Fortress Europe: Migration flashpoints in 2024

• Governments toughen rules as far right gains
• Anti-immigration parties gained seats in European election
• Rights groups warn refugees could be left in limbo

BRUSSELS/LONDON - Throughout 2024, European countries have stepped up border controls, cracked down on smuggling gangs and outsourced asylum processing in a bid to stop migrants reaching their borders.

December saw a fresh flurry of activity after Syria's former president Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebels, prompting some European Union countries to pause Syrian asylum claims.

More than a million people have fled Syria for the European Union since the start of a brutal civil war in 2011 and now some EU officials are talking of voluntary returns. Austria has even offered Syrians a "return bonus" of 1,000 euros ($1,050).

The question of what happens next to Syrians who settled in Europe will likely feed growing hostility towards refugees and migrants across the bloc, after a concomitant rise in support for far-right parties in what has been a bumper election year.

EU lawmakers approved a major asylum policy overhaul in May to reduce irregular arrivals, but it was criticised by right-wing parties for not going far enough.
The new measures will apply from 2026.

Governments have also tried to speed up security and asylum procedures at external EU borders, increase returns, and support countries, such as Italy, that receive many seaborne arrivals.

Rights groups say there is an increased risk of arbitrary detention and repatriations to countries where asylum seekers are at risk of violence or unfair imprisonment, while lawyers say there could be an increase in court challenges.

Here's a roundup of 2024's European migration flashpoints:

Germany

Germany is facing an early election in February 2025, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote this month. Analysts expect the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to come in second place in the vote, behind conservatives.

In August, Scholz faced criticism of his government's handling of migration after a deadly knife attack in Solingen. A Syrian suspect confessed to the killings and the attack was claimed by Islamic State.

In subsequent months, the AfD made gains in elections in three eastern states, dealing a heavy blow to Scholz's coalition partners.

Germany received the EU's largest number of asylum applications in 2023 and its failing economy and migration are likely to be key deciders in the election.

Scholz's coalition had drafted a new policy that would put limits on how and where asylum seekers can spend the financial benefits they receive.

Along with Austria, authorities have also expressed interest in the possibility of processing asylum seekers abroad.

Britain

In Britain, riots targeting migrants, refugees and Muslims erupted in August after three girls died in a knife attack in northwest England, triggering a wave of online misinformation saying the suspected killer was a radical Islamist migrant.

The violence spotlighted voter fears that strained public services cannot cope with the number of migrants arriving in Britain.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer scrapped a controversial opposition plan to fly thousands of asylum seekers from Britain to Rwanda after winning a landslide election victory on July 4.

The Rwanda scheme was a cornerstone of the former Conservative government's strategy to deter illegal migration. It would have required people arriving from a safe country, such as France, to instead seek asylum in the African nation and bar them from returning to Britain.

Though tackling illegal immigration has been a priority for both France and Britain, thousands of people have arrived on Britain's shores from France in overcrowded boats this year, with reports of dozens of deaths in July, August and September.

In November, Starmer said he would produce a plan for reform of the points-based immigration system that would put the onus on businesses to train British workers.

France

French President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections after Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) performed strongly in June's European elections and went on to lead a wave of anti-immigration parties calling for stronger border controls and asylum applications to be processed outside the bloc.

A French plan to toughen migrant rules, including making it harder to bring in relatives and receive welfare payments, was dealt a blow in January, when the Constitutional Court ruled large parts of a draft immigration bill must be scrapped.

In September, newly appointed Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau promised a hard line on immigration and said he would boost returns following the arrest of a Moroccan man suspected of murdering a woman in Paris.

Italy

Last year was the deadliest since 2017 for the central Mediterranean crossing used by migrants to reach Italy, with Tunisia overtaking Libya as the main departure point, according to medical charity Doctors Without Borders.

Italy became the first EU country to have a non-EU country process migrants on its behalf when Albanian lawmakers voted in February to ratify a deal with Rome to host up to 36,000 migrants per year.

Under the Italian plan, only adult and non-vulnerable men from a list of countries deemed "safe" by authorities in Rome are eligible for detention in Albania and fast-track repatriation if their asylum applications are rejected.

Two purpose-built centres received the first migrants in October, but some were returned within days after an Italian court ruled they could not be held in the Balkan country due to concerns over their legal status.

Human rights advocates say Italian courts would struggle to process asylum requests or appeals from people hosted in a foreign country in a timely manner and that lengthy procedures could place an unjustified burden on migrants.

Spain

Spain will legalise about 300,000 undocumented immigrants a year over the next three years as it seeks to expand its labour force in the face of an ageing population, Migration Minister Elma Saiz announced in November.

Spain's Canary Islands are meanwhile struggling to cope with a rise in migrants arriving on precarious vessels from West Africa, with a record 41,425 arrivals logged between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30 of this year, according to Interior Ministry data.

In July, the far-right party Vox quit several regional government coalitions to protest a deal to transfer about 400 young migrants from the Canary Islands to mainland Spain.

Aiming to curb migration to the Canary Islands, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez struck a series of deals with Mauritania in August to combat people smuggling networks.

Netherlands

A rightwing government took office in July, following months of tense negotiations led by far-right populist leader Geert Wilders after his Freedom Party's (PVV) shock election win in November 2023.

The new coalition has vowed to become the strictest on migration in the EU, seeking an opt-out of the bloc's rules for migration and aiming to limit asylum permits to three years. It is also considering sending rejected asylum seekers to Uganda.

Poland

This month, the EU approved Poland's plan to temporarily suspend the right to asylum in new guidelines aimed at countering "hybrid threats" from the "weaponisation of migration" by Russia and Belarus.

The Polish government says Belarus and its ally Russia have been orchestrating a migration crisis on its eastern border by flying in migrants from the Middle East and Africa, something Minsk and Moscow deny.

The European Commission said it would invest more in surveillance at the bloc's borders with Russia and Belarus as it accused Russia of encouraging migrants to cross the border in a "hybrid war" tactic.

In July, Polish lawmakers voted for a bill that makes it easier for security services to use firearms against migrants on the Belarus border, a move that enjoys public support but that critics say infringes human rights.

Finland

Amid wider tensions with Moscow, Finland passed a new law to grant border guards the power to block asylum seekers crossing from Russia.

It comes after the country temporarily closed its entire border with Russia at the end of 2023 to stop the flow of asylum seekers, including people from Syria and Somalia.

Helsinki has said a recent rise in asylum seekers arriving via Russia was an orchestrated move by Moscow in retaliation for the Nordic country's decision to join NATO, a charge the Kremlin denies.

(This article was updated on Dec 20 with details of rising anti-immigration sentiment and other developments.)

(Reporting by Joanna Gill in Brussels and Lin Taylor in London; Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley, Clar Ni Chonghaile, and Helen Popper.)