PRO ASYL Press Release
28. March 2003
European Union meeting of justice and home affairs ministers in the EU against the background of the war in Iraq
PRO ASYL: Initiate reception of refugees into the „neighbouring region Europe“
British home secretary demands dismantling of the individual right to political asylum in Europe
- Informeller Rat Justiz und Inneres der EU im Zeichen des Irakkrieges
PRO ASYL: Flüchtlingsaufnahme in die „Nachbarregion Europa“ einleiten
Britischer Innenminister fordert die Demontage des individuellen Asylrechts in Europa - European Union meeting of justice and home affairs ministers in the EU against the background of the war in Iraq
PRO ASYL: Initiate reception of refugees into the „neighbouring region Europe“
British home secretary demands dismantling of the individual right to political asylum in Europe
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.
Today, the EU ministers of justice and home affairs will meet in North Greek Veira.
PRO ASYL expects a clear signal from the home affair ministers regarding the reception of refugees from Iraq and an unequivocal rejection of the British draft proposal to dismantle the individual right to political asylum in Europe.
I. Initiating the reception of refugees into the „neighbouring region Europe“
The „neighbouring region Europe“ – the EU and the war region are only separated by the candidate country Turkey – must immediately take measures to ensure that Iraq’s immediate neighbouring states will open their borders to refugees. Moreover it is necessary to make decisions that will make an unbureaucratic evacuation of those seeking protection in the EU possible. PRO ASYL demands from the EU home affairs ministers a clarification that no rejections or deportations of refugees to Iraq’s neighbouring states will be carried out.
II. Rejection of the British proposals to dismantle the individual right to political asylum
Today, British home secretary Mr. David Blunkett will present to his colleagues the proposals on refugee politics of his Prime Minister Tony Blair. Under the Orwell-like heading „New Vision for Refugees“, the British government is currently promoting a scheme on all levels at the EU which assaults the right to political asylum in Europe in its very substance. Blunkett and Blair are intending to completely transfer refugee protection to regions of origin and transit countries. „The British proposal aims at the dismantling of the individual right to political asylum in the EU“, says Karl Kopp, consultant for European affairs at PRO ASYL.
Blunkett bluntly explains the intention of this „vision“ in an interview with The Guardian: „We need a radically new approach to delivering the reduction in asylum seeker number that we need. (The Guardian, March 27, 2003, p.5) As a reminder: currently, the EU receives just under 5% of all refugees in the world.
Only just in October 1999 the European Council reaffirmed the „“full and inclusive application“ of the 1951 Convention and „absolute respect of the right to seek asylum“ as a guideline on the way to a unified European system of asylum. „Translating the British proposal into action would reduce this claim to absurdity and would damage refugee protection in Europe so profoundly that the current process of unifying the right to political aslylum would lead to a „harmonization without refugees“, concludes Kopp.
