Activities of Enrique GUERRERO SALOM related to 2015/2342(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Addressing refugee and migrant movements: the role of EU External Action (debate) ES
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on addressing refugee and migrant movements: the role of EU External Action PDF (459 KB) DOC (107 KB)
Amendments (40)
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas in 2015 , 65 million people – including 40.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 21.3 million refugees – have been forcibly displaced because of conflicts and violations of International Humanitarian Law , violence and human rights violations, further to people displaced on account of natural disasters;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the current data available underlines an increase of refuges of more than 50% In the last five years; whereas a number of elements contribute to this staggering number, including the fact that the voluntary repatriation of refugees has been the lowest since the 1980s, that the number of refugees offered local integration remains limited, and that resettlement numbers are steady at around 100,000 annually;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas no State can manage current movements of refugees on its own and neighbouring and transit countries, being mostly developing countries, are disproportionately affected by the current level of displaced people and suffer from stretched capacities and further destabilisation of their own social and economic cohesion and development;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants are legally two distinct categories but in reality often people are part of large-scale mixed movements of people – with political, economic, social, developmental, humanitarian and human rights implications that cut across borders; whereas this legal distinction should not be taken to indicate that migration for economic reasons or for seeking a better life is less legitimate or noble than for fleeing persecution, thereby putting political and civic rights or freedom of religion above socio-economic rights; whereas in most cases both political and economic rights, among other core human rights, are threatened in situations of conflict, instability or unrest and continue to be challenged as a result of the forcible displacement;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas vulnerable people, in particular women, but alsoall along their journey, migrants are exposed to all kinds of dangers, namely violence, trafficking and abuse. This is particularly the case for vulnerable people, such as women, children, people with disabilities, people in need of urgent medical treatment and the elderly, who are particularly exposed to all kinds of dangers, namely violence, trafficking and abuse, should be urgently protected and granted humanitarian protection as part of theira complement to resettlement;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas humanitarian aid base on needs and the respect of the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, as well on the respect on international humanitarian law and the human rights provided by the Geneva Conventions and the additional protocols thereto, must be at the core of all EU external actions; whereas aid independence, i.e. aid that is free from any political, economic or security considerations or any type of discrimination, must prevail;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas the EU should consider to what extent its current policy increases the vulnerability of refugees and migrants and contributes to irregular flows;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
Ec. whereas so far the EU's response to migration flows has mainly put the burden of management on third countries at the expenses of internal and regional stability; whereas any EU political response that does not live up to its declared values and commitments severely impacts on its credibility -particularly in front of partners/third countries- thereby undermining its capacity to defend its interests and an effective external action;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the increase in human mobility, if managed in a safe, orderly, regular and responsible manner, can provide significant benefits, as recognised by the 2030 Agenda, but these are often largely underestimated; whereas the ageing of the European population requires, among other measures, relying on foreign workers in order to guarantee an adequate balance between activepersons in remunerative work and retired people;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas the EU has a responsibility to supports its implementing partners to carry out rapid, effective, quality assistance and protection and be accountable to affected-population; in that regard the EU's partners require timely and predictable funding, decisions on allocations of funding for changing or new priorities should give them sufficient time for planning and mitigation measures;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
Fb. whereas decentralised cooperation can help get a better grasp of the needs and cultures of IDPs, migrants and refugees and raise awareness of the local population about the challenges faced by migrants in their countries of origin; whereas local and regional European governments can play a key role in helping address these root causes, through capacity-building;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines the fact that we are witnessing in today’´s world an unprecedented level of human mobility, and stresses that one of the most urgent actions the international community must urgently undertake is the strengthening of a common response to address the challenges and opportunities that this phenomenon represents; stresses that this response must be guided by the full protection of the rights and dignity of everyone forced by any circumstance to flee their homes in search of a better and safer life, ; underlines that, though their treatment is governed by separate legal frameworks, refugees and migrants (including migrants in an irregular situation) have the same universal human rights and fundamental freedoms, which need to be safeguarded regardless of their legal status; recalls that the EU must abide by its values and principles in all common policies and promote them in its external relations, recognises that the effects of externalisation of EU migration and asylum policies and the lack of legal avenues to the EU are worrying, and translate in significant abuses at all stages of the migratory and refugee movement; recalls that the external dimension of the EU asylum and migration agenda should be rooted in solidarity and in the principle of protection of the fundamental rights;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recognises that the humanitarian aid system is dangerously overstretched and that it will never be sufficient to respond to forced displacement crises, in particularnotably given the protracted nature of a majority of them; welcomes therefore the new policy framework outlined in the Commission communication on ‘"Forced Displacement and Development’" of April 2016 and calls on the EEAS and the European Commission to implement its content within the new Partnership Framework with third countries; notes the importance of promoting closer humanitarian-development links, and the need to engage with different partners – governments, local authorities, civil