'History made': MEPs vote in favour of reforming how migration is dealt with across Europe

"EU flags fly in a row in front of the European Commission building in Brussels, Belgium"

The European Parliament has voted to adopt new EU laws to overhaul migration policies, including new changes to allow for burden-sharing of asylum applications.

Voting took place on Wednesday on the new EU Asylum and Migration Pact, with MEPs narrowly voting in favour of reforming how migration is dealt with across Europe.

Ireland has already opted into the new pact, with Justice Minister Helen McEntee seeking Cabinet approval late last month.

As part of the plan, the Government will be forced to introduce new immigration laws within the next two years to be compliant with the new pact.

The vote on Wednesday, which is now expected to be rubber-stamped by the member states, ends eight years of deadlock over repeated efforts to tighten up border management and asylum processes in the 27-member bloc.

Roberta Metsola, the European parliament president, wrote on X: “History made. We have delivered a robust legislative framework on how to deal with migration and asylum in the EU. It has been more than ten years in the making. But we kept our word. A balance between solidarity and responsibility. This is the European way.” 

The laws themselves were first proposed in 2018 and include provisions to speed up asylum application decisions, alongside a new unified screening system at all points on the EU’s borders.

A new solidarity mechanism is also included, whereby countries with large numbers of asylum seekers can relocate some to another EU member state, on a fair share basis. If member states do not take on relocated asylum seekers, they will be called upon to make a financial contribution.

Fianna Fáil MEP for Ireland South Billy Kelleher said he backed the new pact, saying that it brought “uniformity” to European migration laws.

“It brings a certain amount of uniformity. It’s something that is firm but fair,” he said.

He said that the new laws are an improvement to “piecemeal” solutions set out by individual member states.

Responding to criticism by MEPs that the Parliament was moving to appease the far-right, Mr Kelleher said that there is an overall requirement “for reasonable and rational policies” on migration.

NGOs have criticised the new laws as regressive, oppressive, and “flawed from the beginning”.

Amnesty International condemned the vote as shameful that will “lead to greater human suffering”.

“For people escaping conflict, persecution, or economic insecurity, these reforms will mean less protection and a greater risk of facing human rights violations across Europe – including illegal and violent pushbacks, arbitrary detention, and discriminatory policing,” Eve Geddie, the Director of Advocacy of Amnesty International.

“Europe has missed a vital opportunity to build a migration and asylum system that places human rights at the centre, and to unconditionally uphold people’s human right to seek asylum no matter where they come from or how they have arrived.” 

Ms Geddie said that it was a “failure” to show global leadership on refugee protection and that safe and secure pathways for people to reach Europe are not being provided.

Stephanie Pope, Oxfam’s expert on EU migration, said on Tuesday the package had little to do with the human rights of desperate people and more to do with “deterrents, detention and deportation”.

The legislation, which comes to the vote two months before the European elections in June, was “very political and zero evidence based”, she added.