European Union plans to admit more refugees from conflict zones and poor nations |
 |
 According to the United Nations 65'596 refugees were resettled worldwide in 2008, but the EU accepted just 4'378 or 6.7 %. The UN’s refugee agency has said that there are 203,000 refugees in urgent need of a permanent home this year.
The European Commission wants to change this situation by unveiling plans to allow more refugees from conflict zones and poor nations. "The right to asylum is a basic European value," European Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Jacques Barrot said as he presented a program designed to offer help to refugees trying to enter Europe from poverty-ridden or conflict-struck countries. "We will not solve this crisis by reacting in a xenophobic manner." He continues saying that Europe can do more to help refugees, especially as the population in Western Europe is decreasing due to falling birth rates. The justice official is backed by the Swedish EU presidency, which is in favor of a bloc-wide resettlement program, but their power is limited, as most immigration-related issues remain under the competence of national governments.
The so-called Joint EU Resettlement Program would put in place a voluntary refugee resettlement scheme to boost cooperation among the bloc's 27 member states. The common EU priorities will be decided by a new Resettlement Expert Group. Under the plan, a central group will determine the most deserving cases each year, and member countries will receive EU-funded backing for each refugee they accept. The identification of refugees to be resettled and services such as medical screening and visa arrangements will be helped by a new agency, the European Asylum Support Office, which is to be established next year.
The launch was in danger of being overshadowed by a row between Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, and the European Commission over Italy’s treatment of migrants. The Commission has asked for details of a reported incident in which a boatful of 75 migrants, thought to be Somali, was intercepted by the Italian coastguard 27 miles (43 km) from Sicily and sent back to Libya without checking if any were legitimate asylum-seekers.
At present, only 10 of the EU's 27 member states have an annual resettlement programme. One of these is Denmark, which made international headlines this week by forcibly deporting 22 Iraqis who had sought shelter in a church in Copenhagen for nearly three months after their asylum applications were turned down by the authorities.
The Danish government, like that of Italy, is backed by a right-wing party that is virulently anti-immigration.
Picture: Source UNHCR
Visit the press release of the European Commission
|
 ENSACT Statement on Italian Refugee policy
|
| « back |
|
page last updated on 04.09.2009
