Christian actors publish concrete recommendations to the EU Pact on Migration

The Christian Group on Migration and Asylum has recently published several detailed documents analysing some key aspects of the proposed EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, stressing the centrality of the human person and his/her dignity at every stage of the migratory experience.

Migrants on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea. (Photo: Gene Isenko/Shutterstock)

Following the publication of the proposed EU Pact on Migration and Asylum by the European Commission in September 2020, this Christian Group composed of COMECE and its Christian Brussels-based partners, contributed to the current public debate on how the EU and its Member States should address the phenomenon of migration.

The documents contain several specific recommendations in different areas, including asylum and migration management and funding, pre-entry screening and border procedures, return and readmissions policies and cooperation with third countries, as well as the issue of criminalisation of search and rescue operations at sea.

In December 2020, the COMECE Working Group on Migration and Asylum delivered a statement on the mentioned EU Pact, urging the European Union to put into practice policies that welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants and refugees, as proposed by Pope Francis in his 2018 message on the occasion of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

The next meeting of the COMECE Working Group will take place in May 2021 and will address the challenges of integrating migrants in hosting societies.