View of the United States on the crisis of European migrants? There are none

Thomson Reuters

Tom Miles

GENEVA (Reuters) – The European Union is not in the grip of a migratory crisis, despite a "toxic narrative" and a lack of political momentum, US experts said Friday. migration.

Disputes about immigration have divided the European Union, with splits between and within governments as to who should take responsibility for migrants crossing the Mediterranean. The problem threatened to bring down German Chancellor Angela Merkel and was a major factor in the British vote to leave the EU.

"We consider that it is a political crisis and not a migration crisis, but the numbers are not that important," said Leonard Doyle, a spokesman for Word of the International Organization for Migration in the United States.

"We are concerned that the toxic narrative against migrants, to put it bluntly, is diminished, and that people see migration for what it is, it is a necessary part of the modern world , provided that it is managed, it is that it is out of control, "he said.

The number of people risking the journey across the sea has reached a peak in 2015, but declined sharply each subsequent year.In the first half of 2018, 46,449 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea, according to IOM.

"This is not a crisis, "said Charley Yaxley, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR." But what continues to be the case, is that A handful of countries bear a disproportionate responsibility for welcoming newcomers. "

" European states must meet with the countries of the region meditates to establish an equitable distribution of refugees and asylum seekers so that responsibility is shared. "

(Minutes of Tom Miles, edited by Robin Pomeroy)