Ensuring that people in search of safety never arrive in the EU at all is a crucial part of the EU’s migration policy. Whereas the legal instruments in the newly adopted EU Migration Pact focus primarily on how the EU deals with asylum applications once people are inside the EU, for almost two decades, European countries and the EU have made deals with neighbouring countries aimed at bringing down the number of people reaching Europe. The agreement concluded between Türkiye and European countries in 2016 forms a watershed moment in Europe’s externalisation politics.

^‍The Migration Pact further codifies this practice of trying to ensure thatpeople on the move will not reach the EU or that the EU can claim that applications are inadmissible because people have travelled through differentcountries before reaching the Union. The move towards externalisation goes further than the Pact. In October 2024, EU leaders expressed support for offshoring asylum applications and deportations to countries outside the EU.^[2] This too will be detrimental.

Fenix’s fourth analysis of the Pact explores the effects that the externalisation ofthe EU’s migration policies will have on people in search of safety. As in Fenix’s previous contributions, this analysis is informed by the conversations Fenix has with its clients inside the Closed Controlled Access Centre (C.C.A.C.) on Lesvos, as well as clients on the Greek mainland, every day.

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This series is written by Aron Bosman, Legal & Advocacy Officer and edited by Maaike Vledder, Country Manager

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