Asylum: United Kingdom proposes ‘zones of protection’, March 2003

As governments across the European Union come under growing pressure to tackle the increasing number of refugees arriving at Europe's borders, the UK government has tabled a new proposal that seeks to relocate initial asylum-claim processing beyond the EU's frontiers.

Presented by Tony Blair at the Spring European Council in Brussels on 20-21 March 2003, the UK's draft proposals received more attention at an informal meeting of interior ministers in Veria, Greece on 28 March 2003 when David Blunkett, the UK Home Office Minister, provided further details.

The proposal aims to reduce the number of asylum claims in Europe in a twin strand approach:

• The establishment of regional protection zones which would address the issue of asylum claims arising from regional conflicts or natural disasters, providing effective protection nearby for those fleeing conflict and helping them to resettle in their home regions when appropriate.
• The provision of transit zones that would process asylum claims without people travelling to the countries in which they plan to seek asylum. Refugees would be safe whilst their claims were being looked at fairly, and if their claims failed, they would be returned home.

The UK government has suggested that this approach would enable a better management of the asylum process globally, reducing unfounded applications and providing more equitable protection for genuine refugees. It would also, according to the Home Office, complement the EU wide approach to asylum called for at the Tampere European Council and the work set in motion at Seville to tackle illegal immigration by strengthening the EU's external borders and responding to the causes of migration in source countries. It comes at a time when the war in Iraq is expected to cause more than half a million refugees, according to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Moreover, Tony Blair is seeking to deliver on his promise to halve the number of asylum claims - up to 100,000 in 2002 - by September this year.

Although the proposals met with a lukewarm response at the European Council, Mr. Blunkett was more optimistic about the response of EU interior ministers, saying that there had been 'substantial support' for the plan and an agreement that the EU should 'follow up urgently the ideas in the UK's paper' with the intention of producing a response by the time of the next meeting of the European Council in Thessaloniki in Greece in June.

The UNHCR, for whom the UK sees a major role, have also welcomed the proposals. Rudd Lubbers, the ....., expressed his determination to tackle the challenge of developing more effective solutions head on and welcomed the commitment shown by the EU:

'I am heartened by the political commitment of ministers across Europe to work together to develop new solutions which help genuine asylum seekers. We have an opportunity here for real momentum following the UK's lead'.

However, human rights organisations have reacted more cautiously to the proposals, warning that the plan would 'relocate' the problem beyond the EU's borders and that it goes against the Geneva Convention on refugee status completely. Julia Purcell, head of the Refugee Council, told the BBC that she was extremely concerned about the idea:

'These proposals amount to a shifting, rather than sharing, of responsibilities',

she said.

Statewatch, the human rights campaigner, have also criticised the plan suggesting that it contains no proposals on how the establishment of 'safe havens' will be achieved beyond the continuation of existing humanitarian and development programmes. The head of the TGWU, Bill Morris, also told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme that a similar policy had failed 'miserably' in Hong Kong and called on the UNHCR not to touch the 'flawed' proposal with a bargepole.

Despite the perception in the EU that there is a vast number of refugees seeking asylum in Europe and that this number is on the increase, figures across the EU actually fell by 2% in 2002 to 381,600. According to the UNHCR, there are more refugees in Tanzania than there are in the whole of the EU.

Links:
United Kingdom: Home Office:
	28.03.03:	Press Release: Home Secretary Statement on zones of protection
	27.03.03:	Press Release: Home Secretary Statement on zones of protection
European Commission:
	SCADPLUS: Asylum and immigration policy
	DG Justice and Home Affairs
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
	31.03.03:	Lubbers proposes new approach on asylum issues in EU
Statewatch:
	28.03.03:	Asylum: The Beginning of the End?
European Sources Online: Financial Times:
	29.03.03:	UK asylum proposals draw mixed response
BBC News Online:
	28.03.03:	EU support for asylum plan
European Sources Online: In Focus
	Asylum, refugees and immigration: a challenge for Europe, October 2001

Helen Bower

Compiled: Monday, 31 March 2003

The UK government tabled a new proposal in March 2003 that seeks to relocate initial asylum-claim processing beyond the EU's frontiers.