CEAS is driving Europe’s policy of isolation, whilst human rights violations at the external borders have long been a reality – now is not the time for anyone to look the other way.
The deadline for implementing the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) is 12 June 2026, and the sea rescue organisation Sea-Eye is warning that the situation for those seeking protection is set to deteriorate significantly.
Sea-Eye is urgently appealing to the media, politicians and society at large not to accept the consequences of the reform as the new normal. The CEAS reform will have a decisive impact on asylum and human rights protection in Europe over the coming years.
”CEAS will further intensify this policy of isolation and take it to a new level – at sea and on land. Europe is thus moving further away from its human rights obligations.
Anna di BariVorstandsmitglied von Sea-Eye
Even today, the consequences of Europe’s policy of closing its borders are evident every day in the Mediterranean: people are being forced onto dangerous refugee routes, thousands are dying at sea or are denied access to fair asylum procedures. By implementing the CEAS, the EU is not only continuing this trend, but is exacerbating and systematising it.
“The situation at Europe’s external borders is already dire and is costing lives every day,” says Anna di Bari, CEO of Sea-Eye. “With CEAS, this policy of sealing off borders is being further tightened and taken to a new level – at sea and on land. Europe is thus moving further away from its human rights obligations.”
Sea-Eye welcomes the fact that, under the newly introduced screening procedure, protection needs and medical requirements are to be assessed immediately upon the arrival of asylum seekers. At the same time, the organisation criticises the procedure’s strong focus on security at the EU’s external borders. From Sea-Eye’s perspective, the so-called ‘fiction of non-entry’ is particularly problematic: although asylum seekers have already crossed the EU border, their entry is not legally recognised as having taken place. As a result, they can be detained under conditions that restrict or deprive them of their liberty until the procedure is concluded.
Sea-Eye is also critical of the fact that asylum applications are to be assessed increasingly within the framework of border procedures in future. Here, too, the ‘deemed non-entry’ principle applies. As a result, those seeking protection, including minors, may be detained for weeks on end in custody or under conditions akin to detention. At the same time, many EU Member States still lack the necessary structures to implement these procedures in a manner consistent with human rights. According to Sea-Eye, this threatens to further exacerbate the already precarious situation at Europe’s external borders.
Sea-Eye warns that the CEAS further entrenches a system that increasingly restricts the rights of people fleeing their homes. As early as December last year, Sea-Eye drew attention to the impending tightening of restrictions on those seeking protection – in particular the impact on children and other particularly vulnerable people – through a petition supported by more than 100,000 people.
Outlook
Although civilian sea rescue is not currently directly affected by the new CEAS regulations, Sea-Eye sees a risk that humanitarian aid at sea could be further restricted and come under pressure in the future.
In Italy, for example, a draft bill is currently being debated which would prevent rescue ships from entering Italian waters. Furthermore, the CEAS increasingly allows for asylum procedures to be outsourced to third countries. Such models effectively deny people fleeing their countries access to an asylum procedure within the European Union.
These tightening measures are a major cause for concern for Sea-Eye. They threaten to further restrict access to protection and could make the work of civilian sea rescue organisations even more difficult.
“Every person has the right to protection and to a fair asylum procedure,” said Anna di Bari. “However, CEAS further undermines this right. That is precisely why we must now take a closer look at what is happening at Europe’s external borders – before this trend becomes further entrenched.”
The obligation to protect human life applies regardless of political developments. Sea-Eye will therefore continue its operations in the Mediterranean and carry on rescuing people in distress at sea. Every rescue is an expression of this responsibility.
