PRO ASYL Presseerklärung | Press Release
20th of June, 2003
European asylum politics: more border controls,
more camps, more deportations, more control
PRO ASYL welcomes resistance of the Federal government against the Blair-initiative
British proposal fallen through for the time being – Undermining of refugee protection continues
- Europäische Asylpolitik: mehr Grenzschutz, mehr Lager, mehr Abschiebungen, mehr Kontrolle
PRO ASYL begrüßt Widerstand der Bundesregierung gegen die Blair-Initiative
Der britische Vorschlag ist vorerst gescheitert – die Aushöhlung des Flüchtlingsschutzes geht weiter - European asylum politics: more border controls, more camps, more deportations, more control
PRO ASYL welcomes resistance of the Federal government against the Blair-initiative
British proposal fallen through for the time being – Undermining of refugee protection continues
INFO
(partially translated)
This is a machine translation by the IBM-supported PERSONAL TRANSLATOR plus. It is slightly edited by combining its results with the translation of SYSTRAN. But you should not rely on it. If you want to use a translated text append or reference the original text.
PRO ASYL welcomes the fact that the British frontal attack against the international refugee protection system has been rejected on the EU level. A few days before the EU-summit, the Blair government withdrew its proposal to transfer refugee protection to regions of origin and transit states. PRO ASYL is pleased that the Federal government, besides Sweden, has largely contributed to the failure of the British initiative.
Eventhough the worst has been prevented this way, it cannot be overlooked that the heads of state and government put the emphasis in asylum politics on repression and restriction. An additional 390 million EURO will be spent within the next years on increased border control and joint deportation measures. Despite a continual decrease of asylum seekers in the EU, the message of Thessaloniki is: The admission of refugees will be further transferred to transit states and regions of origin.
In an evaluation of the results which have become known so far, Karl Kopp, consultant for European affairs at PRO ASYL says, „a first analysis of yesterdays shows decisions what the European Council’s priorities are regarding refugee protection in Europe: more border control, more camps, more deportations, more control.“ The summit has not given any positive impulse regarding the establishment of a common asylum system. Through a dozen reservations, the German government continues to block, in a „one-against-all“ manner, the adoption of the directive on qualification for refugee status and so-called subsidiary protection. PRO ASYL admonishes the government coalition to withdraw these reservations this month, so that the planned schedule can be kept and the basis of a European asylum system can finally be laid. Should Germany continue its blockade politics, the harmonisation process would be profoundly damaged. It would also nurture the suspicion that Germany’s resistance to the British proposal is not grounded in reservations regarding human rights, but only rests on a different model of deterrence.
Furthermore, in PRO ASYL’s view, the general threat to international refugee protection has not been averted, as the current „Coalition of the Willing“ (U.K., Denmark, Holland, Australia and the U.S.) are continuing their project.
