After weeks of political wrangling, the EU eventually voted with a large majority (yes, even if the UK media are obsessed with the very few who opposed) its relocation plan for asylum seekers from Syria, Eritrea and Iraq. The agreement has quadrupled the size of the scheme from 40k to 160k. It is still not enough given the size of the crisis but a) it sets a positive precedent; b) finally, the EU shows a bit of leadership besides nicely crafted statements; c) the scheme doesn’t prevent more displaced migrants to seek asylum as it is not a cap; and d) informal resettlement will continue anyway and the two are complementary (despite increased effort to fingerprint new arrivals). In the meanwhile the UK government for not being outshone by a scheme that it has consistently tried to undermine on the basis of flawed concerns about working as a pull factor, advertises a first handful of Syrians arriving to an undisclosed location in undisclosed number on its new resettlement scheme. Strange counting game as the UK hasn’t even fulfilled its commitment to the old resettlement quota.
Postcards from ... 