THE EUROPEAN UNION AND IRELAND’S LINKS WITH EUROPE
All agreements on trade or co-operation with non-EU countries include a human rights clause stating that human rights are central to relations with the EU. The EU has imposed sanctions for human rights breaches in a number of instances.
A group of migrants wait on the
Macedonian-Greek border near the town of Gevgelija
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How did the EU deal with the migrant and refugee crisis in 2015–16? In 2015–16, Europe experienced the greatest mass movement of people since World War II. More than 1 million refugees and migrants arrived in the EU. Most were escaping war and terror in Syria and other countries in the Middle East. Many came to the EU to seek asylum – international protection given to people fleeing their countries due to the danger of persecution and death. Others left their countries to better their lives as economic migrants. Many migrants came illegally into the EU.
The EU dealt with the migrant and refugee crisis in a number of ways: What did the EU do about the migrant and refugee crisis?
Outside the EU Address the
root causes of migration in countries of origin
At the EU’s borders Develop EU border and coast guard, dismantle trafficking networks, identify and register all
arrivals, send back migrants with no right to stay in the EU
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Agreement with Turkey
To stop flows of migrants across the seas to Greece
