Outsourcing and returns: a plan far removed from reality for migrants in Brussels

The issue of migration is materialised in new policies contained in the new European Pact on Immigration and Asylum.

"Mashallah, Mashallah [what God has willed]". Surrounded by lettuces and leeks linked together by metal strings, Anuar - a fictitious name to protect his identity - outsources responsibility for vegetable prices on Belgium's largest open market. Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, the European Commission announces the long-awaited Pact on Migration and Asylum, which focuses on returns and maintains the externalisation of borders, thus initiating the migration process from the countries of origin.

The humanity of which the President of the Commission speaks about migration management is in contrast to the only interest in regular migration that generates economic benefits for the Member States. The quality of life of the 140,000 migrants who arrived irregularly in Europe this year becomes a matter of voluntary return rather than social integration.

Multi-purpose cap to protect against both sun and rain. Plastic bags covering the non-existent socks and providing waterproofing for work shoes. And a big belly that requires your left knee to suffer with every hour of work that you spend standing up. "The family is fine, hamdulillah [praise God], but it's because I haven't had a holiday this year. This is Anuar, a Moroccan father who, since July, when COVID started up again, has been getting up every day at 5 a.m. to take the fruit and vegetables out of the truck and set up his stall. Always with a smile on his face and his fingers stained with dirt, he says that "we have to take food and money home, my wife and daughters deserve it". To do this, Anuar shouts like the most in the open market, competing against the other 449 stalls. Any interested party should know that their grapes are sold directly without regret and that the lettuces are now on sale. "Everything for one euro, everything for one euro," he shouts at the top of his lungs. 

Belgium is a multicultural country: a state of just over 30,000 square kilometres and with a population of around 11.4 million inhabitants, 20% of the people living in Belgium are foreigners. To be able to visualize the data better, Belgium measures like Galicia, but three times its population. 

According to the data of the last report of the European Commission against Intolerance and Racism, for more than 50 years, Morocco has been one of the main sources of migration in the country, highlighting the importance of family reunification for those people who still live in Morocco and want to come to Belgium. However, these figures do not count the asylum seekers : 24,016 people are currently hosted, according to the figures of FedAsil, the reception agency for asylum seekers. For people like Anuar, so-called irregular migrants, there is no information available, the Commission concludes.

However, the Ciré association of migrants and refugees estimates that they are about 1% of the population. That is, between 100,000 and 150,000 people in Belgium live in a vulnerable situation because they do not have the documentation that allows them to reside legally in Europe. This reality can be felt in the streets of the European capital: mothers and children asking for a donation at the door of the Primark in rue Neuve, the benches of the northern train station full of young people trying to spend the night, or the more than one hundred people waiting for their turn to leave the city in the Parc Maximilien, where the police are constantly carrying out evictions. The La Strada homeless support centre counted more than 4,000 homeless people in Brussels in 2018, a figure that had increased since the last few years. 

The Gare de Midi market, however, represents another reality for migrants not mentioned during the presentation of the Migration Pact: people who arrived with nothing but who settled in the city and integrated into society through trade. "Do you know what a white couple is," asks Anuar as she continues to sell the last lettuce of the day. "It was my way of arriving in Europe and making a living far from Morocco".

This is precisely the example highlighted by the Commissioner for Migration Ylva Johanson at the presentation of the pact, although in her case, she was left with the idea of settling in a European city for love, and not to obtain residence. Despite the fact that Brussels is the city of the European institutions, and that migration is one of the priorities on the Commission's agenda, migrant vendors do not comment on the evolution of migration policies or highlight the migration management that should influence them.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the police are present to mark the end of the market. Vendors like Anuar can no longer sell and must keep the goods until the next day. Tensions are born here, when not enough has been sold and the merchants hurry up: "Fifteen ears of corn for one euro, quick, quick", shouts a young man. Although the police appear quickly and the ten women who were selecting their ears run away, thus avoiding the fine for the seller. Anuar and the three other men who work at her stall watch passively as the garbage collectors roll the traces of the day. Empty plastic bags and half a watermelon confirmed the freshness of the product. Anuar now takes the bags off her shoes and eats a banana to regain her strength.

When there is only one person left lurking on the esplanade, Anuar relaxes and comments: "You have to find a European woman who wants to marry you, and you must have money, that's always the case", she emphasizes that last part with an obvious smile. She is giving the keys to entering Europe without documentation. "I married a Spanish woman, beautiful yes, but not as beautiful as my current wife. I paid 6,000 euros to get married and get the papers". It's mentioning the word papers out loud, and all the other salespeople turn their eyes to find their opportunity.

