Regulating migration in view of the upcoming implementation of the «new EU Pact»: Insights from Greece

• In Event: The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum: Why Criminologists Should Care? (I)

Abstract

Τhe current volatile international environment introduce strong factors of uncertainty and contingency in the planning and implementation of a common and coherent regulatory framework for the management of migration and refugee flows in Europe. In this regard, even the implementation of the new EU Pact seems to remain in abeyance just one year before its entry into force! Considering specifically the Greek case, the challenges that arise with the upcoming implementation of the new EU Pact - as shown by the assessments of independent public and civil society’s bodies - could be summarized in the even more serious deterioration of border procedures for migrants and asylum seekers. The long-term outlook based on the Pact’s projections leaves little room for optimism, as it imposes increasingly restrictive policies, based on the repeatedly disproven assumption that such measures will deter people aspiring to move to Europe. A prerequisite for mitigating these consequences is the implementation of this new European legislation fully in line with international refugee law and human rights, so that it can respond to the pressing need for ensuring legal guarantees at the border controls.

Author

• GEORGE NIKOLOPOULOS, PANTEION UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES