Irregular migration is a complex matter, engaging issues of human rights, economics and other issues. Sometimes people tend to forget the human perspective, just focusing on the numbers or moving towards an us and them mentality

First of all, migrants who deserve some form of protection, who are fleeing persecution or war for example, have rights at international law to asylum and therefore must always be protected and given a protected status. That is their right. One must ensure that the process of identifying whether one needs protection or not is done well and ensures that protection if a person needs it.

When it comes to economic migrants who do not need political protection, it is understandable that states want to return them to their countries of origin, after all there are legal ways economic migrants can apply to reach a country.

At the same time, states must ensure that there are fewer deaths in the Mediterranean. Sometimes people forget the humanity side of things. Irregular economic migrants aren’t risking their lives for no reason, they face poverty, or a life with no real future. Asylum seekers, meanwhile, are fleeing for their lives. They must not be condemned to death at sea. Member states must do all they can to ensure they are safe and do not drown.

More also needs to be done to capture and jail human traffickers who exploit the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of migrants, and on this matter coordination with third countries is a must and should intensify. Trafficking is an international crime and needs to be eradicated.

But EU states need to be wary of working with certain third countries then, when it comes to the housing or rescue of migrants. Libya, for instance, has been criticised for the way it treats irregular migrants and the EU cannot condone such treatment. In 2022, a statement by Office Of The High Commissioner For Human Rights said a UN Human Rights report read that “widespread and systematic human rights violations and abuses against migrants in Libya are compounded by the lack of pathways to protection within and outside the country – meaning migrants are often compelled to accept ‘assisted return’ to their home countries in conditions that may not meet international human rights laws and standards.” If EU states want to continue working with Libya when it comes to migrants themselves, then it must work to better the treatment of migrants in the country.

EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola made a statement earlier this year which is an idea worth considering. She believes that a solution to ensure that people no longer face death crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe is for asylum applications to be processed outside of EU territory.

Meanwhile, in an interview with this newsroom earlier this year, S&D MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar gave a wider picture of migration: “It is an outright lie that migratory routes across the world are aiming to Europe. It is not true. As we speak, at least 75 million people throughout the world are on the move, trying to make a better living some other place than where they were born. Just a tiny percentage of that migratory flow are aiming for Europe. But those aiming for Europe need a European scale of response, including search and rescue operations. That European scale of response has to be consistent with international law," as well as EU law, he said. 

As said before, irregular migration is a complex issue. Added to this, is the lack of solidarity that was shown between member states over the years, leading to the hardening stance of border states on the matter.

Earlier this week, the news that agreement was reached on a Migration Pact at EU level was met with mixed reactions.

European Union leaders and top officials hailed a major breakthrough in talks on new rules to control migration, but critics said the reforms will weaken the rights of asylum-seekers and encourage more morally dubious deals with countries that people leave to get to Europe, international news reports read.

Meanwhile, the Maltese Home Affairs Minister said that "While the Pact strengthens solidarity between the countries, there are diverse instances where it will increase the weight on the frontier countries like Malta. As such, the Pact neither offers a balance between responsibility and solidarity, and will not give peace of mind that the needs of frontier member states will be fully addressed," Byron Camilleri said.

Oxfam's EU migration expert Stephanie Pope noted the "EU statements celebrating this deal, the question is, at what cost?" Pope worried that the pact would encourage "more detention, including of children and families in prison-like centres. They have also slammed the door on those seeking asylum with substandard procedures, fast-tracked deportation and gambled with people's lives."

One needs to wait and see how the agreement will work in practice, but one hopes that the member states put humanity at the centre of its policy, and that Pope’s concerns would not come to pass.