REGIONAL
EU allocates funding to manage migration and address root causes
• A number of funding decisions were made by the EU in order to better manage migration flows. On 12 September, countries in the bloc agreed to cut funding from next year’s budget intended for poor countries primarily in Eastern Europe, in favour of increasing spending on managing migration. On 19 September, the EU announced a EUR 44 billion investment proposal for Africa and Mediterranean countries in order to fight migration and radicalisation of youth. In late September, German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed that more EU funding be directed towards development aid in order to address the root causes of migration, in addition to calling for more one-for-one deals with African countries modelled after the EU-Turkey pact.
European Border and Coast Guard Agency established
• The new European Border and Coast Guard Agency was established on 6 October, allowing agents to be deployed at the external borders of the EU. While the new agency will continue to be referred to as Frontex, its budget and size of operations has tripled. The new agency will ensure the implementation of Union standards of border management through periodic risk analysis and mandatory vulnerability assessments of member states to ensure their capabilities to address migration crises.
European Commission rolls out cash transfer programme for refugees in Turkey
• On 8 September, the European Commission announced that it would roll out its largest humanitarian grant of EUR 348 million in the form of direct cash transfers for vulnerable refugee families in Turkey. Starting in October, the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) scheme will provide one million vulnerable refugees with monthly cash transfers to electronic cards. Refugees can use the cards to spend funds on their priority needs, including healthcare, education, food, or other priorities. As the money will be spent in local markets, the new system also offers a boost to the local economy.
Turkey to construct wall on Syrian border
• It was announced on 28 September that the construction of a concrete wall spanning the length of the Turkey-Syria border would be completed by the end of February. Building of the wall began in 2014 in an attempt to curb irregular migration and combat smuggling.
Arrests of suspected smugglers
• A criminal smuggling network was partially dismantled when 16 of its members were arrested by Italian authorities on 6 September. The group was comprised of Syrian, Algerian, Egyptian, Lebanese and Tunisian nationals who had smuggled up to 200 migrants - primarily of Syrian origin - into and within the EU between 2014 and 2016.
• In a separate incident, Italian police arrested two Ukrainians on 7 September, accused of attempting to smuggle 50 Pakistani nationals to Italy on a sailboat. The incident comes amid reports that smugglers are increasingly using Ukrainian sailors to provide migrants safe passage to Europe, paying up to USD 8,000 per journey.
Relocation and resettlement
• 1,202 people were relocated from Italy and Greece to other EU member states in September, bringing the total number of relocations to 5,651 in the first year of the EU Relocation Programme. Under the July 2015 resettlement scheme, 10,695 of the 22,504 allocated resettlement spaces have been filled to date. Between June and 27 September, 1,071 Syrians were resettled from Turkey to EU states under the EU-Turkey deal, bringing total resettlement numbers under the agreement to 1,614. While progress has been made, a recent Pew Research analysis concluded that the backlog of unprocessed asylum applications in Europe has reached more than one million.
IOM joins the United Nations
• On 19 September, the International Organization for Migration became a related organisation of the UN at the UN Summit on Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants in New York. IOM member states had unanimously approved the process in June 2016. In joining the UN, IOM becomes the UN migration agency.
UNGA holds high-level summit on migrants and refugees
• The United Nations General Assembly held its first high-level summit on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants on 19 September. At its conclusion, 193 member states adopted the New York Declaration, expressing the political will of world leaders to share responsibility and commit to negotiating the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration over the coming two years. One critic noted that the declaration failed to make strong statements on some issues, including the practice of ending the immigration detention of children.
Leaders gather at EU-Mediterranean Summit
• The EU-Mediterranean Summit - attended by heads of state and governments of Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain - concluded on 9 September in Athens. States pledged to combat racism and xenophobia, as well as ensure the protection of external borders through systematic controls and the establishment of the European Border and Coast Guard before the year’s end.