Tag: Asylum

A two-day meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers beginning today (25 October) in Luxembourg is set to “expedite” a safeguard clause, allowing visas to be re-introduced for Western Balkan citizens who abuse the asylum system of EU countries.

António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told a Brussels audience yesterday (20 April) that the European Union's asylum system was "extremely dysfunctional" and that he didn't believe that reforms could meet a December 2012 target.

Paris and Rome are playing "ping-pong" with thousands of immigrants who travel by boat from the North African coast to the Italian island of Lampedusa, after which most of them try to reach France, the press in the two countries reports.

A team of EU border officials is being sent to help Greece deal with an increase in the number of immigrants crossing its frontier from Turkey, the European Commission said on Sunday (24 October).

A train carrying over 200 refugees from the Caucasus residing in Poland was blocked yesterday (15 December) at the German border, Polish media reported. The refugees were on their way to protest to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg about poor living conditions.

The European Parliament yesterday (25 November) approved the Swedish EU Presidency's proposals for the next five-year plan on EU justice and home affairs. But MEPs failed to agree on controversial same-sex rights, while Italian MEPs secured an add-on to get extra funding for overcrowded prisons.

The European Commission yesterday (2 September) proposed a collective EU programme for resettling refugees, provoking mixed reviews from experts.

According to a European Commission proposal leaked to the press, EU members would pledge to take in a certain number of refugees each year, alleviating the burden placed on Malta, Italy and Spain, where most illegal immigrants first arrive on European soil.

The French EU Presidency is finalising a European immigration pact which seeks to balance calls for stricter control of migratory flows with respect for developing countries and the human rights of asylum seekers.

Spain has forced France to abandon its plans for a compulsory "integration contract" for immigrants, which, if adopted, would require third country nationals to conform with the local "national identity" in order to settle in the EU, diplomatic sources told EurActiv.

A key asylum law entered into force on 10 October 2006, aiming to create a “level playing field” on asylum policies in the EU. But Estonia, Lithuania, Austria, France, Slovenia and Luxembourg are the only member states to have implemented measures prior to the new rules.

Commissioner Franco Frattini has presented proposals for a common European asylum system, to be fully in place by 2010.

To strengthen security against terrorist attacks, the Commission has adopted a package of measures designed to allow greater monitoring of those seeking entry to the EU.  

While backing the package to harmonise EU asylum procedures, the EP narrowly rejected the 'safe country' list. 

Amnesty International reports on Spain, Italy and the UK have found that asylum seekers are being detained unnecessarily and illegally for long periods.

A report issued by the UN Refugee Agency has detailed a steep fall in the number of asylum claims made in western industrialised countries over the last three years.

In this paper, Brendan Donnelly argues that there is a strong case for a co-ordinated European approach to asylum legislation and that the EU Constitution is positively contributing to this objective.

MEPs are calling on the Commission and the Council to set up a coherent policy for legal immigration. They want this to be a top priority for 'Tampere II' agenda, the new justice and home affairs agenda for the years 2004-2009.

Justice and home affairs ministers have discussed plans to process asylum seekers in North Africa before they reach European soil, despite opposition from France, Belgium and Sweden.