EU fails to set a clear direction on much needed asylum reform: Save the Children
“Save the Children is disappointed that Heads of State meeting this week in Brussels failed to rise above their national interests. This could have been a defining moment for the EU. Instead it is a missed opportunity to set a clear direction for the EU’s migration policy and create a unified and functional asylum system.
“Proposals on ‘voluntary controlled centres’ within the EU and ‘regional disembarkation centres’ remain vague and raise serious concerns about the detention of children and families. Asylum-seekers should continue to have full access to the rights granted to them according the Geneva Conventions and European asylum law.
“These proposals have distracted from the critical need to reform the Dublin Regulation, and set an effective system on the rails to pre-empt future crisis. EU border states are shouldering too much of the burden, which should be shared among all EU member states.
“This summer, as a result of EU policies, more children will go missing; more children will fall into the hands of smugglers; more children will be pushed across borders; and more children will undertake perilous journeys to try to reach loved ones.”