| Author (Person) | Cronin, David |
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| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.11, No.4, 3.2.05 |
| Publication Date | 03/02/2005 |
| Content Type | News |
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By David Cronin Date: 03/02/05 The European Commission has hatched a plan for a €15 million scheme on returning rejected asylum-seekers home. Aides to Franco Frattini, the commissioner for justice, security and freedom, believe this could evolve into a 'European return fund' under the EU's spending plans - or financial perspectives - for 2007-13. The scheme is to accompany a draft law, to be published in the next few months, setting common standards on expelling both migrants who are living in the Union without permits and asylum-seekers whose bids have been turned down. According to Commission sources, the proposal is aimed at achieving a common EU approach to expulsion. "We need a humane, dignified but efficient return system," said one. "Return is a crux issue. If we don't have returns after a fair procedure, then citizens will lose confidence in the asylum system." The €15m will be used to promote co-operation between EU countries on expulsions. It could be used to boost the role of immigration liaison officers - representatives of member states posted to countries where asylum- seekers originate. The scheme follows a suggestion by António Vitorino, the commissioner for justice and home affairs in 1999-2004, that the European Refugee Fund should be extended from financing the return of immigrants and asylum-seekers who agree to go home voluntarily to forcibly returning those who do not. The question of forced returns has proven controversial in several EU countries. Italy was denounced by human rights groups in October for its expulsion of 1,500 Libyans; so too was the Dutch parliament when it passed a law last year under which 26,000 foreigners were ordered to leave the Netherlands within three years. Richard Williams from the European Council on Refugees and Exile said that before the EU institutions "start looking at returns, we have to be satisfied that the asylum system in European countries is working correctly; the experience has shown that it isn't". "There are wide discrepancies. A Chechen who makes it to Austria has a 94% chance of being recognised as a refugee, whereas if he doesn't make it past Slovakia, he has a roughly 0% chance." Caroline Intrand from Cimade, an organisation that provides aid to immigrants held in detention camps, fears that the Commission's proposal will not contain sufficient safeguards to uphold rights. "What we are afraid of is that the focus will be on trying to find minimum standards to improve the efficiency of the [return] process, instead of minimum standards to protect human beings," she said. Officials at the Council of Ministers are also discussing a plan to send home Ukrainians who are living illegally in the Union. But a Ukrainian diplomat said there was "no need" for such a plan to be devised, as the EU is already in talks with the Kiev government on developing a readmission agreement for Ukrainian nationals in the Union. Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the external relations commissioner, have recommended that "real negotiations" on visa facilitation should be launched with Ukraine. Kiev requested last year that a new system should be developed, to make it easier for Ukrainians living close to the borders with EU countries and such categories as entrepreneurs, artists, and long-distance hauliers to obtain visas for entering the Union. Article reports on a European Commission plan for a €15 million scheme on returning rejected asylum-seekers home. Based on the idea of António Vitorino, the Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs in 1999-2004, that the European Refugee Fund should be extended from financing the return of immigrants and asylum-seekers who agree to go home voluntarily to forcibly returning those who do not, it is believed that the new instrument could evolve into a 'European return fund' under the EU's spending plans - or financial perspectives - for 2007-13. The scheme is to accompany a draft law, to be published in early 2005, setting common standards on expelling both migrants who are living in the European Union without permits and asylum-seekers whose bids have been turned down. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Justice and Home Affairs |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
