The Refugee Crisis in Europe: True Causes, False Solutions

Although the deal between the European Union and Turkey on return of migrants and sealing internal borders in the Balkans did help to slow down the inflow of people to the EU in 2016, the refugee crisis is far from over. While many institutions and politicians suggest new solutions, it is important to better understand true sources of migration. This analysis examines the main pull and push factors and the European context, to establish whether proposed solutions to the problem can bear fruit. It concludes that, instead of looking for solutions outside Europe, the EU and its Member States must reform asylum policy and support frontier states. Although the European Commission proposal does point in this direction, it may be still hard to implement without certain revisions.