Brussels to offer limited help on Malta's asylum problem

A new asylum "blueprint" to be unveiled in Brussels today will only go some way towards addressing Malta's call for a revamp of the common EU asylum rules.

Sources close to the European Commission said yesterday that the total revision of the Dublin II rules requested by Malta was not possible "as other member states were not keen on the suggestion".

However, they said the Commission will be putting forward alternative proposals which should make Malta's life in this area easier.

Under the current rules, known as Dublin II, asylum applications have to be dealt with by the member state where the first application is placed. Almost all the immigrants that arrive in Malta illegally apply for asylum.

For the past few years Malta has been harping on the need to amend the rules because they are placing a disproportionate burden on peripheral member states such as Malta that receive the bulk of asylum seekers. Malta is insisting that a burden sharing mechanism be introduced so that the responsibility for applicants is shared by all EU member states.

Commission sources yesterday said that "although Malta's suggestions make sense, they are very difficult to be accepted by the other EU member states and thus the new policy will try to mitigate Malta's concerns by offering some alternative possibilities."

The sources said that in its proposals for creating a Common European Asylum System, the Commission will be professing its belief that the best way to ensure a high degree of solidarity is not to adopt a new, overarching instrument. Instead, it would like to put at the disposal of member states mechanisms that will help them cope with the variety of challenges they are facing.

Among the concrete proposals are plans to create a Community mechanism which would allow, in well-defined and exceptional circumstances, for the possibility of temporarily suspending the application of the Dublin rules for transfers of asylum seekers to a member state whose reception system cannot adequately deal with the transferred persons.

The Commission will propose the creation of asylum expert teams who could be called upon to assist over-burdened member states, on a temporary basis, in performing the initial profiling of asylum seekers.

Brussels will also suggest facilitating the internal re-allocation, on a voluntary basis, of beneficiaries of international protection from one member state to another in cases of exceptional asylum pressure. It would do this by providing specific EU funding under existing financial instruments.

These proposals, to be announced by Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot, will need to be approved by member states and the European Parliament to come into force.

Over the past few years, Malta has seen a major surge in the number of asylum applications, and is third in the EU in terms of the number it receives on a per capita basis. Last year Malta received a total of 1,380 applications or 3.4 applications per 1,000 inhabitants.