Globalist U.N. Slams EU Migrant ‘Pushbacks’, Meanwhile Asylum Claims Spike

LAMPEDUSA, ITALY - MAY 18: Refugees and migrants wait to be rescued from a small wooden bo
Chris McGrath/Getty Images

A senior official from the globalist United Nations has slammed the European Union over migrant ‘pushbacks’ occurring at its borders, while asylum claims spike across the continent.

The European Union has found itself on the receiving end of harsh criticism for its handling of migrants, with the globalist U.N. slamming the bloc’s defensive measures for being too harsh.

This is despite the fact that asylum claims have spiked across the European continent in 2021, growing by a third over the previous year, with parts of Europe struggling with an influx of illegal boat migrants.

According to a post on his official website, Filippo Grandi, who serves as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, has slammed the EU’s border defence as “legally and morally unacceptable”, and has ordered the bloc to change course.

“Violence, ill-treatment and pushbacks continue to be regularly reported at multiple entry points at land and sea borders, within and beyond the European Union (EU), despite repeated calls by UN agencies, including UNHCR, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs to end such practices,” the commissioner is reported as saying.

“We fear these deplorable practices now risk becoming normalized, and policy based,” the statement continues. “They reinforce a harmful and unnecessary ‘fortress Europe’ narrative.”

“While essential as a demonstration of external support to main hosting states, resettlement and other legal pathways cannot substitute for obligations towards people seeking asylum at borders, including those who have arrived irregularly and spontaneously, including by boat,” Grandi also claims.

The commissioner ended his statement by saying that what the EU does sets precedent globally, and so the EU must rectify the border enforcement issues he finds problematic.

“How Europe chooses to protect asylum-seekers and refugees matters and is precedent-setting not only in the region but also globally,” he concludes.

While the U.N. commissioner denounces the so-called “unnecessary ‘fortress Europe’ narrative”, the walls of such a fortress have become extremely porous in recent months, with asylum claims spiking by one third in Europe over 2021 compared to the previous year.

Over 600,000 individuals applied for international protection in so-called EU+ countries last year — which include nations outside the European Union, such as Serbia and the UK — according to the European Union Agency for Asylum, compared to just over 450,000 in 2020.

It comes as Europe faced an influx of illegal boat migrants, with 28,000 individuals landing on the British coastline via small boats in 2021 alone, while Lampedusa — a small island to the south of Italy — saw 35,000 illegals land on its shores.

Syria and Afghanistan are reported as the main point of origin for asylum seekers though also high up on the list were Pakistan, Turkey and Nigeria.

“Many applicants from Afghanistan were already in Europe. Some of them had already received a negative decision but they were not in the position to be returned,” noted the organisation’s Executive Director, Nina Gregori, according to Politico.

Of these applications, 35 per cent of all applications within the UK, EU, Norway and Switzerland were accepted, with two-thirds of that number being granted full refugee status.

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