Provisional
edition
Asylum seekers and refugees: sharing responsibilities in
Europe
Resolution 1820 (2011)1
1. The Parliamentary Assembly believes that
further measures are needed to ensure that responsibilities
for refugees and asylum seekers are shared fairly in Europe
and that those seeking international protection have access to
fair and efficient systems for the processing of their claims.
2. The
recent conflicts in North Africa have once again put the issue
firmly on the agenda. By 10 May 2011, a new wave of arrivals
had brought 34 460 to Italy comprising about 23 000 irregular
migrants and 11 000 asylum seekers/refugees, and 1 106 to
Malta (almost all asylum seekers or refugees). Notwithstanding
the relatively high numbers in Europe, they should be put in
the context of the experience of Libya’s North African
neighbouring countries which have received approximately
750 000 refugees.
3. The
Assembly notes that the number of asylum seekers in Europe,
and in particular those arriving from the southern
Mediterranean, should not pose an insurmountable problem for
Europe as a whole, although their concentration in certain
regions will pose a much greater problem for those countries
or regions in the country concerned. Malta in particular,
because of its size and population, and the tiny island of
Lampedusa, risk the greatest strain.
4. This
Assembly believes that it is a paramount responsibility of
each member state of the Council of Europe to meet its own
international legal and humanitarian obligations under the
1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of
Refugees.
5. The
effective protection of asylum seekers and refugees across the
world cannot be achieved without countries sharing
responsibilities. One example of this has been the requests
from front-line Mediterranean countries for a greater sharing
of responsibility in response to large-scale arrivals of
asylum seekers and refugees on Europe’s southern shores.
6. All
member states of the Council of Europe should be participating
fully in the programmes of the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the resettlement of
refugees and should accept that, because of the uneven
geographical distribution of refugees, fair sharing of
responsibility for resettlement is essential.
7. To
encourage such fair sharing of responsibility, more
information should be given to national parliamentarians to
enable them to put pressure on their governments to meet their
moral duties. For example, in 2010 European countries
resettled only 5 824 refugees compared with 54 077
resettled by the United States and 6 732 by Canada.
8. It is
of the utmost importance that the interests of refugees and
asylum seekers are kept distinct from those of economic
migrants.
9. Porous
external borders facilitate racketeering and international
people smuggling. Therefore, more effective measures must be
taken by member states to maintain the integrity of their own
national borders.
10. In
order to deter people smugglers from using the high seas for
their heinous trade, member states should consider the use of
coastguard vessels. These vessels should be sufficiently
equipped to enable them to identify anyone with potential
international protection needs, something that has been done
effectively by the United States Coast Guard.
11. The
Assembly notes that within the 27 member states of the
European Union, there is a vigorous debate about what each one
should be doing by way of sharing responsibility. The Dublin
II Regulation system, which was designed to prevent forum
shopping and duplicate applications for asylum, is no longer
fully effective because of the inability of a number of
countries, notably Greece, to meet their obligations to
provide fair and efficient systems for processing asylum
applications. It is unacceptable, however, that the situation
in Greece, especially in its detention centres, continues to
be below international standards. The European Union should
have made it a condition of the financial help to Greece that
it should comply with its international obligations on the
protection of refugees and asylum seekers.
12. In
the view of the Assembly, the current situation and status quo
is not sufficient and action has to be taken, primarily for
three reasons. The first is that a number of member states are
not coping with the current situation and there exists a real
threat of ongoing arrivals creating further pressure and
problems. Secondly, the Dublin System has been shown to be
unfair and in need of reform. The most recent condemnation by
the European Court of Human Rights in its judgment earlier
this year (M.S.S v. Belgium and Greece) attests to
this. The third reason is that the issue of responsibility
sharing is beginning to create collateral damage and that
further friction within the European Union member states is
focused on those countries which are within the Schengen zone.
The actions of some countries in allowing irregular migrants
to receive documentation entitling them to travel anywhere
within the zone has created tensions which have now reached
the level of intergovernmental European Union discussion.
These issues need to be resolved.
13. From
the perspective of the Council of Europe, it is important that
countries within the European Union are not regarded as having
special status. The same principles should be applicable in
all 47 countries. It would therefore be inappropriate for the
Assembly to give definitive advice about what the European
Union should do in respect of each of its current problems
relating to Schengen, the European Agency for the Management
of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the
Member states of the European Union (Frontex), and aspirations
to create a common immigration and asylum policy for the
European Union, except in the context of human rights.
