A/HRC/29/36 IV. Conclusions and recommendations A. Conclusions 85. The events in the Mediterranean Sea and the mirroring of this suffering across each stage of the migratory process within the past two years have clearly shown that the status quo in relation to the European Union’s approach to border control, asylum and migration is not sustainable. The ability of migrants to reach European soil despite a huge investment in securing borders demonstrates beyond a doubt that sealing international borders is impossible. Migration is a long-standing part of the human condition and, in the globalized and conflict-ridden world in which we live, it is inevitable. 86. The costs of denying this reality are huge. Most significantly, the human costs continue to grow. There are no signs that the push and pull factors influencing migratory patterns will change and the many grave associated human rights abuses will decrease. In addition to the human costs, the huge investment of resources by the European Union and its member States into ineffective and paradoxical border control mechanisms could be spent in many other ways. 87. As huge as these costs are, they are in no way inevitable. It is not beyond the moral agency of the European Union to considerably reduce the suffering of large numbers of migrants. The Union’s regional system of human rights and other normative standards, its founding values and its strong tradition of promoting peace, security and human rights, clearly show that the Union has the potential to play a global leadership role on the issue of migration. 88. Claiming this leadership role involves the development of coherent and holistic human rights-based approaches that require short-, medium- and long-term interventions. It is vital that, in the short term, the European Union step up search and rescue operations, further explore alternatives to detention, particularly for children, start providing more resettlement opportunities for people from the Syrian Arab Republic and other countries, in line with its share of global resources, and take stock of the failing Dublin logic and the systemic pressures it is creating. 89. While this would already have a significant impact on the human rights of migrants, it is important that the European Union also take a strategic, long-term view. In the medium term, the Union should continue to provide resettlement opportunities and open regular migration channels at all skills levels, invest in labour inspection and tackle xenophobia, racism and discrimination against migrants. These changes need to be sustained over the long term and accompanied by a fundamental rethinking of the conceptualization of migrants and the development of integration programmes within the context of general diversity policies. 90. To achieve sustainable success, the European Union must consider how its founding principles and normative standards apply to those who are not citizens of its member States. It must use fact-based analysis and rational, long-term thinking to challenge the many negative conceptualizations that underpin current social and policy debates relating to migration within the Union. These include the strict delineation between internal and external migrants, the idea of irregular migrants as being “illegal”, the preoccupation with irregular, non-European Union migration as being a “burden” within the context of continuing fiscal challenges and the perception of migrants as being “job stealers” who deprive native citizens of economic opportunities. 17