RLS have co-signed a joint analysis along with 16 other NGOs, which highlights the stark disparity between the number of asylum claims being submitted in different EU countries.
The EU Pact on Migration and Asylum (due to be implemented next year) rests on solidarity, responsibility-sharing, and respect for fundamental rights. The pact requires a ‘solidarity mechanism’ to address the unequal distribution of responsibility for asylum seekers across the EU. This will allow states to either relocate people seeking asylum from countries of first arrival, or contribute to their reception in another way e.g. by making a financial contribution.
We’re concerned this will end up being spent on further deterrence methods, rather than upholding people’s rights and welcoming them with dignity.
In 2024, the EU received around a million asylum applications. When looking at the per capita numbers, Cyprus and Greece both received over 7,000 asylum applications per million inhabitants. This is significantly higher than other EU countries. Denmark registered 387 applications per million inhabitants, Romania registered 127, and Slovakia only registered 30.
There’s an urgent need for responsibility-sharing.
Along with the co-signers on this analysis, we’ve witnessed the impact of increased responsibility in first-entry Member States. This has resulted in over-crowded and inadequate reception conditions, strained asylum systems, and asylum seekers trapped in legal limbo, exposed to human rights violations at borders and within Member States.
To ensure the solidarity mechanism functions effectively and meets the needs of asylum seekers and Member States under migratory pressure, we recommend that Member States:
- Prioritise relocations and realistic solidarity pledges that address needs
- Make direct financial contributions towards strengthening internal asylum and reception systems
- Ensure states demonstrate balanced solidarity throughout the asylum process, from reception to integration
Without strong enforcement and political will, solidarity risks remaining a symbolic gesture rather than a functional tool.
Read the full analysis in English and Bulgarian below.
Signatories:
- International Rescue Committee
- Reachout Foundation
- Network for Children’s Rights
- JRS Romania
- ECPAT Germany
- Fenix – Humanitarian Legal Aid
- Association for the Social Support of Youth (ARSIS)
- Foundation for Access to Rights (FAR)
- Symbiosis – School of Political Studies in Greece
- Terres des hommes
- Terres des hommes Germany
- Refugee Legal Support (RLS)
- Samos Volunteers
- Greek Council for Refugees (GCR)
- Centre for Peace Studies (Croatia)
- Caritas Europe
- Association for Integration and Migration
