Two decades ago it would have been unthinkable for Europe to witness more displaced people on the move than there were in the Second World War. While some analysts had, admittedly, anticipated that emigration would be the major problem at the end of the 20th century, it was not expected that the quest for a better standard of living would be compounded with the need to flee from wars and ethnic conflicts that would flare up simultaneously in several countries in Africa and the Middle East.
We see people arriving in rubber dinghies; rescue operations by coastguards or Red Cross personnel; but, hitherto, people trying to reach Europe had seen or heard that there were countries where they would be treated as persons, where they would be entitled to housing, to schools, to doctors; and, above all, that nobody would persecute or threaten them. And as European Union member states are going to strive to maintain the state of wellbeing achieved, and 4.1% of their citizens are legally resident third-country nationals, nothing is going to stop those who are pursuing the wellbeing that others have who managed to get there.
They say that among those seeking refuge there may be people who, because of their beliefs or customs, are unlikely to be able to integrate and that, above all, there may be terrorists. There is no denying that. But, added to that, the EU’s Schengen border control system allows controls to be brought in for security reasons. It is possible and desirable to increase police and judicial cooperation and, certainly, to insist on the need for those who arrive to observe the laws of the country and its core values.
The EU cannot stop being an area with freedom of movement, as it would mean relinquishing the single market and the euro, and abolishing rights and liberties would be backtracking from 60 years of achievements. It can control more, keep closer watch, demand more to preserve what it has obtained already for more than 500 million inhabitants. We must bear in mind that the EU, which encompasses 28 countries, is the only great international project of the 20th century, built after much bloodshed and after millions of people were ousted from their homelands. Let us not destroy something that needed so much effort and took so many years.
Recommendations made by the Office of the Ombudsman:
11/30/2015. Protocolo de actuación para facilitar el acceso a España a los familiares de ciudadanos que ya son beneficiarios de protección internacional Action protocol to facilitate access to Spain by relatives of citizens who are now beneficiaries of international protection
10/15/2015. Refuerzo del personal destinado a la tramitación de las solicitudes de asilo en el Puesto Fronterizo de Beni Enzar (Melilla) Reinforcement of the staff assigned to processing asylum requests at Beni Enzar Border Post (Melilla)
10/09/2015. Diseño de un programa educativo específico para los menores que se encuentran en el Centro de Estancia Temporal (CETI) de Melilla Designing an education programme specifically for the under-age young people at Melilla Temporary Stay Centre
10/09/2015. Traslado a la península de las familias con menores y personas con discapacidad física que están en el Centro de Estancia Temporal para inmigrantes (CETI) de Melilla The transfer to mainland Spain of families with under-age children and people with physical disability who are at Melilla Temporary Stay Centre for immigrants
10/07/2015. Asistencia social a los solicitantes de asilo en el puesto fronterizo de Beni Enzar (Melilla) Social care for asylum seekers at Beni Enzar (Melilla) border post
