President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen
Heads of Government of the European Union
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In May of this year, the Council of the European Union approved the so-called Migration Pact, i.e., a set of legal acts prepared by the European Commission, which stated aim was to solve the migration crisis currently plaguing Europe. Unfortunately, the content of the pact indicates that it actually attempts to achieve the opposite, as it introduces a regulatory paradigm that assumes that immigration is an inevitable and permanent feature of European societies. We strongly protest against this approach to migration.
Ładowanie formularza
The pact seeks to reduce the scale illegal migration by legalizing it. The pact also attempts to force the European nations to participate in the system of distribution of the ever-increasing number of migrants among the EU countries. The solidarity mechanism introduced by the pact appears to be nothing more than an attempt by European elites to avoid responsibility for the harmful decisions consistently repeated since 2015. The pact’s provisions impose a kind of punishment on countries that took better care of their border security and maintained a strict immigration policy, charging them with the financial and social costs of the imprudent actions of countries that did not make the effort to secure themselves against illegal immigration. Some of the countries that may be forced by the solidarity mechanism to take responsibility for immigrants from other EU states are battling against migration used as a hybrid weapon by hostile states. Among them, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia or Finland are defending themselves against hybrid attacks by Russia, which is using mass migration to destabilize Central Europe. The Migration Pact also denies the right of the peoples of Europe to protect their national identity and cultural cohesion.
We ask the European Commission and the prime ministers of the governments of European Union member states to immediately withdraw from the legal acts contained in the Migration Pact. We demand that the European Union initiate changes to international law on refugees, which urgently needs to be updated. To date, the International law has failed to recognize that the guarantees afforded to refugees can be abused to create hybrid “weapons of mass migration” and destabilize states parties to international treaties. A new approach to refugee law will help Europe regain its security and better counter threats inspired by enemies of the nations of Europe.
Mass migration into Europe
Since 2015, there has been a massive influx of migrants from Africa and Asia into European Union countries. Claiming to be refugees, millions of people want to enter what they perceive as the oasis of prosperity and security. Encouraged by left-liberal politicians, people are taking advantage of outdated refugee laws to illegally enter into the Schengen zone.
The sam people often fall prey to human traffickers and smugglers, to whom they must pay thousands of dollars for a ticket on a pontoon raft. Migrants are also used by regimes from Belarus and Russia in hybrid aggression against NATO countries in Central and Eastern Europe to destabilize them.
The European Union must finally solve the problem of mass immigration. Instead of solving the problems, the migration pact only obscures it and dilutes responsibility. Forcing European countries to accept illegal immigrants from various countries or obliging them to pay heavy fines for refusing to accept them is a mistake that will not only fail to stop illegal immigration, but rather spread it throughout Europe.
1. Western Mediterranean Route
2. Central Mediterranean Route
3. Eastern Mediterranean Route
4. Balkan Route
5. Belarusian Route
6. Northern Route
We must protect European security and identity
Mass immigration of people with alien cultural backgrounds is a serious threat to European countries. We are already seeing some of its effects today in countries that first opened their borders decades ago to labor immigration from Africa and Asia. But the immigrants who have been storming Schengen’s borders for a decade now could contribute to much more serious problems.
Widespread decline in security
The statistics speak for themselves – immigrants and their descendants commit crimes more often than the native population. This is due, among other things, to cultural differences between Europe and the countries of their origin and the illegal status of more than a million foreigners who have no legal employment in Europe.
Threat to the identity of European nations
The scale of the current mass immigration makes it impossible to assimilate and integrate the migrants, as is evidenced by the examples of many Western European countries, where national minorities form parallel social structures separate from the state and even “no-go zones” for indigenous populations. At the time of Europe’s demographic problems, mass immigration constitutes a particularly serious threat to the identity and national cohesion of the peoples of Europe.
Undermining political stability
Non-European populations are increasingly being granted citizenship rights, and consequently become co-determining subjects of national policy. This is being exploited by representatives of the far left, who offer immigrants additional privileges and entitlements, while counting on their votes in elections.
Social benefits migration
Many migrants coming to Europe are not looking for jobs here, but for social benefits. Europe’s rich societies finance their education, medical care, housing assistance and social benefits. This generates huge costs for the native Europeans.
Social costs
The sudden increase in labor supply slows wage growth, especially in unskilled occupations. The admission of several million people in a short period of time has disrupted the social and health care systems of many European countries.
