EU member states ‘failing’ to protect Iraqi refugees

Refugee groups have criticised EU governments for failing to address the problems faced by Iraqi refugees travelling to Europe.

Interior ministers last week (20 April) discussed helping Syria and Jordan, which are hosting 2 million Iraqi refugees, but did not put forward ideas on how their own systems might better accommodate those fleeing the violence.

The United Nations’ Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that many EU states were still not giving proper protection to Iraqi asylum applicants. "Greece is still not recognising any Iraqis as refugees and protection rates are very low in some other countries, including Germany and the UK," said Madeline Garlick, a senior European affairs officer at the UNHCR’s office in Brussels. "The situation in Iraq is such that most member states are not sending rejected claimants back, but they often leave them in limbo, without any material support," she added.

The European Council on Refugees and Exiles criticised EU states for not giving refugees adequate protection when they got to Europe.

Differences in asylum procedures across the EU mean Iraqis get very different treatment depending on where they go. Last year Sweden gave refugee status to 80% of 9,065 Iraqis applicants while the UK and Germany awarded refugee status to just over 10% of the more than 1,000 and 2,000 Iraqis, respectively, who sought asylum in their countries.

Franco Frattini, the commissioner for justice, freedom and security, has been pushing for a more uniform EU-wide response to Iraqis who come to Europe. In a letter to Wolfgang Schaüble, the interior minister of Germany, current holder of the EU presidency, he warned that "such diverging polices create an incentive for secondary movements within the EU".

Ministers agreed to discuss the issue again in June, after member states’ asylum experts meet next month in Brussels.

Indications so far this year are that Iraqi asylum applications in Europe will be higher than last year. Sweden has received nearly 6,000 claims since the start of the year and expects a further 14,000 by the end of 2007. "We would like to have a common asylum policy, it would be good for Iraqi refugees to be treated equally," said Tobias Billström, the Swedish migration and asylum policy minister. Billström denied that Sweden was frustrated with the pace of change within the Council of Ministers. "It takes time to gather support for plans and proposals," he said.

Frattini last week announced up to €18 million to help Syria and Jordan deal with the refugee crisis inside their borders and to help EU states taking in Iraqis. Member states have decided not to trigger a clause which would allow all Iraqi refugees to be accepted temporarily as the numbers entering the EU are not large enough. Some EU states may also take in some resettled refugees from Syria and Jordan but no commitments have been made on this yet.

Refugee groups have criticised EU governments for failing to address the problems faced by Iraqi refugees travelling to Europe.