After Junker’s speech over  the “State of the Union”, when he presented the latest measures proposed by the European Commission to face the current migration crisis, two Prime Ministers took the floor at the European Parliament to discuss the current situation.

Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, always hand in hand when it comes to be at the frontline more exposed to the cameras, visited the European Parliament with the objective to play the role of champions for refugees, pointing fingers at Eastern Countries, which build fences, and reminding MEPs that we cannot discriminate refugees on the basis of their beliefs, accepting in our countries only Christian refugees through the relocation mechanism.

Indeed, Ms Merkel and Mr Hollande should have a closer look at what happens in their country when they talk about respect of international treaties and of human dignity (together with the European dignity). The situation between France and  Italy is tense since spring, when Italian authorities started accusing France of closing their borders to refugees and of taking advantage of the chaotic situation for sending to Italy dozens of migrant, often minors, from other cities in France.

Photo credits: dailymail.com.uk

Furthermore, France should think about the degrading situation in Calais. Recently, Leigh Daynes, Director of “Doctors of the World”, said that “Internationally agreed standards for the provision of aid and protection in refugee situations are nowhere to be found in Calais”. At the same time, Germany is facing a massive anti-migrant movement and the rising of far right groups. One of the most recent  actions of these groups was to set on fire some refugee shelters in Dresden. Germany was also the first member state to suspend Schengen during this last crisis, because, said Germany’s Minister of Interiors, asylum seekers “cannot choose the states where they are seeking protection.”

However, one important point was indeed raised on Wednesday by those two Prime Ministers: “The Dublin process, in its current form, is obsolete”. The German Chancellor recognised that this system puts an unsustainable burden on the Member States at the EU border, and that rules need to be changed now to redistribute fairly asylum seekers. The call for a “new procedure”, already flagged with the suspension of Dublin transfers from Germany at the end of summer and supported for several years already by Italy and Greece, was now made loud and clear.