Islamic extremism
There are many members of terrorist organizations from the Middle East among the people seeking a better life in Europe. They infiltrate European countries and recruit jihadists. Major European cities become the venue for regular mass demonstrations of radical groups demanding the introduction of Sharia law in their host countries. Attacks on Christians are becoming ever more frequent.
Sign the petition to withdraw from the Migration Pact! We demand that illegal immigration be stopped, not streamlined!
Mass migration in numbers
The scale of immigration has been increasing in recent years. Illegal immigrants are taking advantage of the outdated laws on refugees to enter the EU.
Number of asylum applications filed in all EU countries between 2008 and 2023
Data source: Eurostat. Figures rounded to the nearest 100.
Number of illegal immigrants actually expelled in relation to the number of exit orders (2023)
Number of known illegal immigrants in the UE
Orders to leave the EU territory
Cases of actual departure from the EU
Source: Ordo Iuris Institute “Migration pact and protection of the Polish border in questions and answers”.
Origin of first time asylum seekers in the EU in 2023
There were 1,129,800 asylum applications in the EU in 2023
As many as 1,049,000 were from first-time asylum applicants
Asia
Syria 17%
Afghanistan 10%
Pakistan 3%
Iraq 2%
Africa
Marocco 3%
Egypt 2%
Guinea 2%
Ivory Coast 2%
Somalia 2%
North America and South America
Venezuela 6%
Colombia 6%
Peru 2%
Europe
Turkey 9%
Georgia 2%
Russia 2%
Mass immigration is part of hybrid aggression
The first wave of mass illegal immigration in 2015 was linked to the civil war in Syria. At the time, two million Syrians fled the civil war in their country. Other Middle Easterners, including those from countries not affected by military operations, began to blend into their crowd rushing toward Europe. Later, representatives of central and southern African nations also joined the Middle-Easterners.
Seeing how effective this spontaneous wave of illegal immigration was in destabilizing Europe, forces hostile to Europe began using people seeking a better life as “weapons of mass migration.” Russia and Belarus initiated such actions in 2021 against Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. In 2021, 40,000 illegal attempts to cross the Polish-Belarusian border were recorded in Poland alone. However, contrary to the Kremlin’s expectations, these countries have not allowed for the emergence of a humanitarian crisis associated with the massive influx of migrants as was previously the case in southern Europe, and continue to seal their borders, engaging the military to secure their integrity. Although they are fending off a direct attack on their borders and effectively protecting the Schengen area from illegal immigration, under the terms of the migration pact, these countries may be considered to have a lower migration burden and consequently be forced to take in illegal migrants from southern Europe under the so-called solidarity mechanism.
I do not agree with the provisions of the migration pact!
Why is the migration pact not the answer to the problem of mass immigration?
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and European Commission Head Ursula von der Leyen © European Union, 2024
The explicit goals of the migration pact are: “creating faster, smoother migration processes” and “reducing the problem of unsafe routes and irregular immigration routes and promoting sustainable and safe legal migration routes,” as well as better “aligning [legal migration channels – ed.] with the needs of the EU labor market.” So, the goal of the migration pact is not to stop the new migration of peoples from the global south to Europe, the pact aims to make it more efficient by bringing the migration process under greater control.
A key tool for implementing the migration pact is the so-called solidarity mechanism, which stipulates that countries in a difficult migration situation have the right to demand that the rest of the European Union members relocate migrants from countries more burdened by migration to those less burdened. The minimum pool of people to be relocated for a given year on an EU-wide basis is 30,000 migrants (Article 12(2)(a) of the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation).
Another tool is the transfer of funds to countries in migration difficulties (which in fact constitute penalties imposed on countries unwilling to accept migrants). The minimum threshold for financial assistance within the EU is €600 million (Article 12(2)(b) of the Asylum and Migration Management Regulation), with the Council able to set a higher amount.
What steps should be taken to stop the massive, uncontrolled illegal immigration into European Union countries?
Immigrants arriving in Europe are taking advantage of international regulations to obtain residency rights after illegally crossing into the European Union. The creators of international refugee law did not foresee that regulations intended to protect war victims or political refugees could be abused to create “weapons of mass migration” and destabilize states.
We need a new approach to refugee law to protect the EU’s internal security. Therefore, we demand from all heads of governments of the European Union and from the European Commission that they initiate a change of the current international law on refugees. We encourage you to support our petition.