A young man with a gummy blonde crest and a scar in his right eye quickly approaches: "Do you have family in Spain? I have to register myself in any house to prove that I live in Europe and thus apply for residency. I can pay you up to 3,000...no, up to 4,000 euros if a relative puts in the letterbox that I live in their house". He concludes the sentence by passing his hand through the pocket in which he has just put the day's salary. "What's the point of having money for a decent life, but you can't live quietly for fear that the police will find you," he reflects. The four men around him listen and nod, sharing the same thoughts. After a long sigh, they all discreetly step aside, suggesting that the opportunity to get legal.

Just over 3 kilometres away from the market, migration is materialised in new policies contained in the new European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, presented on Wednesday. Migration for this year 2020 and the rest of the European mandate is now based on agreements with countries of origin and transit, improved border control and a better system for redistributing migrants, taking into account the alarming situation in the Moria countryside in Greece.

Last week, the President of the European Commission presented to the Parliament the speech of the year: the so-called State of the Union in which the current situation of the European Union and the priorities for the following year are assessed. Unlike other years, the pandemic has taken the spotlight off migration.

"The virus has shown us that the world in general, and the EU in particular, are vulnerable. Wearing a mask customised for the occasion, and surrounded by the seats in a circle of the European Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen's mission was to give an overview of how the European Union is doing. The result was a direct 75-minute speech, reiterating the promise of moving towards a greener, more digital and more geopolitically aware Europe.

The crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic is unfolding in a completely different way to the crisis experienced in 2008. The Great Recession of 2008 initially affected the financial system, while the current situation is a health crisis that has led to an economic standstill due to border closures and confinements. The main difference, however, is how the European Union wants to deal with this new reality. The President made this clear in her speech: "the European Green Pact is our model for carrying out this transformation", referring to the "EU Green Deal". Just as the financial crisis of 2008 was confronted with the so-called Cayman Islands and refugee crises, the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed migration down the list of priorities for Europe. 

Unlike other issues relevant to the European agenda such as the Youth Guarantee to reduce poverty in Europe, migration did have its moment in the State of the Union address: "Migration is an issue that has been discussed at length", he said, thus presenting the issue to parliamentarians. "As we all know, the migration crisis of 2015 generated many deep divisions between Member States, and some of those wounds have not yet been healed. Much has been done since then, but much remains to be done," she reaffirmed. 

However, the news was saved for this Wednesday's presentation. Von der Leyen reiterated the need for commitment among all Member States, and showed a humane and humanitarian approach by declaring that "saving lives at sea is not an option". Commissioner Johanson complemented the speech by emphasising the new strategy of "compulsory solidarity" for the distribution of migrants. Just the day before the speech in Parliament, 24 people drowned trying to flee from Libya. So far this year, 592 people have lost their lives in the Mediterranean Sea trying to reach Europe. This number has been decreasing since 2015, partly due to the change of migratory routes and Turkey's breaking of the agreement with the European Union to close its border with Greece. Anuar, like many Moroccans, used the southern border to pass from Morocco to Ceuta, from where it crossed the strait and entered Spain and Europe.

Perhaps because of the pressure brought about by the fire that destroyed 80% of the Moria refugee camp in Greece, Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johanson said that there would be no more camps like Moria, even though a similar centre has already been built to house those still on the island. 

The spokesperson for the United Left in the European Parliament, Sira Rego, criticised migration policy, saying that "the Commission has recognised, both actively and passively, that the current system does not work, but insists on deportations, the externalisation of borders and leaving everything to a Border and Coast Guard Agency without any effective control by the States". International organisations such as Save the Children express their concern about this pact, emphasising that this new migration policy must "avoid repeating the mistakes of Moria". 

Just as Anuar externalises responsibility for market vegetable prices, the European Commission is proposing this new common migration policy - which was expected before the summer and has been postponed until this week - emphasising future agreements with countries of origin and transit, so that migration management does not take place in Europe or at European borders, but rather arrives in the Union already processed and confirmed. In the words of the Commission, the aim is to promote cooperation with third countries based on the Global Approach to Migration. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) criticised this externalisation by stating that "the EU should take in at least 20% of global resettlement needs and should not rely on cooperation with third countries".

Another of the developments that will affect migrants in an irregular situation such as Anuar or the hundreds of people living in the illegal settlements in Calais - north of France - waiting their turn to cross to the United Kingdom; is the change in the Dublin regulation. The Dublin regulation is based on the fact that migration management is done in the first country of arrival in Europe, so that irregular immigrants are allowed to be sent back to the country through which they entered. This change will directly affect migrants working in Brussels without legal residence. 

While the president of the European Commission described the situation in Europe as good, but it should be better, hundreds of workers in an irregular or precarious situation like Annar are still trying to integrate in the capital of Europe. Others, like those who spend their nights in the train station or in some well-known parks in Brussels, are still looking for their chance to make a better life for themselves, whether in Belgium or in other countries such as the United Kingdom.