Deconstructing 10 received ideas about migration in Europe
For the last 20 years, European migration policies have been guided by an exclusively security-based and almost military approach limited to border controls: visas issued only to a select few, the building of walls and fences, forced return to “third” countries and externalisation to fragile or authoritarian States.
International law establishes the right to mobility by declaring the right of anyone to leave any country, including their own, and to return to it.
It also protects anyone who is migrating, regardless of their status, against any form of ill-treatment and violation of their rights, including in case of return to “a third country” (non-refoulement principle).
Does the EU’s migration policy meet with these obligations? Is it in line with the current issues regarding international migration?
We propose to deconstruct these received ideas by answering “yes” or “no” to ten statements.