14. The
European Union does, however, have financial resources and
material resources which should be made more widely available
to Council of Europe member states. For example, Frontex has
access to satellite intelligence which should enable it to
identify vessels which are leaving North Africa loaded with
migrants, so that they can be intercepted in a co-ordinated
way. The European Union also has the ability to help
facilitate bilateral and multilateral arrangements to help
reduce the pressure on particular points of entry such as the
border between Turkey and Greece.
15. In
order to tackle the issue of responsibility sharing in Europe,
taking into account the responsibilities which exist at the
moment and foreseeing future developments, the Assembly calls
on all member states to:
15.1.
encourage reform of the Dublin system to achieve more
flexibility, where necessary, on the application of the
principle of asylum determinations being carried out in the
first arrival country;
15.2.
provide direct assistance to countries in need, in
particular those currently receiving large-scale mixed
migration flows in the southern Mediterranean, including
by:
15.2.1.
assisting with border controls, interception of boats and
rescue of people in need;
15.2.2.
facilitating reception, including by providing support for
infrastructure and its operation;
15.2.3.
providing assistance for screening those with possible
international protection needs;
15.2.4.
helping with asylum determination and fair and efficient
asylum procedures;
15.2.5.
facilitating returns (both of irregular migrants and of
failed asylum seekers, including individuals held in
detention who wish to return to their country of
origin);
15.2.6.
accepting, as a priority, relocation within Europe from
countries under strain, prior to or after the asylum
determination process, and resettlement from countries
outside of Europe in full co-operation with the UNHCR;
15.2.7.
taking steps to tackle the root causes of flows of asylum
seekers, refugees and irregular migrants;
15.2.8.
promoting co-operation between countries of reception and
countries through which irregular migrants and asylum
seekers have passed in transit since leaving their country
of origin;
15.2.9.
offering prompt assistance to countries receiving
civilians fleeing from persecution and military action in
neighbouring states as in the case of Turkey;
15.3.
put greater reliance upon intelligence-led interceptions at
sea, so as to co-ordinate their response to people
smugglers.
16. The
Assembly recognises that further responsibility sharing cannot
be effective without a commitment from the countries at the
forefront of the current asylum flows to:
16.1.
guarantee access to their territory to any person that might
be in need of international protection;
16.2.
provide the necessary reception conditions in accordance
with relevant human rights and humanitarian standards;
16.3.
provide a prompt and fair asylum process and ensure the
quality and consistency of decisions;
16.4.
ensure the integrity of their borders and control the
irregular migration flows.
17.
Recognising the particular responsibility, resources and
mandate of the European Union in this matter, the Assembly
calls on the European Union to:
17.1.
modify, as necessary and as early as possible, the Dublin
system, in particular in the light of the judgment in the
case of M.S.S v. Belgium and Greece, both to ensure
fair treatment and appropriate guarantees for asylum seekers
and beneficiaries of international protection and also to
assist individual member states to face possible situations
of exceptional pressure;
17.2.
ensure that its funds are flexible and easy to mobilise, to
be able to react quickly in the case of unforeseen events
and emergency, and consider the possibility of financing
infrastructure in particular to ensure adequate reception
facilities;
17.3.
ensure that in respect of its members there are accurate and
consistent statistics relating to applications for
international protection, the granting of refugee status and
asylum, detection and return of irregular migrants and
realistic estimates of the number of illegal entrants into
the European Union;
17.4.
rapidly find an agreement on the European Commission’s
proposal for the establishment of a European Union joint
resettlement programme, to be implemented in close
co-operation with the UNHCR;
17.5.
in revising the Frontex regulations, ensure that full human
rights guarantees are included;
17.6.
address the alarming increase in the number of forged travel
documents circulating in Europe, the forecasts by Frontex of
increased irregular migration and the concerns of Europol as
to the security threats resulting therefrom.
18.
Finally, the Assembly commends the work of the UNHCR,
congratulates it on its 60th anniversary and calls on all
members of the Council of Europe to mark the anniversary by
taking greater responsibility for resettling refugees and
addressing the challenge of asylum seekers in Europe.
1 Assembly debate on 21 June
2011 (22nd Sitting) (see Doc.
12630, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Population, rapporteur: Mr Chope). Text adopted by the
Assembly on 21 June 2011 (22nd Sitting).
See also
Recommendation 1973 (2011). |