Frontex boss expects more refugees after the pandemic
Warsaw - "I am sure that after Covid more refugees will try to come to Europe again," said Frontex boss Fabrice Leggeri to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (Tuesday edition). The decline in the number of migrants at the EU's external borders is mainly due to the Covid requirements." As early as the summer of 2020, when the Covid travel restrictions were relaxed again, more migrants came to Europe," said Leggeri.
The pandemic has even exacerbated the causes of flight in recent months, said the Frontex boss. "The number of migrants will also increase again for economic reasons," said Leggeri. "Because of the pandemic, the economy in African countries is at least as much, if not more, under pressure than in the EU."
The EU Commission and the member states will therefore soon have to agree on a reform of European migration policy, Leggeri appealed. "Frontex cannot replace the EU legislator. We do not make laws, we implement them. We need clear guidelines," he said. "If the EU legislature does not decide on an asylum or migration policy, it will have negative effects on the situation at the external borders. We saw that very clearly in 2015 and 2016," said the Frontex boss.
The resumption of the EU migration agreement with Turkey is also important, said Leggeri. "Indeed, since March 2020 Turkey has not taken in any more migrants and justified that with the pandemic," he said. "We now have to wait and see whether the talks between the EU and Turkey will change that. Frontex is ready to continue the returns."
Source: Der Newsticker
Photo: AFP
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