Mass repatriation of Afghan refugees, Council’s response

Parliamentary Questions

WRITTER QUESTION E-2565/02

Submission: Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Council

(05 September 2002)

E-2565/02

Answer

(20 February 2003)

1. After the fall of the Taliban regime and the establishment of new political institutions in Afghanistan, the issue of adopting programs aimed at the repatriation of Afghan nationals residing in the territory of the EU Member States is being examined both at the level of the concerned Member States and at the Union level. Some Member States have already undertaken such programs.

2. As regards the Union’s action in this area, it should be noted that the European Council in Seville called on the Council to approve, before the end of the year, a repatriation program based on the Commission’s Green Paper on return, which should equally aim at the “optimization of expedited returns to Afghanistan” (Conclusion no. 30).

In order to implement the conclusions of Seville, the Danish Presidency drafted a special repatriation program to Afghanistan, which is currently being examined within the relevant bodies of the Council and was submitted for an initial exchange of views to the Council on October 15, 2002. The Council approved the program at its meeting on November 28, 2002.

The Council notes that this repatriation program to Afghanistan must be considered within the framework of a general EU program that is being prepared. With the approval of this program, the Council deemed that the return to Afghanistan from the EU should begin at this stage, and that the status of Afghan nationals who decide not to voluntarily return will continue to be governed by the relevant national legislations, with full respect for the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. The Council also recognized the important role that both the Member States individually and the Community as a whole can play. For this purpose, the Program identifies in which cases European-level coordination will be most effective and in which cases the actions of Member States and the Community should be complementary. The responsibility for the implementation of the program remains primarily with the Member States, while the role of the Commission is more of a coordinating nature.