European Union

This pilot edition focuses on the routes migrants take and the difficulties and challenges they face when moving from one country to another. With reports on Mexico and Morocco and a feature interview with Ska Keller, member of the European Parliament for the Greens, our reporters Nina Haase, Jenni Roth and Ruth Reichstein worked hard to make this first edition worth listening to.

The script for this edition is attached.

One of the fundamental findings of this study is that the EU’s new border regime would not only infringe fundamental rights, it would also, in spite of its questionable benefits, cost billions – and that against the background of pervasive budget cuts and austerity measures. Above all, this would profit Europe’s defence contractors, as they would receive EU funding for “smart gates,” UAVs, and other surveillance technologies. The technological upgrading of the EU’s external borders will obviously open up new markets to European security and armament companies.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, François Crépeau on Monday called on Turkey and the European Union to prioritise the human rights of migrants in the context of their migration management cooperation. 

Eurosur, the proposal for regulation concerning a border monitoring system, was presented by the European Commission on December 12^th 2011, and puts cross-border crime on the same level as illegal immigration. It overlooks search and rescue at sea, despite it featuring in the 2008 Communication.