EU's new rules on migration and asylum come into effect

Article excerpt

Five years of EU negotiation culminated Friday in a sweeping migration and asylum pact designed to fortify external borders and compel member countries to share responsibility for processing claims. The framework promises to streamline how asylum-seekers are handled across the bloc. Yet human rights organizations are sounding alarm, warning the rules could erect new barriers for vulnerable people seeking refuge, creating tension between the EU's stated aim of orderly migration management and advocates' concerns about who bears the consequences.