The Resettlement Framework, currently in the final stages of negotiations, holds the potential to shape how the European Union will welcome asylum seekers in the future. With this new piece of legislation, the EU attempts to approach resettlement in a systematic, structural and sustainable way.
In this Discussion Paper, Katharina Bamberg argues that some provisions of the legislative proposal show a strong push by member states to turn the Resettlement Framework into an instrument of migration management. Against this background, member states should take steps to uphold the universal right to asylum and meet the protection needs of vulnerable people.
Bamberg makes the following recommendations:
- The EU must demonstrate greater ambition with regard to the quality of protection and the number of beneficiaries under the Resettlement Framework. Member states must significantly scale up their resettlement pledges under the Framework.
- The EU should also commit to upholding the quality of protection that comes with the refugee status following resettlement.
- Humanitarian admission programmes should be used in a complementary fashion to resettlement. They should not count towards the same quotas to avoid the exclusion of especially vulnerable individuals in need of international protection.
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The EU should refrain from making its resettlement commitments conditional on third countries' cooperation in asylum and migration matters. It should reconsider building a sustainable relationship with third countries based on migration control.
Read the full paper here