in the eye of the European Commission and puts great pressure on Ylva Johansson to achieve results. A common migration and asylum policy can be the difference between polarization or community within the EU and can, at best, put an end to the unfair treatment of people in inflatables.