Ministers from the European Union countries have called for more decisive measures to protect the region’s external borders from unauthorised migrants. They also called for rules to return migrants to their homelands or the starting point of their journeys.
These concerns were detailed during a meeting held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. It was attended by Interior Ministers from EU countries including Greece, Poland, Italy, Austria, Norway and Switzerland. Also present was Ylva Johansson, the European Home Affairs Commissioner and head of European security bodies like Europol and Frontex.
The ministers decried the influx of migrants as meteoric and urged for immediate interventionist actions to ameliorate the situation. Some suggestions included the reinforcement of the bloc’s borders and a crack down on human smugglers in order to protect the region’s citizens as well as the lives of migrants
Johansson stated that it was exigent to take stop people fleeing from poverty and conflicts in their countries in order to protect the EU borders from aggression.
In a joint statement, 16 EU nations urged for amendments to the Schengen Borders Codes so as to blacklist transport operations involved in smuggling and trafficking people into the EU. They also called for a reduction in the “incentives for illegal migration” and mechanisms to prevent the abuse of the asylum system.
All this comes as Poland is set to build a tall, permanent metal wall with electronic surveillance systems along its land border with Belarus. Lithuania is also building a 500 Kilometre wall on its border with Belarus.
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