Sweden and the EU’s choice of path – giving up asylum or acting in solidarity

There are now more people on the run than ever before. Wars, crises and natural disasters caused by our emissions force people to leave their homes and embark on perilous journeys in search of shelter. Last year, at least 1,953 people died in the Mediterranean while trying to reach the European Union. So far this year, 33 people, including children, have lost their lives. This is the sad reality currently prevailing.

During the hearing on Monday of the Swedish Minister of Immigration at the Commission for Liberties and Civil Rights, it became clear that the government, which in the spring will preside over the Council of Ministers of the European Union, intends to pursue a migration policy that undermines the right to asylum and adopt higher. walls.

Sweden Democrats’ government Thomas Toby

Since the change of government, the influence of the Sweden Democrats on immigration policy has become painfully clear. Last week, our Minister for Immigration sided with his ally, the representative of the Swedish Democrats, and launched a campaign with the aim of preventing people from coming to Sweden. A straight-forward version of Jimmy Oxon’s own travels to the border between Turkey and Greece, where he handed out fliers with the message that Sweden was full, to desperate people on the run.

But the government’s immigration policy cannot be blamed solely on the influence of the Sweden Democrats. In the European Parliament, the Migration Minister’s Moderate Party colleague, Thomas Toby, has unabashedly called for the detention of people fleeing, including children, when they come to the EU and for rights that apply today not to cover them. In other words, the Swedish government is pursuing a Swedish and European immigration policy, which undermines the right to asylum and the rights of children, also without the help of the Swedish democrats.

Their solution for fleeing people seeking protection in the EU seems to point to higher walls. Both physical walls on European soil, but also bureaucratic walls by paying countries like Libya and Turkey to prevent people from even reaching the external borders of the European Union.

The number of refugees doubled

At the same time, we know that the number of people fleeing has doubled since 2011. With escalating climate change leading to more crises and dwindling resources, we can unfortunately expect that more people will have to flee in the future. This is the truth we are waiting for.

Therefore, this spring is very important. Now the immigration policy that will apply for decades to come will be negotiated.

Do we pretend that the world outside the European Union, and that the suffering we have caused in our region, does not exist? Are we going to build higher walls and give up asylum altogether? Or do we choose to stand in solidarity, take our responsibility, and build a sustainable, long-term migration policy based on the right of every person to seek protection? I know which side of history I want to be on.

But now it is the Swedish government that is sitting with the club, and if it listens and believes the words of the Minister of Immigration in the Committee for Liberties and Civil Rights, the higher walls and eroding asylum rights will await.

Alice Bah Konkeh (MP),
Member of the Committee on Civil Rights and Liberties