The UN refugee agency UNHCR yesterday appealed to EU justice ministers to make sure people seeking asylum have access to fair procedures to examine their claims.

"With few opportunities to enter the EU by regular means, thousands of people threatened by persecution and serious human rights violations in their home countries have no choice but to take the dangerous sea route. This highlights the vital need to ensure that state agreements and measures to tighten borders do not block access to safety for those seeking protection in the EU," said the UNHCR.

The comment comes ahead of a meeting about migration on Tuesday in Rome for interior ministers from Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Malta and follows recent warnings by Italian Home Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni that he intends speeding up deportation of migrants.

The UNHCR said it understands the question may also be discussed during an informal EU meeting for justice and home affairs ministers in Prague on Thursday.

Mr Maroni, a member of the anti-immigration Northern League, was reported saying last week that he had arranged for the "activation of a centre suitable for identification and expulsion".

The announcement came after a spell of good weather led to over 2,000 immigrants landing on the Italian island of Lampedusa and 139 in Malta over the Christmas period.

The agency said it appreciates the efforts made by states along the Mediterranean to rescue people in distress at sea and recognises that boat arrivals put significant strains on the resources on the countries receiving them.

Nonetheless, it insisted that people seeking asylum must be allowed to disembark in a safe place, where they can receive information about their rights and have a genuine opportunity to file an asylum application which will be considered in a fair procedure. "Sending refugees back to countries where they cannot enjoy effective protection could violate member states' international obligations to refrain from refoulement," the statement said.

Non-refoulement is a principle in international refugee law under which refugees must not be returned to places which pose a threat to their lives or freedoms.

Of the 67,000 people who crossed to Europe by sea last year, according to UNHCR estimates, some 35,000 arrived in Italy, most of them transiting through Libya. According to local records, 2,775 migrants arrived in Malta in 2008.

The majority applied for asylum, of which half were found to be in need of international protection, the UNHCR said.

Nearly all those who arrived by sea in Malta have applied for asylum and some 60 per cent were recognised as being in need of international protection, while about 75 per cent of those who arrived in Italy applied for asylum and around half of them were granted refugee status or protection on humanitarian grounds.

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