Abandoned in desert: EU accused of migrant ‘dumping’ in North Africa, Sahel

The recently endorsed EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum “is going to run into political and possibly also legal challenges and a largely hostile international setting,” says a new study by the Elcano Royal Institute, while especially left-wing organizations denounce it as “the result of a deliberate EU policy aimed at creating a deterrent effect against unwanted migrants.”
A recent investigation titled “Desert Dumps”, led by Lighthouse Reports, found that each year, the European Union “supports, finances and is directly involved in clandestine operations in North African countries” designed to prevent potential migrants from coming to the bloc and to disincentivize others, which result in tens of thousands of people being abandoned in the desert or other remote areas. A new study by the Spanish think tank now warns that “the complexity of the pact, the opposition of some Member States and its reliance on agreements with third-party countries bode ill for its implementation.” It foresees political and possibly also legal challenges, including ensuring that all EU members have the political will to abide by the rules.
Another challenge for the EU will be the externalization of migration controls, in other words efforts to reach agreements with third countries, particularly in North Africa and the Sahel, so that during the time needed for their claims to be processed asylum seekers remain there, and in the event of being rejected will be returned from there. Some migrant rescue NGOs and left-wing organizations, have denounced what they call “the EU’s murderous anti-migrant and refugee policy.” The EU expects the authoritarian authoritarian regimes of its partners countries in the Maghreb to do the “dirty work” of the EU, says the ‘World Socialist Web Site’, referring to the “inhumane practice of pushbacks by sea and land, and the intentional death by abandonment in the desert”.