society, including refugees themselves, and the private sector – to develop targeted evidence-based strategies to tackle this challenge while respecting that humanitarian aid is not a crisis management tool as stated in the EU Consensus for Humanitarian Aid;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recognises the rights and dignity of millions of fellow human beings will be further diminished if they languish in refugee camps or on the margins of cities without access to basic needs, livelihoods and income opportunities;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that EU development cooperation should continue to address the root causes of forced displacementmigration by promoting peace, democracy and security, reducing poverty and inequality, strengthening basic services, addressing state fragility and promoting human rights and good governance, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 16 in the new 2030 Agenda;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Calls on the Member States to make use of any existing possibilities to provide for humanitarian visas, particularly for vulnerable persons, at Union embassies and consular offices in countries of origin or transit countries;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Recognises statelessness as a significant human rights challenge; asks the Commission and the EEAS to fight statelessness in all EU external action, in particular by addressing discrimination in nationality laws on the basis of gender, religion or a minority status, by promoting children's right to a nationality and by supporting the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) campaign aimed at ending statelessness by 2024;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Underlines that the EU can benefit from closer cooperation and synergy with multilateral development banks and specialized UN bodies, in particular the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the now UN-related International Organization for Migration (IOM); takes note of the recent ideas by the World Bank on the situation of forcibly displaced people and welcomes the recognition of the need to develop mitigation and asylum policies that support the forcibly displaced people to integrate and, at same time, the host communities to meet their development goals;
Amendment 303 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 d (new)
Paragraph 9 d (new)
9d. Considers it crucial to overcome the current narrative on refugees depicted only as a burden and stresses the positive contributions they can make, if given the chance, to their host communities; recommends the involvement of refugees in the definition and design of the political answers that affect them directly, creating or strengthening the necessary programmes; Calls on the European Institutions and agencies to launch within their administrations traineeships especially targeted at young graduated refugees legally residing within the European Union as a way to lead by example and demonstrate the benefit of investing in the young generation;
Amendment 312 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that EU external action should be forward-looking instead of mainly reactive with changing objectives in response to new crises; recalls that the migration phenomenon stems from a complex set of causes such as a growing population, poverty, insufficient job creation, political instability and climate change; considers that trade policy with developing countries should be mutually beneficial while taking proper account of the economic disparities between them and the EU;
Amendment 356 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls for the establishment of a genuine, value-based common European migration policy – with adequate legal channels for a safe and orderly migration as a sustainable long-term policy to promote growth and cohesion within the EU – in order to set a clear framework for EU relations with third countries; welcomes the EU Action Plan against migrant smuggling (2015-2020), which envisages closer cooperation with third countries, but underlines that the implementation of a common EU legal migration policy would be instrumental in breaking the business model of smugglers;
Amendment 386 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Expresses concerns regarding the list of identified partners in the foreseen migration compacts include governments with poor human rights records; considers that cooperation with these countries, and making significant payments to such regimes is setting worrying precedents, and risk reinforcing some of the root causes that force people to migrate.
Amendment 393 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Expresses concerns regarding the quantitative approach in the new Partnership Framework and the related ‘migration compacts’, which see the ‘measurable increases in the number and rate of returns’ as one of the EU’s main goals, as the number of returns clearly depends on the nature of migration flows and on the situations in the countries of origin; stresses that the short-term objectives of the compacts should focus on how best to address the challenges faced by third countries, including by developing legal migration channels, as a result of which the levels of irregular migration and death tolls in the Mediterranean will decrease; stresses that focusing only on controlling borders with the aim of stopping irregular flows and without facilitating legal avenues for migration often leads to an increase in irregular ways of mobility including the exploitation of migrants and refugees by traffickers and criminal groups, which as a result highly increases their vulnerability;
Amendment 400 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Expresses concerns regarding the quantitative approach in the new Partnership Framework and the related ‘migration compacts’, which see the ‘measurable increases in the number and rate of returns’ as one of the EU’s main goals, as the number of returns clearly depends on the nature of migration flows and on the situations in the countries of origin; stresses that the short-term objectives of the compacts should focus on how best to address the challenges faced by third countries, including by developing legal migration channels such as family reunification, resettlement or humanitarian visas, as a result of which the levels of irregular migration and death tolls in the Mediterranean will decrease;
Amendment 407 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Underlines that partnership agreements such as mobility partnerships, should ensure that migrants can be received in countries of transit and origin safely, in a manner entirely consistent with their fundamental rights. Stresses that the European Parliament has a clear say in EU readmission and mobility agreements as state in the Lisbon Treaty (Article 79(3) TFEU) and specifically states that the EP must give its consent prior to the conclusion of association and similar agreements (Article 218(6)(v) TFEU) and that shall be immediately and fully informed at all stages of the procedure (Article 218(10) TFEU;
