Raad van Europa roept lidstaten op om eerlijkheid boven snelheid te plaatsen bij beoordeling asielzoekers (en)

Strasbourg, 09.12.2005 - In a statement adopted today during its meeting in Paris, the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) expressed its deep concern over the way in which accelerated asylum procedures are developing in Europe:

"Accelerated procedures, leading to allegations of `refoulement' of asylum seekers, are increasingly used across Europe. The return of those arriving on the Italian island of Lampedusa, or the return of those who have managed to scale the protective barriers of the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, are two of the most publicised examples of 2005 of concern to the committee.

Worrying developments within the EU risk aggravating the situation further. The adoption on 1 December 2005 of the new Asylum Procedures Directive, which allows for accelerated procedures in a wide range of circumstances, has been criticised for collecting together dubious practices from states across Europe and legitimising them in the Directive.

These procedures, including special procedures at the border and the possibility of sending people back to safe third countries, risk compromising the rights of asylum seekers.

The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population therefore calls on member states of the Council of Europe, on Human Rights Day, 10 December 2005, to reverse the tendency of favouring speed over fairness in asylum procedures, a concern previously highlighted in Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1471 (2005) on accelerated asylum procedures in Council of Europe member states."

Contact:

Communication Unit of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly

Tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93 Fax +33 3 90 21 41 34; e-mail: pace.com@coe.int