Europe’s Migration Crisis

The rising tide of migrants and asylum seekers fleeing turmoil in Africa and the Middle East poses complex challenges for European policymakers still reeling from the political fallout of recent economic upheaval. To date, Europe's collective response to its growing migration crisis has been ad hoc and, critics charge, more focused on securing the bloc's borders than on protecting the rights of migrants and refugees. Many European Union countries struggling with high levels of unemployment and reduced government services have also seen a rise in political extremism and xenophobia.

These developments have raised concerns about an erosion of EU core values like human rights and travel freedoms opened up under the Schengen Agreement. With nationalist parties projected to make big gains in the May 2014 European elections, it remains unclear if political headwinds will facilitate a new climate of immigration reform.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: EU border surveillance system not helping to save lives http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-border-surveillance-system-not-helping-to-save-lives/

ESO: Background information: Asylum and irregular immigration in the EU: state of play http://www.europeansources.info/record/asylum-and-irregular-immigration-in-the-eu-state-of-play-2/

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