Athens – ESI presentations on how to rescue EU asylum policy in the Mediterranean

Gerald Knaus. Photo: ESI

ESI's Gerald Knaus went to Athens for discussions on the future of EU asylum and migration policy with activists, politicians, journalists, experts from Turkey and Greece in Athens. At an event organised by ASAM, he gave a presentation on "What Can Go Wrong and What Must Go Right? – Humanity, Realism and the Asylum Debate in the EU". The following day, he spoke at a briefing at the state of play of the EU-Turkey statement: "A Greek plan for the Aegean? How to rescue EU asylum policy in the Mediterranean" at ELIAMEP.

The EU-Turkey statement is at obvious risk of collapse this spring – at the very moment when neither the Dublin system, nor the Dublin reform proposed by the Commission in spring 2016, works. None of the many obvious problems with implementation having been addressed, the pressure is mounting. At his meetings, Gerald presented a new ESI Core Facts Greece document pointing out what is happening – and what might be done.

• ESI paper: "Amsterdam in the Mediterranean" – How a Dutch-style asylum system can help resolve the Mediterranean refugee crisis (26 January 2018)
• ESI core facts: Refugees and asylum in the Aegean – The impact of the EU-Turkey statement (26 January 2018)
• ESI proposals for the refugee crises in the Central Mediterranean and the Aegean: www.esiweb.org/refugees
• Media reactions to ESI refugee proposals