On the border of Hungary, nothing holds refugees back any longer.
Sweden – leader in statistical tables
Sweden's policy towards asylum seekers, compared to other EU member states, is considered simply hospitable. In the ratio of refugees to population (9.6 million), this Scandinavian country confidently ranks first in the EU. Sweden is second only to Germany in the ranking of attractive countries for refugees to go to.
In 2014, 81,300 people filed applications for asylum in Sweden. Swedish officials gave the green light to 30,600 applications. Applicants from Syria have the best chances of getting refugee status approved. At the same time, the foreign ministry of the Scandinavian country has long been demanding that other EU member states take a more active role in distributing refugees arriving in Europe.
The Swedish government has set itself the goal of integrating newly arrived migrants into the country's labor market as quickly as possible. For this purpose, special courses are provided – language courses, country studies, vocational training, and practical classes. All this is supposed to help. But even Sweden feels the limits of its capabilities.
Obstacles are lack of housing, overloaded small communities, and unemployment among migrants themselves. The scale of politicians' efforts to integrate refugees matches the scale of the split in Swedish society. So the state of public opinion will inevitably be reflected in politics. The right-wing populist Sweden Democrats party, which is critical of migrants, according to recent polls, has the support of 20 percent of the population.
Netherlands – strictest in migration matters
Despite a barrage of criticism from human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Netherlands passed the strictest asylum law in the EU in 2010. Officials reject at least two out of three applicants for such status. After that, refugees have 28 days to leave the country.
The authorities also set minimum standards for meeting the needs of refugees and asylum seekers. People have dubbed these standards 'bed, bath, and bread.' Individuals are allowed to spend the night in a special sleeping hall and have free breakfast, then they must go out on the street until night. Those who still do not want to return home under such circumstances will later lose the right to even that support and have to go without shelter and food. Therefore, German courts, due to the threat of homelessness, often rule that refugees who illegally crossed the German-Dutch border cannot be returned to the Netherlands, just as to Italy and Greece.
Those from Somalia are in the worst situation. The Netherlands became the first EU country to deport refugees from Somalia to their homeland since 2013. Despite such harsh measures, more and more refugees are arriving in the Netherlands. According to data at the end of July this year, 26,600 more people arrived in the country than in the entire previous year. Most migrants are from Syria and Eritrea.
Austria – favorite alpine country
Austria is considered one of the most popular EU countries among migrants, considering their ratio to the population of 8.4 million. In the first half of this year, more than 27,000 people applied for asylum in Austria. That is three times more than in the first half of 2014. Most refugees are from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Against the backdrop of increasing refugee inflow, Austria is feeling growing pressure. A significant task for the authorities is the distribution of refugees from reception centers to other federal states. Only three out of nine federal states – Vienna, Lower Austria, and Vorarlberg – have recently met the required quotas. The worst performance in this regard is in the federal state of Burgenland, located on the border with Hungary.
Politicians have taken an interest in the refugee issue. Thus, the Austrian federal government seeks to force federal states and communities to accept the required refugee quotas through appropriate constitutional changes. This meets resistance in some federal states and, in part, leads to xenophobic protests. The right-wing populist political force Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) benefits from this state of affairs.
So across the country, people are organizing groups to support refugees. The Ministry of the Interior is finding private shelters. Communities are converting nursing homes and hotels into hostels for refugees. Many volunteers help organize and conduct language courses.
Poland: please, only Christians
The main countries from which the flow of refugees to Poland comes are Ukraine, Russia, and Tajikistan. It is people from these countries who lead in the number of asylum applications. In 2014, there were 8,020 such people, which is significantly less than the year before. Almost half of them are Russian citizens, among them the majority are Chechens (91 percent). In 2014, only 325 Russian citizens were allowed to get asylum in Poland. The same applies to almost 130 Syrians. Just over 2,200 migrants are from Ukraine.
Human rights organizations sharply criticize the treatment of refugees in Poland. Although they are provided with everything necessary, most refugee reception centers are located in remote places. Usually, former barracks and worker holiday camps have been converted into such centers. As a result, there is a lack of integration assistance and no opportunity to contact the local population, charitable organizations note.
Poland is considered a transit country for refugees, who mostly aim for Western European countries. After the government announced plans to take in two thousand refugees to reduce the burden on Italy and Greece, a wave of protests organized by nationalist groups swept through the country. Criticism of migration policy is voiced not only by representatives of radical groups. For instance, the results of surveys published in July of this year showed: 70 percent of respondents admitted that they would not like to see refugees from Muslim and African countries in Poland. On the other hand, refugees from Syria who are Christians, in the opinion of respondents, could settle in Poland without any problems.
Spain – no entry pass to Europe
Until recently, many refugees sought to reach Europe by storming the border fence near Ceuta and Melilla – Spanish semi-exclaves in Africa. But for almost three months now, Spain has ceased to be a more or less significant gateway to Europe for migrants. According to the European border agency Frontex, during 2014, 7,800 people illegally entered Spanish territory. But that is a drop in the bucket compared to 39,000 illegal migrants in 2006.
According to data from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, the number of illegal migrants decreased thanks to border cooperation with Morocco. In addition, Madrid signed agreements on the return of refugees with countries such as Senegal, Mauritania, and Nigeria, which is expected to deter many Africans from fleeing to Spain. The largest influx of migrants to Europe currently comes from conflict regions – for example, from Syria and Iraq via the Eastern Mediterranean or the Balkans. Therefore, Spain is no longer among the main routes for refugees on their way to Europe.
Unlike Germany, under Spanish law, illegal stay in the country is not a crime but only a minor violation. In temporary reception centers, migrants have the right to stay for a maximum of 60 days. If it turns out that illegal migrants, before arriving in Spain, set foot in another EU country, they are sent back to that country according to the provisions of EU rules on refugees – the so-called Dublin Regulations.