Amendment 415 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the high-level dialogues carried out by the VP/HR and the Commission, and in some cases by Member States on behalf of the EU as a whole, as good and effective practices fostering coordination; stresses that coordination should be undertaken by the Commission and the EEAS; calls on the Commission and the EEAS to keep Parliament regularly informed of these dialogues and to report on the exact operational implementation of the Rabat and Khartoum processes and the priority initiatives agreed at the Valletta Summit; notes that the packages designed for priority countries as part of the new Partnership Framework, by the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States, have neither been presented nor debated by the elected representatives of European citizens; denounces this lack of transparency and demands the involvement of the Parliament in the development of the migration compacts and the scrutiny of their implementation, which must ensure the full respect of human rights, international humanitarian law and the EU treaty commitments on development; warns that any policy that contradicts the EU core values is damaging for the EU's credibility and its capacity to influence developments internationally;
Amendment 429 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Underlines that EU cooperation assistance is tailored to achieve poverty reduction, the empowerment of individuals and the promotion of the rule of law; recalls that both donors and the governments of aid-receiving countries must work to improve the effectiveness of aid, especially by tackling root cause for migration and strengthening democratic ownership, increasing civil society participation, and improving accountability for the use and distribution of aid; underlines that development assistance should not be made conditional to the willingness and/or capacities of States to engage in migration management activities, including through return and readmission clauses or border controls;
Amendment 432 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Stresses that in order to avoid duplication of effort, maximize the impact and effectiveness of global aid and ensure that the main focus is on development, and not on border control and security to the detriment of migrants, calls therefore on the Commission, to maintain a strong dialogue with local and international NGO, Civil society and local governments in partner countries as well as the UN for design, implementation and evaluation of the migration, displacement and refugee policies;
Amendment 433 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Recalls that according to Article 208 of the TFEU, development assistance aims at reducing and eventually eradicating poverty in third countries and not at incentivising them to cooperate on readmission of irregular migrants or forcibly deterring people from moving; recalls in this sense that management of migration flows cannot be a new conditionality for EU assistance and cooperation;
Amendment 435 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15c. Calls for a balanced discussion to take place between the EU and its external partners, recommends that the EU and its Member States commit to implementing increased legal migration opportunities to the EU, be it for seeking protection, for employment and educational purposes, or for family reunification;
Amendment 436 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)
Paragraph 15 d (new)
15d. Calls on the member States to overhaul their development assistance, in line with the 0.7% of GNI commitment, with a view to achieving the sustainable development goals;
Amendment 437 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 e (new)
Paragraph 15 e (new)
15e. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to take all the necessary measures to promote faster, cheaper and safer transfer of migrant remittances in both source and recipient countries, including through a reduction of transaction costs as stipulated in the New York Declaration for refugees and Migrants of 19 September 2016;
Amendment 446 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Is extremely concerned by the continuing conflict in Syria, in which violence against civilians and violations of international humanitarian law over the past five years have led to the forced displacement of half of the country; expresses its full support to Lebanon and Jordan, which continue to demonstrate extraordinary solidarity in hosting millions of refugees in spite of limited resources; is deeply concerned by the fate and the humanitarian situation of the 75 000 people trapped at the Jordanian border in the informal camp of Rukban;
Amendment 459 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Regrets the lack of consultation and transparency in the formulation of the recently signed Joint Way Forward on Migration Issues between Afghanistan and the EU mainly focused on readmissions and which contemplates unlimited returns of Afghan citizens, whether on a voluntary basis or not; is worried about the possible consequences on Afghan asylum-seekers, who in 2016 constitute the second largest national group in the EU applying for asylum; reminds that returns can only take place after due consideration of each individual case in full respect of their rights and calls on the EU and the member States to allocate the necessary resources to speed up current administrative and judicial procedures;
Amendment 463 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16c. Strongly regrets than in the EU migration policy framework and refugee movements response, the EU and its Members States have opted for the conclusion of agreements with third countries, which avoid the parliamentary scrutiny attached to the Community method; calls on the Commission to include at least biannual evaluation mechanism of any political declaration signed with third countries in order to assess the continuation or conclusion of these agreements ; stresses the need for the inclusion of human rights safeguards in any agreements concluded in the framework of migration and refugees policies;
Amendment 467 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 e (new)
Paragraph 16 e (new)
16e. Condemns the increasing criminalisation of migration at the expense of the human rights of the people concerned, and the ill-treatment and arbitrary detention of refugees in third countries; calls on the VP/HR and the EEAS to address this issue, including in the course of its human right dialogues and in justice, freedom and security subcommittees and to develop protection capabilities in third countries of transit;
Amendment 509 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Call for the trust funds to follow the same rules and regulations applying to EU traditional funding instruments in relation to transparency, equal treatment of partners and capacity to provide predictable and timely funding to partners;
Amendment 529 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Welcomes the use of common security and defence policy (CSDP) missions such as EUCAP Sahel Niger and EUNAVFOR MED, cooperation with NATO, and EU initiatives such as Europol’s Joint Operational Team (JOT) Mare to gather intelligence and fight smugglers, while underlining that global mobility should not be considered a threat but an opportunity; recommends the use of CSDP tools for early warning (forecasting), mediation and conflict resolution, while stressing the importance of starting to plan for durable solutions as early as possible in conflict situations;
Amendment 542 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Calls on the EU to carefully and systematically evaluate the impact of the actions funded on migration, displacement and refugees base on the quality delivery of humanitarian aid and development aid;