Five years after the 2015 \u2018refugee crisis\u2019, migration remains a significant political and humanitarian issue in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed many of the longstanding deficiencies of current international migration governance. Regular migration pathways shrank to a minimum, the economic shock hit origin and transit countries hard, and the two forces combined heightened the risk of rising irregular migration flows, along and across the two shores of the Mediterranean. The pandemic exposed pre-existing structural weaknesses in Europe\u2019s asylum and migration governance, revealing once again the need to strengthen the Common European Asylum System and to deepen \u201cmigration partnerships\u201d between Mediterranean countries. While the European Commission\u2019s \u201cNew Pact on Asylum and Migration\u201d in September 2020 was a chance to address these vulnerabilities, multilateral efforts have almost ground to a halt, even as irregular migration across the Mediterranean is on the rise.<\/p>\n
Panel Discussion<\/p>\n
Luciana Lamorgese, Minister of the Interior, Italy<\/p>\n
Ylva Johansson, Commissioner for Home Affairs, European Commission<\/p>\n
Ant\u00f3nio Vitorino, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM)<\/p>\n
Evarist Bartolo, Minister for European and Foreign Affairs, Malta<\/p>\n
Fathi\u202fAli Abdul Salam\u202fBashagha, Minister of the Interior, Government of National Accord (GNA), Libya<\/p>\n