Common Asylum and Security Procedure, Intervention

SESSION OF MONDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 2002 Common asylum and internal security procedure Karamanou (PSE). – Mr. President, Mr. Commissioner, it is clear that the events of September 11 and the war on terrorism have served as an excuse for many EU Member States to block the processes for a comprehensive European asylum policy. The number of asylum seekers in the European Union has dropped by almost a third in the first four months of 2002 compared to the same period last year, and it has almost halved over the past decade. In Greece, a country that generally respects asylum, the number of grants for the first seven months of 2002 does not exceed 59 out of 2,810 applications. This is a dramatic decrease compared to 2001, when the recognition rate was nearly ten times higher. At the same time, data from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees show that the majority of refugee populations find shelter in neighboring, similarly poor countries, while very few seek refuge in the West, if they succeed at all. It is telling that out of the 4 million Afghan refugees, only 38,600 asylum applications were made in the Union last year, meaning that only one in 1,000 Afghans sought protection from the European Union, while the majority sought refuge in neighboring countries. These figures alone demonstrate the folly of claims about so-called waves of refugees threatening Europe, and that is why we should not turn Europe into a fortress. At the same time, of course, hostility towards foreigners in the European Union is increasing, while the discussion moves away from the causes that push these people away from their homes and the violation of human rights in the countries of origin. The harsh control measures not only fail to prevent asylum seekers from approaching the Union, but lead many to enter illegally and inevitably cooperate with trafficking networks. The result is that we count dead bodies at European borders and coastlines, and new forms of slavery and exploitation are emerging. We agree with the open method of coordination, Mr. Commissioner, but it is not a comprehensive solution to the problem. We hope that by the end of 2003, we will have a comprehensive policy.