# Broken promise of European migration solution

> EU leaders repeat migration strategy despite 100,000 Syrian crossings dropping since Assad fell.
- Title: Broken promise of European migration solution · EUobserver
- Summary: EU leaders repeat migration strategy despite 100,000 Syrian crossings dropping since Assad fell. EU leaders claim migration policy reforms reduced irregular…
- Keywords: migration, syria, assad, schengen, frontex, irregular crossings, politics, world, Broken, promise, European, solution
- Source: EUobserver — https://euobserver.com/241582/broken-promise-of-european-solution-on-migration-overshadows-next-weeks-summit
- Published: 2026-10-07T18:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: eu, migration, syria, assad, schengen, frontex, irregular crossings, politics, world
## EU summit leaders' 2015 migration strategy
Twelve years ago, EU summit leaders announced they had a strategy to tackle unprecedented migrant arrivals.
## Repeated migration promises since 2015
Next week, they will meet again in Brussels to tell us something similar to their 2015 strategy.
## EU migration policy conclusions since 2015
Dozens of EU summit conclusions have been published since 2015, when one million Syrians arrived in Europe to seek protection.
## Migration policy promises and outcomes
We need stronger external borders to preserve the Schengen passport-free zone, they said. We need partnerships with foreign states to save lives. We need to step up deportations. We need a European solution.
## Some migration strategies worked
Some have actually panned out, including an EU migrant swap deal with Turkey and other deals with autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere.
## Syrian crossings dropped after Assad fell
Syrians accounted for over 100,000 irregular crossings in 2023, a year before Assad fell. It then dropped to around 6,000. Today, it is around 1,000, according to Frontex.
## Key takeaway

EU leaders claim migration policy reforms reduced irregular arrivals, but Syrian crossings fell from 100,000 in 2023 to 1,000 after Assad's fall, showing policy promises have not delivered.