Migrant crisis: Flaws in EU policy

This week on Utalk, many of you have commented on our latest edition of Reporter, which focused on the dramatic situation of migrants in Calais, in northern France.

Fleeing war and dictatorships, more clandestines than ever are seeking refuge in Europe, where politicians complain a lot about the situation, but appear powerless.

Samir asked us “What is the EU doing to handle these migratory flows?”, and Claude: “Is Europe able to take in these refugees?”

Our reporter, Valérie Gauriat, replies:

“What’s problematic for the European Union is that it is still desperate for a common immigration policy. There is a whole range of measures, but they’re often non-binding.

An agency called FRONTEX manages cooperation at Europe’s external borders, and that involves a vast and highly-disputed security apparatus.

Not only is the number of illegal migrants rising sharply as conflicts spread, but they take ever-greater risks to reach Europe.

Also, the European asylum system stumbles ov