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File Name | S21-Policy-NCFCA-26-NEG-Informal-Agreements.docx |
File Size | 402.63 KB |
Date added | February 8, 2021 |
Category | Archived |
Tags | Debate, NCFCA, Policy, Season 21 |
Author | Vance Trefethen |
Informal return agreements are deals between EU countries and outside nations (e.g. Ethiopia, Turkey, Gambia, etc.) regarding the return of their citizens caught in the EU and found not to be eligible for asylum or legal immigration. The EU would like to deport them, but the question is whether or under what conditions their country of origin will take them back. (Yes, countries can refuse to take back their own citizens) Informal agreements are not officially published (sometimes are even dishonestly denied by EU politicians) and are not “treaties” that are written in stone and legally binding. However, sometimes they are the only deal that can be done, because these countries don’t want to go on record as having made a specific deal with the EU, and the informality of the agreement allows for flexibility when circumstances change (rather than having to renegotiate a treaty and get it ratified all over again by two parliaments). AFF will argue that informal agreements don’t contain the necessary safeguards against “refoulement” (sending someone back to a dangerous situation they are fleeing from). AFF is concerned the EU is deporting (returning) too many migrants. (Actually, rates of return have declined since the “informal agreement” system started) This brief will argue that “formal” agreements don’t solve refoulement either, that the scope of the problem isn’t that big, and that trying to solve return of ineligible migrants through formal treaties will stir up so much controversy that the EU will disintegrate.