Malta taken to court over EU asylum directive

Malta has been dragging its feet in adopting a new EU directive granting certain rights to immigrants from non-EU countries seeking international protection and the matter has now been referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

"Malta had to transpose the directive, known as the Asylum Qualification Directive, by October 10, 2006. However, following various reminders by the Commission, the Maltese government informed us last October that the relevant draft law was scheduled to be discussed by Parliament the following November," sources close to the European Commission told The Times yesterday. "Since then, the Commission has not been notified of any changes and so we decided to proceed on the matter in court."

A government spokesman played down the issue saying the delay was only due to the general election. "It is true that we had promised the Commission to have everything in order by November.

However, we just had an election and Parliament is still not functioning. The groundwork is ready and should be cleared by Parliament in the coming weeks," the spokesman explained.

Directive 2004/83/EC of April 29, 2004, laying down minimum standards for the qualification and status of third-country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and the content of the protection granted (qualification directive), is considered to be one of the building blocks of the first stage of the Common European Asylum System.

The directive aims to ensure that, throughout the EU, the same criteria apply for the identification of persons who are genuinely in need of international protection and that a minimum level of rights and benefits are available for them in all member states.

This directive introduces a harmonised regime for the protection of those persons who fall outside the scope of the Refugee Convention but who, nevertheless, still need international protection, such as victims of civil war.

It also adopts a gender-sensitive interpretation of the Refugee Convention, allowing for the recognition as a refugee of those persons who have a well-founded fear of being persecuted on account of their sexual orientation or gender. It thus recognises the legitimacy of asylum claims by women, such as those based on acts of sexual violence, domestic violence, female genital mutilation and by persons facing persecution because of their homosexuality.

The new EU law sets out the rights and benefits that attach to each status, regarding residence permits, access to education and employment, healthcare and social welfare, family unity and integration.

At the same time, the directive is clear that the EU cannot become a safe haven for terrorists who apply for asylum.

Tough clauses on exclusion from both refugee status and subsidiary protection status are included in it to prevent the abuse of asylum systems by those who could be a threat to the security of the EU or who have committed serious crimes.