Print
See related documents
Recommendation 1440 (2000)
Restrictions on asylum in the member states of the Council of Europe and the European Union
1. In celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, the
Council of Europe has just reaffirmed its commitment to the generous vision and
values that inspired its creation: the defence and promotion of democracy, the
rule of law and human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom from
persecution. Moreover, the right to seek and to receive asylum from persecution
is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
2. The
Parliamentary Assembly is deeply concerned that these principles are in danger
of being undermined by a climate of hostility towards refugees, asylum seekers
and other persons in need of international protection in Europe. In recent
years, many European governments have introduced restrictions in their
immigration and asylum policies and practices with a view to substantially
reducing the number of refugees and asylum seekers on their territory. These
restrictions are reflected and amplified in the ever more intensive efforts by
the European Union to harmonise the asylum and immigration policies and
practices of its member and applicant states.
3. Restrictive policies
and practices may be classified into four types:
3.1. those designed to prevent undocumented travellers from arriving in
Council of Europe member states at all, whether genuine asylum seekers or not;
3.2. measures designed to expedite the consideration of
applications by those asylum seekers who do manage to reach their destination
or to shift the determination procedure to other countries;
3.3. restrictive interpretation of international refugee law, and in
particular the definition of the term "refugee";
3.4. deterrent
measures taken to make life uncomfortable for asylum seekers awaiting a
decision.
4. The Parliamentary Assembly is
particularly anxious to ensure that the European Union’s plan to establish a
common European asylum system provides sufficient protection for those in need.
Moreover, the Assembly considers that any European Union policies which have
the effect of reducing the responsibility of European Union member states for
persons in need of protection at the expense of non-member states are to be
avoided. In this connection, the Assembly stresses the need for sustained
co-ordination of asylum and immigration policies between the European Union and
Council of Europe member states which are not members of the European
Union.
5. The Parliamentary Assembly recalls and reaffirms its past recommendations designed to improve the protection and treatment afforded to asylum seekers and refugees, notably its Recommendation 1236 (1994) on the right of asylum; Recommendation 1237 (1994) on the situation of asylum seekers whose asylum applications have been rejected; Recommendation 1278 (1995) on refugees and asylum seekers in central and eastern Europe; Recommendation 1309 (1996) on the training of officials receiving asylum seekers at border points; Recommendation 1327 (1997) on the protection and reinforcement of the human rights of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe, and Recommendation 1374 (1998) on the situation of refugee women in Europe.
6. The Parliamentary
Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
6.1. step up the monitoring of member states’ compliance with
international refugee law and with the general principles governing the
protection of refugees and asylum seekers enshrined in the relevant
international instruments with a view to continuing to improve common standards
for the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers;
6.2. invite
Moldova and Ukraine to accede to the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the
Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, and Turkey to drop its geographic
limitation to the convention;
6.3. initiate action to ensure
the incorporation of the right of asylum into the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and report back on progress
made towards the fulfilment of this objective within a year;
6.4. draw up a European convention on the harmonisation of asylum policies
in Europe, in close co-operation with the European Union, with a view to
improving the standard of protection for refugees and asylum seekers in Europe
and strengthening solidarity between the member states with regard to their
responsibilities towards refugees and asylum seekers;
6.5. urge
the member states:
a. to undertake a thorough review of their obligations under the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol with a view to ensuring strict compliance;
b. to refrain from applying and legitimising regulations and practices which might hinder fair implementation of the right to asylum;
c. to recognise systematically, in their refugee status determination procedures:6.5.3.1. that persecution may not only originate from the authorities of the country of origin of an asylum seeker, but also from entities with no link to the state and over which it exercises no control;6.5.3.2. that war and violence may be used as instruments of persecution with a view to repressing or eliminating specific groups on account of their ethnicity or other characteristics;6.5.3.3. that asylum seekers should not be required to demonstrate that they have exhausted all possibilities of reaching safety in an area within their own country (the so-called "internal flight alternative") before seeking international protection;6.5.3.4. the right of women seeking asylum to apply separately from their spouses or companions in consideration of their specific needs and motivations;
d. to ensure that no asylum seeker is removed to a third country in contravention of Recommendation No. R (97) 22 of the Committee of Ministers to member states containing guidelines on the application of the safe third country concept or those of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;
6.6. call on the institutions of the European Union to ensure that the
planned common European asylum system in no way undermines the 1951 Geneva
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees nor has the effect of reducing
the responsibility of European Union member states for persons in need of
international protection at the expense of non-member
states.