EU migration ministers address militant Islamist attacks, risks from Israel-Hamas war

By Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s migration ministers meet on Thursday to discuss improving security in the bloc after deadly attacks in France and Belgium, as well as worries whether the war between Israel and Hamas would force mass displacement of people.

Some in the 27-nation bloc have already called for tighter borders, more repatriations of foreigners and new deals with African states to keep refugees and migrants from Europe since a Tunisian failed asylum-seeker killed two in Brussels on Monday.

A teacher was slain in northern France last week in an attack President Emmanuel Macron condemned as “Islamist terrorism”.

The killings occurred at a time of heightened security concerns across much of Europe linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

“The implications of the situation in the Middle East for our internal security… are very topical right now,” said an EU diplomat involved in preparing the ministerial talks.

“Both with regard to the situation as it develops in the Middle East and to what we’re seeing happening inside of the EU.”

It will be the ministers’ first chance to exchange views in person since the Oct.7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas that killed at least 1,400 Israelis, mostly civilians, and to which Israel has responded by bombarding Gaza.

The ministers are not expected to take any specific decisions but will discuss topics including what particular developments could cause Palestinians to flee in large numbers, or trigger violent acts inside the bloc.

NEW POLICIES

Similar concerns in some EU quarters about a potential spike in immigration did not materialise after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

But the bloc has been wary since it was caught by surprise as more than a million people – mostly refugees from the war in Syria – reached its shores across the Mediterranean in 2015.

The attack in Brussels underlined persistent failings of the EU’s troubled migration and asylum systems, including security gaps and ineffective returns. Only about a fifth of people whose asylum cases fail in Europe are actually sent away.

Proponents of a looming overhaul of the EU’s migration policies – expected to be finalised this year – say it would improve the situation, including by facilitating quicker repatriations of foreigners with criminal records.

There is also a new push for deals with African countries – including Egypt and Morocco – akin to the one the EU has recently sealed with Tunisia, offering aid in exchange for Tunis bringing down departures for Europe.

Critics of the EU’s new migration and asylum policies doubt they would be effective and point to growing risks to human rights while focus is on deterring unauthorised immigration.

The EU, a bloc of 450 million people, has recorded some 250,000 irregular arrivals this year, in large part aided by smugglers.

Last year, the EU took in several million refugees for Russia’s war in the neighbouring Ukraine. But it wants to reduce irregular immigration from the Middle East and Africa.

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