A volunteer records passports refugee camp in Shusha (Tunisia) March 16.

Single entry point is tough to get open

The EU intends to set up some common rules on asylum. The surge in the polls of xenophobic parties in several countries and the influx of migrants from north Africa, however, have combined to make the debate an explosive one.

Published on 6 April 2011 at 15:41
A volunteer records passports refugee camp in Shusha (Tunisia) March 16.

On April 4, Swedish public radio announced that the Dutch want to tighten up entry conditions for asylum seekers in the European Union. The government in The Hague holds that any such refugee should be able to prove that he or she was unable to find safety in another area of his country of origin.

Such a proposition is absurd.

Most often, people fleeing persecution have in fact neither the time nor the opportunity to examine the situation across the whole of their home country before leaving. The requirement to produce evidence of such a search seems contrary to the fundamental principles of asylum law. That is why, therefore, the clear disavowal of this preposterous idea by Cecilia Malmström, EU home affairs commissioner, is to be welcomed.

The request by the Dutch shows that the atmosphere of the negotiations over the asylum policy of the European Union has become charged. Next year, the EU is to replace the current minimum requirements in force among its member countries by a common and binding body of legislation. That is the plan, in any event.

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So far there has been relatively little discussion of the negotiations in the public debate. Behind the scenes, however, tempers are flaring.

The future shape of political asylum inspires conflicted and exacerbated emotions across all of Europe. In countries where xenophobic parties are able to impose their themes, the issue is an explosive one in the political debate.

No doubt, designing a common asylum policy has its risks. The danger is that countries that support a relaxation of the rules could be overshadowed by the hard-line supporters. However — and this is to be hoped — the reverse may also happen.

It would be good for several reasons if the EU member countries were to have common rules on asylum in place.

Member states have common borders with the rest of the world, and people allowed to stay in the EU enjoy freedom of movement. All bordering countries are therefore affected by the policies of the other member countries towards asylum and immigration. It would, therefore, be both logical and justified to have some common rules.

The question is how this is to be done. The risk is not only that members like the Netherlands wish to strengthen border barriers further by tightening up entry conditions for asylum seekers. Refugee camps overcrowded with migrants from north Africa are also proof that the EU still has some way to go in asylum policy.

The Tunisian authorities, for example, have put up a total of 220,000 refugees. However, many of them were in no need of protection, as they were in Libya to work and wanted to go home more than anything else. About 100,000 people have received aid — European aid in particular — to return to their home countries.

A few thousand refugees, though, remain stranded in refugee camps in Tunisia. Some are Somalis or Eritreans who risk being persecuted in their countries of origin and who should therefore enjoy the right of asylum.

On paper, the EU has already agreed to grant them protection. So far, though, only six member states, including Sweden, have volunteered to take in a few hundred of them. The reluctance of European countries to step forward with help also foreshadows the trouble brewing in the negotiations over asylum policy within the EU, where many countries prefer to look after only their own interests.

Immigration

Italo-Tunisian deal on migrant repatriation goes ahead

It was a “toothless agreement" on migration that was signed in Tunis on April 5, writes Corriere della Sera: after the failure of the initial discussions the previous day, the interior ministers of Italy and Tunisia agreed that Tunisia will repatriate about 800 of its nationals recently landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa. The agreement, which is strictly verbal, does not fix the method or the time of the operation, writes Corriere. The number of returnees is far below that expected by Rome, which has thus been compelled to grant temporary six-month residence permits to Tunisian migrants on Italian soil for "humanitarian reasons". The government intends in this way to empty the shelters, which are now overwhelmed, that are scattered throughout the centre and south of the country. Meanwhile a boat from Libya with 200 migrants on board has capsized off the coast of Lampedusa, and 150 of those on board are missing.

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