*How Europe can escape the migration deterrence trap* European leaders seem to have lost interest in any hint of taking a rational approach to migration policy. As a result, Europe is squandering the possibility of dealing with irregular migration in a safer, more orderly, and more humane way, and is instead simply aiming to increase border security, hold up refugees and asylum seekers in transit, and rapidly deport those not eligible for protection. Last summer saw a surge of far-right parties in elections to the European Parliament, France’s National Assembly, and German regional parliaments (and anti-immigration riots in the UK). Then, in November, Donald Trump was re-elected as US president, running on a virulently anti-migrant, asylum seeker, and refugee agenda, which he is now rapidly enacting. Europe’s centrist politicians have grown conspicuously quiet about creating legal pathways for refugees and asylum seekers to reach the continent, or implementing evidenced-based policies to manage migration in ways that could produce better results for both people on the move and the countries they are aiming to reach. Read more: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/2025/02/04/how-europe-can-escape-migration-deterrence-trap