Climate change-related displacements are on the rise since a few years and the 2020 pandemic also brought up extra challenges in restricting travel, both internally and internationally. This article wants to examine the role of the State in human migration, each having their own laws within their territory, and looks at Europe as an experimental laboratory. It began with Schengen, a revolutionary project to establish an area of free movement and mutual control of the external borders of the participating States based on solidarity and mutual trust. But there has been a serious breakdown in trust and solidarity in 2015 and 2016 with controls at internal borders on the pretext of combating terrorism or illegal migration and each state wanting to regain control. At the same time there is a lack of common policies of the Shengen member states, and the dialogue with the countries of origin of the refugees doesn’t run smoothly. Migration is an urban phenomenon, it is the local authorities that find themselves facing the challenge, often left to their own devices. According to the author, migration should be approached in the context of the threefold climate, demographic and digital transition that is now affecting our global world. The terms of the migration debate are still those of opposition between countries of origin, transit and destination, whose interests are irreconcilable. The crucial question is: is it possible to restore the human factor as a fundamental value at the heart of any policy dedicated to migration?

This policy brief is written by Jean-Louis De Brouwer, director of the European Affairs Programme at the Egmont Institute and former director at the European Commission in charge of immigration, asylum, visas, and border policies.