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THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
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almost 34,000 persons to EU countries, the
Union’s two-year relocation scheme “was suc-
cessfully coming to an end” and that the EU
Resettlement scheme adopted back in July
2015, which had facilitated the transfer of
19,432 vulnerable people to EU Member States,
had also terminated on a positive note.
In a December policy update, the Commission
appealed to Member States to support a new
commitment to settle at least 50,000 additional
refugees, noting that 19 EU countries had al-
ready pledged to take responsibility for the
placement of almost 40,000 of these people.
The same document also stressed the need for
Member States to create more slots for people
coming from priority countries, especially refu-
gees transferred from Libyan territory to
UNHCR’s Emergency Transit Mechanism in
Niger, to which 1,300 people were evacuated
from Libya on 14 March 2018.
Nonetheless, the main thrust of the Union’s
efforts continues to be focused on exterior bor-
der management, Member State support for,
and commitment to, the European Border and
Coast Guard Agency and further Member con-
tributions in this area.
Member States are also being urged to ne-
gotiate new readmission agreements as needed
and to implement existing readmission agree-
ments more effectively so as to expedite the re-
turn of more people to their countries of origin
in concert with operations conducted by the
European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
The Commission considers the European
Union Emergency Trust Fund for Africa an im-
portant tool in the Union’s fight against migrant
smuggling and human trafficking. Additional
measures are being adopted to facilitate volun-
tary return and evacuation, a crucial issue for
Member States repeatedly being asked to make
additional contributions to the fund.
EU consent and support for the involvement
of the Libyan Coast Guard in contention and
control operations in the Central Mediterranean
is troubling given the numerous reports of ag-
gression on the part of this force against per-
sons attempting to flee untenable conditions in
Libya and reach the Italian coast. Their obstruc-
tion of NGO rescue efforts and the apathy and
indifference of Libyan authorities towards such
interventions should be strongly condemned.
One notable instance of the European implica-
tion in this problem was the training provided to
more than 200 members of the Libyan Coast
Guard during Operation Sophia. Libyan and
Italian Coast Guards now cooperate on an on-
going basis.
Returning to an earlier topic, 20 March 2018
marked the second anniversary of the disgrace-
ful pact between the European Union and
Turkey that signified a turning point in what has
erroneously been characterised as “the
European refugee crisis”. Under this joint action
agreement conceived to strengthen coopera-
tion between the EU and Turkey on migration
and other issues, Turkey made a commitment to
allow Greece to send back migrants and asylum
seekers entering its territory from Turkey by sea
in search of another opportunity to enter Europe
after their initial applications have been reject-
ed. In return for this gesture, the EU promised
to provide additional financial support for
Turkey’s refugee population, accelerate visa lib-
eralisation for Turkish nationals and reactivate
negotiations for Turkey’s admission to the EU.
Two years into its implementation, the ongo-
ing harm this agreement is causing thousands
of refugees is patently clear. The restrictions on
movement it imposes on refugees opting to en-
ter Greece have left thousands of persons in a
state of limbo. It has furthermore provoked se-
vere overcrowding, frustration and unhygienic