EU states urged to deal fairly with asylum seekers
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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malcolm seychell
Jan 11th 2009, 08:44
UNHCR should urge African nations to deal fairly with their people and not the EU.
Michelle Dali
Jan 10th 2009, 22:59
@ Louise Vella. 'By promoting the interests of illegal immigrants UNHCR oversteps its mandate, limited to refugees, and indirectly (and unwillingly) encourages illegal immigration and the criminal organisations trafficking in human beings. '
You are so right!
Denis Catania
Jan 10th 2009, 21:38
Malta needs to be treated fairly!!!!
lgalea
Jan 10th 2009, 16:19
UNHCR put your money where your mouth is and take all our ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS to your HQ and keep them there at YOUR expense.
John Azzopardi
Jan 10th 2009, 14:27
Isn't something wrong with the figures showing Malta with a population receiving almost 3000 (mostly male) asylum seekers and us granting them some kind of status out of a total of 67000 who crossed over to other mediterranean countries with a combined population of almost 200 million. Where is the fairness in all this. Malta, with 6% unemployment, cannot continue tolerating this kind of situation. THIS situation can only lead to the destabilization of Malta in a few years if these illegal immigrants are continued to stay on in Malta. Then who is going to help us. Don't count on Europe.
louise vella
Jan 10th 2009, 11:27
The following news from www.corriere.it leads to 2 questions:
Should Maroni be taken seriously?
What would happen if 490 illegal immigrants land in Malta?
Lampedusa: quasi 500 arrivi nella notte
LAMPEDUSA - Poche ore dopo le assicurazioni del ministro degli Interni, Roberto Maroni, che «gli arrivi finiranno prima dell'inizio della stagione turistica», nella notte sono sbarcati a Lampedusa 490 extracomunitari. Il gruppo più numeroso, formato da 326 persone tra i quali 21 donne e nove bambini, era su un barcone avvistato venerdì pomeriggio da un peschereccio a 60 miglia a sud dell'isola...
ALTRI SBARCHI - Un altro barcone con 159 persone è stato soccorso alle 2 di notte da tre motovedette della Guardia costiera. Infine cinque immigrati sono stati intercettati a terra ... Secondo alcuni pescatori, sono stati depositati all'alba da un gommone che si è subito allontanato.
louise vella
Jan 10th 2009, 10:28
UNHCR is a charity funded 3.5% by the United Nations and 96.5% by voluntary contributions (http://www.unhcr.org/donate/index.htm: DONATE NOW). It is brimming with good intentions, but not with common sense.
By promoting the interests of illegal immigrants UNHCR oversteps its mandate, limited to refugees, and indirectly (and unwillingly) encourages illegal immigration and the criminal organisations trafficking in human beings.
Malta is full up. The influx of illegal immigrants has reached crisis point. Besides, Eritrea (population 5 million) and Somalia (8.7 million), two faraway countries in the Horn of Africa, cannot send all their inhabitants to the European Union just because they have problems of their own making. Their refugees can have refugee status only in the neighbouring countries. When they arrive in Libya they become immigrants, where they work, probably illegally, long enough to pay for their transport to Europe by boat.
This trafficking is massive, well-organised and never-ending. Malta, Italy, Cyprus and Greece are acting as a buffer holding back millions of Africans who want to go to the rich countries of Northern Europe and their former colonial powers. The 4 countries are getting organised to defend their frontiers and their vital national interests.