Europe, Headlines, Human Rights

RIGHTS-EU: Amnesty Concern over Asylum Policy

Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Nov 2 2004 (IPS) - The EU is being urged to address the human rights content of its asylum and immigration policy due to be adopted later this week.

Amnesty International is appealing to the European Union (EU) to "match its ambition to promote fundamental rights with concrete policies that are coherent and properly resourced." Amnesty is being backed by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The appeal comes just days ahead of an EU summit Friday (Nov. 5) where EU leaders will adopt the so-called Hague programme – a new five-year framework which aims to coordinate policies on asylum and immigration.

The programme foresees the establishment of a common EU asylum system in 2010, which would include a European office for asylum and joint processing of asylum applications – both inside and outside of the bloc.

It also includes measures for common deportation procedures and plans to spread those granted refugee status more evenly across the EU.

The EU says the programme aims to "strengthen freedom, security and justice" in the bloc.

Some of the details of the programme, including proposed plans to set up joint patrols to protect the EU’s external borders will be discussed at this week’s heads of state summit after justice and home affairs ministers failed to agree them at a meeting in Luxembourg Oct. 26.

Amnesty says that in spite of EU intentions and "appropriate references" to fundamental rights, "there is too much of a vacuum" in the substance of the Hague programme in how the EU’s stated ambition will be implemented.

"There is a lack of coherence when it comes to the instruments and structures needed to safeguard fundamental rights, and a lack of resources to match," Amnesty says in a letter presented to EU leaders Tuesday (Nov. 2).

The group says the fact that asylum is principally a human rights issue "seems to be lost amid all the discourse" surrounding what it calls migration management.

"With the EU’s justice and home affairs agenda driven by counter-terrorism and the fight against illegal immigration, there is a growing risk of a one-sided emphasis on security at the expense of the elements of justice and freedom," the group says.

Amnesty says the Hague programme marks a decisive shift in the EU’s ambition to take the fight against illegal immigration into the domain of external relations and that "partnership" with third countries has become a principal focus in efforts to stop people entering the EU.

It stresses that "there are many questions to be answered in regard to the EU’s stated ambitions to control immigration, provide humanitarian assistance and support capacity building if protection obligations are to be fully respected."

Amnesty says that plans to set up an EU human rights agency "do not prove that there is a real willingness" from EU member states to address their own human rights performance.

"Confidence in the EU’s determination to protect fundamental rights is not inspired by the European Commission’s suggestion that the agency be a lightweight structure in terms of staff and budget," Amnesty says.

"The EU must face up to the issue that, at Council level, there is no forum to address issues relating to fundamental rights within the EU," the letter adds. "The creation of an ad hoc mechanism to deal with the immediate question of a proposal for a Human Rights Agency does not answer the pressing question of collective responsibility at EU level for actual and potential human rights violations in member states."

The human rights group also says that the balance between the need to fight crime effectively and the need to protect individuals’ fundamental rights in the proposed programme is insufficient.

Although Amnesty welcomes the programme’s commitment to a single asylum procedure, it is concerned that such a common asylum system will be based on "low standards agreed so far."

It is urging member states to amend the directive on asylum procedures to "ensure that basic guarantees are fully available in fast track, admissibility and border procedures."

HRW says although it does not have an ‘official’ position on this week’s EU summit, it welcomes Amnesty’s efforts to address the asylum issue.

"We are fully backing Amnesty’s position as it is stated in fairly general terms in the letter," Vanessa Saenen from HRW told IPS.