NEW SCHENGEN CODE:
EU COUNCIL APPROVE CHANGES THAT LEGITIMISE RACIAL PROFILING
On 9 June, EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers in the Council of the EU adopted their approach on the proposed revision of the Schengen Borders Code, proposed by the Commission, that would de facto legitimise racial profiling as well as internal pushbacks within the EU. In particular, the changes would allow police to carry out randomised identity checks at the internal borders to fight against irregular migration, which means police will likely make assumptions on who is an irregular migrant based on ethnic and religious characteristics. The Council’s position upholds the Commission’s proposal to introduce intra-EU transfers of people apprehended by police at internal borders because the police suspects they are undocumented, with no individual assessment. Now, the Parliament will have to adopt its position before the institutions can go to trialogue. PICUM, together with almost 40 other organisations, has published a joint statement highlighting our main concerns on these reforms.
NEW SCHENGEN CODE:
EU COUNCIL APPROVE CHANGES THAT LEGITIMISE RACIAL PROFILING
On 9 June, EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers in the Council of the EU adopted their approach on the proposed revision of the Schengen Borders Code, proposed by the Commission, that would de facto legitimise racial profiling as well as internal pushbacks within the EU. In particular, the changes would allow police to carry out randomised identity checks at the internal borders to fight against irregular migration, which means police will likely make assumptions on who is an irregular migrant based on ethnic and religious characteristics. The Council’s position upholds the Commission’s proposal to introduce intra-EU transfers of people apprehended by police at internal borders because the police suspects they are undocumented, with no individual assessment. Now, the Parliament will have to adopt its position before the institutions can go to trialogue. PICUM, together with almost 40 other organisations, has published a joint statement highlighting our main concerns on these reforms.