Macron seeks EU migration deal while senate votes on hardline bill

World
Europe

French President Emmanuel Macron is in Berlin on Tuesday for a cabinet-level meeting with Angela Merkel that was supposed to focus on Eurozone reform, but the agenda has been hijacked by a Europe-wide row over migration.

Both Macron and Merkel are under pressure to square Italy’s demands for more help with domestic political pressure to take a hard line.

In an attempt to see off a possible future electoral threat from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, the Macron government has drafted an immigration bill that aims to increase deportations from France, halving the amount of time failed asylum seekers have to appeal that decision, and increasing the length of time they can be held in immigration detention.

Giuseppe Conte, Italy's prime minister, left, and Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, walk to a press conference at the Chancellery building in Berlin, Germany, June 18, 2018. /VCG Photo

That bill came up for discussion in the French Senate on Tuesday, where right-wing senators have toughened it still further, restricting the right to family reunification to only parents and children.

But the bill has been highly controversial in France, with many of Macron’s own MPs admitting they’re deeply uncomfortable with it, while NGOs have stepped up criticism of the government’s approach since France refused to offer rescue ship the Aquarius a safe harbor last week.

Protesters piled lifejackets outside the Senate on Tuesday morning, along with a banner saying "The State is drowning the right to asylum."

Some have spent weeks walking from the Italian border to Paris to raise awareness of the migrants’ plight, and will continue on to London via Calais.

"We’re in the street today to say no to Macron and his abject policy, which does not reflect the values of the French Republic," said one marcher, Alioune Traore.

"With the Aquarius now, he’s slammed the door in the face of migrants and that’s not acceptable. He should respect the international conventions France has signed, the Geneva convention, and international law. "

David Beversluis (L), Doctors Without Borders (MSF) doctor, gives a press conference after the arrival of the Aquarius rescue ship, operated by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders, on June 17, 2018 in Valencia. The 630 migrants whose rescue sparked a major migration row in Europe arrived in Spain after a turbulent week that saw Italy and Malta turn them away. /VCG Photo

France rejects asylum seekers who have been registered in another EU country, and has sent 10,000 people back to Italy this year alone.

That’s infuriated the Italian government, which is demanding more solidarity from other EU countries. Merkel, on the other hand, is now under intense pressure from her coalition partner, the CSU, to allow fewer refugees into Germany.

Macron has said he believes EU migration rules are not fit for purpose, and his recent rhetoric has contrasted sharply with the law being pushed through by his government – he accused Italy of "irresponsibility" for failing to offer the Aquarius a port, and has called for more European solidarity with the Italians.

But with just ten days to go before a crucial EU summit that aims to reach a deal on asylum reform, European leaders remain poles apart.