New EU pact will cause a surge of suffering for refugees and migrants

New agreement suggests human rights can be put to one side when they are inconvenient, writes Stephen Bowen, Executive Director at Amnesty International Ireland

While the EU wants to frame this agreement as one that brings "certainty, clarity and decent conditions for people arriving in the EU", it must be called out for what it is. This agreement is designed to make it harder for people to access safety. Photo: AP/Joan Mateu Parra

There is nothing to celebrate in the European Union’s new ‘deal’ on migration and asylum. The agreement that EU leaders have made will cause a surge of suffering for refugees and migrants on every step of their journey towards a new life.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached a long-awaited political agreement on several key elements of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum.