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The past weeks have shown that the challenges
currently faced along the Western Balkans migration route will not
be solved through national actions. Only a collective, cross-border
approach based on cooperation can succeed. This is why President
Juncker convened the leaders of the countries concerned and most
affected by the emergency situation along the Western Balkans route.
Today, leaders representing Albania, Austria,
Bulgaria, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia met in
Brussels at the Commission's Berlaymont Headquarters and agreed to
improve cooperation and step up consultation between the countries
along the route and decided on pragmatic operational measures that
can be implemented as of tomorrow to tackle the refugee crisis in
the region.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker
said: "Countries affected should not only talk about and at each
other but also with each other. Neighbours should work together not
against each other. Refugees need to be treated in a humane manner
along the length of the Western Balkans route to avoid a
humanitarian tragedy in Europe. I am therefore pleased that today we
were able to jointly agree on a 17-point plan of pragmatic and
operational measures to ensure people are not left to fend for
themselves in the rain and cold."
Concretely, leaders agreed to implement the
following operational measures as of Monday:
Permanent exchange of information
1. Nominating contact points within 24 hours to
allow daily exchanges and coordination to achieve the gradual,
controlled and orderly movement of persons along the Western Balkans
route;
2. Submitting joint needs assessments for EU
support within 24 hours;
Limiting Secondary Movements
3. Discouraging the movement of refugees or
migrants to the border of another country of the region without
informing neighbouring countries;
Supporting refugees and providing shelter and rest
4. Increasing the capacity to provide temporary
shelter, food, health, water and sanitation to all in need;
triggering the EU Civil Protection Mechanism where necessary;
5. Greece to increase reception capacity to 30,000
places by the end of the year, and to support UNHCR to provide rent
subsidies and host family programmes for at least 20,000 more – a
pre-condition to make the emergency relocation scheme work;
Financial support for Greece and UNHCR is expected;
6. Working with the UNHCR who will support the
increase of reception capacities by 50,000 places along the Western
Balkans route.
7. Working with International Financial
Institutions such as the European Investment Bank, the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development and the Development Bank of the
Council of Europe which are ready to support financially efforts of
the countries willing to make use of these resources;
Managing the migration flows together
8. Ensuring a full capacity to register arrivals,
with maximum use of biometric data;
9. Exchanging information on the size of flows
and, where requested, on all arriving refugees and migrants on a
country's territory;
10. Working with EU Agencies to swiftly put in
place this exchange of information;
11. Stepping up national and coordinated efforts
to return migrants not in need of international protection, working
with Frontex;
12. Working with the European Commission and
Frontex to step up practical cooperation on readmission with third
countries and intensifying cooperation in particular with
Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan; Commission to work to
implement existing readmission agreements fully and start work on
new readmission agreements with relevant countries;
Border Management
13. Increase efforts to manage borders, including
by:
Finalising and implementing the EU-Turkey Action
Plan;
Making full use of the potential of the
EU-Turkey readmission agreement and the visa liberalisation roadmap;
Upscaling the Poseidon Sea Joint Operation in
Greece;
Reinforcing Frontex support at the border
between Bulgaria and Turkey
Strengthening border cooperation between Greece
and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, with increased UNHCR
engagement;
Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia and Albania will strengthen the management of the external
land border, with Frontex to support registration in Greece;
Working together with Frontex to monitor border
crossings and support registration and fingerprinting at the
Croatian-Serbian border crossing points;
Deploying in Slovenia 400 police officers and
essential equipment within a week, through bilateral support;
Strengthening the Frontex Western Balkans Risk
Analysis Network with intensified reporting from all participants;
Making use, where appropriate of the Rapid
Border Intervention Team (RABIT) mechanism, which should be duly
equipped;
14. Reconfirming the principle of refusing entry
to third country nationals who do not confirm a wish to apply for
international protection (in line with international and EU refugee
law and subject to prior non-refoulement and proportionality
checks);
Tackling smuggling and trafficking
15. Stepping up actions against migrant smuggling
and trafficking of human beings with support of Europol, Frontex and
Interpol;
Information on the rights and obligations of
refugees and migrants
16. Making use of all available communication
tools to inform refugees and migrants about existing rules, as well
as about their rights and obligations, notably on the consequences
of a refusal to be registered, fingerprinted and of a refusal to
seek protection where they are;
Monitoring
17. Monitoring the implementation of these
commitments on a weekly basis; Commission to coordinate with
national contact points.
The full statement is available
here.
Background
The European Commission has been consistently and
continuously working for a coordinated European response on the
refugees and migration front.
Upon taking office, European Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker entrusted a Commissioner with special
responsibility for Migration to work, in coordination with First
Vice-President Timmermans, on a new policy on migration as one of
the 10 priorities of the Political Guidelines, the political
programme based on which the European Parliament elected the
Commission.
On 13 May 2015, the European Commission presented
its European Agenda on Migration, setting out a comprehensive
approach for improving the management of migration in all its
aspects.
Two implementation packages under the Agenda, on
27 May 2015 and on 9 September 2015 have already been adopted and
the measures therein are starting to be deployed.
On Wednesday 21 October, President Juncker called
for a Leaders' Meeting on refugee flows along the Western Balkans
route to address the emergency situation unfolding along this route.
Attending the Leaders' Meeting were the Heads of
State or Government of Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. The President of the European Council,
the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU, the future Dutch
Presidency of the Council of the EU and the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees were in attendance. The European Asylum
Support Office (EASO) and the European Agency for the Management of
Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States
of the European Union (Frontex) were also represented.
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