Will the refugee crisis sink the EU?

Serious differences are emerging among European Union nations over a response to the growing migrant crisis with some observers raising the prospect of a collapse of the bloc of nations.

Just three years ago, the EU basked in the warm afterglow of a Nobel Peace Prize awarded to it for the “advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights” over six decades.

Its leading figures and proponents boasted of the EU being a tight-knit community bound by “European values” of democracy, diversity and dignity.

By any measure those bonds are fraying as the 28 member states grapple with the biggest refugee crisis since the end of WWII.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Bitter rows have broken out among member states and some of the EU’s key early response initiatives – championed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel – are in jeopardy; including the removal of national borders and a collective approach to tackling problems.

If the bloc’s national leaders do not agree on a joint solution to the migrant and refugee crisis, the integration and growth of the EU painstakingly built over more than 50 years could come apart, observers warn.

In recent developments:

Denmark has enacted a law that will allow police to search asylum seekers arriving in the country and confiscate any cash or valuables worth more than 10,000 kroner ($US1,460).

The move has been widely condemned by refugee and human rights groups but it is only the latest among a raft of new laws introduced by EU member states in the past six months aimed at deterring asylum seekers from lodging claims on their territory.

They go beyond making it more difficult to cross borders. The explicit intention is often to make conditions for those fleeing war and persecution as unwelcoming as possible in the hope that they will seek safety elsewhere.

Some are a response to clearly overwhelmed reception and asylum systems – as in the case of Sweden and Germany. Other countries, such as Britain, appear to be acting pre-emptively, while some, such as Hungary’s razor wire border fences have been described as punitive.

Also, Sweden has announced it will expel up to 80,000 migrants who arrived in 2015 whose asylum applications were rejected.

Of the 163,000 migrants and refugees who applied for asylum in Sweden last year, 58,800 cases have been processed, more than half of which were accepted.

The UK is now requiring asylum seekers to declare their assets and use their own savings before qualifying for government support.

And, starting in August 2015, the Home Office cut state support by almost a third to destitute asylum seekers awaiting the outcome of their refugee applications.

Asylum seekers in the UK are not allowed to work, meaning they are often completely dependent on the government allowance, which, even prior to the cuts, had been criticised by refugee rights groups as inadequate to meet basic needs.

Britain is expected to hold an in-or-out referendum on EU membership next year. Since the migrant crisis began, polls have shown those who favor withdrawing from the EU closing the gap on those who favor staying in.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hungary has introduced an array of measures aimed at deterring refugees. The nation already had one of the lowest rates of refugee acceptance in Europe (only 105 out of 175,960 asylum applications were recognised between January and September 2015, according to EuroStat.

It routinely detains asylum seekers in overcrowded conditions. As a result, the vast majority of those arriving via the Western Balkan route from Greece in 2015 moved on to other member states as quickly as possible.

Even German, which accepted a million asylum seekers last year, has approved measures which could asylum seekers could spend up to six months in so-called ‘initial reception centres’ – usually converted sports halls, abandoned hardware stories or warehouses.

In Norway, draft legislation due to come before Norway’s parliament next month could see cash benefits to asylum seekers replaced with a voucher system and would limit possibilities for family reunification to those refugees who have already been working or studying in the country for four years.

By contrast, Chancellor Merkel is calling on Europe to uphold its values of compassion and human rights and to admit refugees. Germany expects to take in up to 800,000 asylum seekers this year and wants other EU countries to do their part.

But other EU nations have pointed out that Merkel’s stand, which most of her compatriots support, also serves Germany’s long-term interests by giving it access to an expanding pool of skilled labor to keep its economy in growth.

Laurie Nowell
AMES Australia Senior Journalist