Press Release: European Union: Refugee Response Falls Short. Migration, Security Crisis Challenge Divided Union on Rights

The European Union struggled to develop an effective and principled response to the 1 million asylum seekers and migrants who reached Europe by sea during 2015, Human Rights Watch said on the 27 January 2016 in its World Report 2016.

Human Rights Watch highlighted developments in 10 EU member states and union-wide developments on migration and asylum, discrimination and intolerance, and counterterrorism, a major concern during the year in light of horrific attacks in Paris.

'The disjointed beggar-thy-neighbor responses of EU governments to 1 million arrivals this year has turned a manageable challenge into a full-blown political crisis', said Benjamin Ward, deputy Europe and Central Asia division director at Human Rights Watch. 'Asylum seekers and migrants in Greece and along the Western Balkans route have paid the price of a divided EU'.

• Primary Source

ESO: Information Guide: European Migration Challenges http://www.europeansources.info/record/information-guide-european-migration-challenges/

Human Rights Watch: World Report 2016 https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016

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