EU asylum policy: ministers criticised over list of safe countries

Proposals to harmonise asylum procedures have been under discussion for about three years and ministers are expected to reach a political agreement on them by the end of the year.

EU interior ministers agreed on 2 October to create a list of safe countries from which nationals have no obvious reasons to claim asylum. The idea is to speed up the handling of asylum applications as, under the proposal, nationals from these countries will still be able to apply for asylum but their applications will be subject to a fast-track procedure. On 6 November, the Council will further discuss the criteria to determine which countries should be labelled as safe in the list to be drafted by the Commission.

Human Rights organisations oppose the use of a list of safe countries of origin claiming that this may lead to refugees being denied access to effective protection.

In a press statement on 4 November, Amnesty International expressed fears that in practice this list may be used as an automatic bar to accessing asylum procedures. It stated that: "the decision on which countries to include on the common list may be the result of political bargaining influenced by national interests, rather than human rights considerations".