Eurocommissar Cecilia Malmstroem points out the European Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Respecting and promoting the right to asylum is at the heart of the Union's efforts to build an area of freedom, security and justice.
Today we celebrate World Refugee Day, and this year we are marking the 60th anniversary of the signature of the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention. We should not forget that Europe – even in its recent history – has been a source of refugees and not just a recipient. Indeed, the 1951 Convention was adopted to help deal with the large numbers of persons who were uprooted by the Second World War – to give these people a legal status which would guarantee their protection from persecution. Until 1967, the geographic scope of Convention was limited to Europe, but it now has universal coverage, and has been signed by nearly 150 countries the world over.
Open immigration does not mean that anyone may enter the country at any location or in any manner he chooses; it is not unchecked or unmonitored immigration. Open immigration means that anyone is free to enter and reside in a country, providing that he enters at a designated checkpoint and passes an objective screening process, the purpose of which is to keep out criminals, terrorists, enemies of the country, and people with certain kinds of contagious diseases. Such a policy is not only politically right; it is morally right. http://venitism.blogspot.com
Malmstroem notes the European Union also emerged from the ashes of the Second World War, as a means of ensuring the lasting reconciliation of formerly warring nations. It is thus not surprising that the values enshrined in the Refugee Convention are particularly cherished by the European Union, and that it is accorded such a prominent place in the Union Treaties.
Most people do not understand the function of borders. A border is not properly a barrier for the purpose of keeping foreigners out; it is properly a boundary designating the area in which the government must protect rights. Rights-respecting foreigners who want to cross that boundary in order to enjoy the relative freedom and abundant opportunity in a country have a moral right to do so. http://venitism.blogspot.com
Likewise, citizens who want to associate with foreigners in rights-respecting ways, whether through friendship, romance, recreation, or commerce, have a moral right to do so. And citizens who do not want to associate with foreigners have a moral right not to associate with them. But no one, including the government, has a moral right to prevent anyone from acting on his judgment.
Malmstroem points out that over the years, Europe has offered protection, new hope and freedom to those in need of international protection. In the 1970s, many European countries welcomed boat people fleeing the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and of course in the 1990s, EU Member States took in large numbers of refugees from the Balkan wars, and especially from Kosovo. And, as you know, European countries have, in the last few years, been receiving many refugees from Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Somalia and other troubled parts of the world.
In recent months, conflict has come close to our borders, and large numbers of people have been displaced from Libya to Tunisia and Egypt, but also in some cases to us in Europe, including to here in Malta.
So Europe has a long humanitarian tradition. Yet the current practice in the implementation of the right of asylum shows that there are still wide divergences in the way Member States deal with applications for international protection. The way asylum seekers and refugees are treated and their chances of obtaining protection can still differ – sometimes quite significantly – from one EU State to another. These disparities should be significantly reduced.
The Tampere European Council of October 1999 reaffirmed the importance the Union and its Member States attach to absolute respect of the right to seek asylum and it agreed to work towards establishing a Common European Asylum System, based on the full and inclusive application of the Geneva Convention. We are actively working to complete this Common European System by 2012, the deadline set by the European Council when adopting the Stockholm Programme in December 2009.
Malmstroem asserts that in order to accomplish this in a complete and effective manner, we need both common laws and common practices. That is why, in the European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, adopted in September 2008, the European Council called for a European Asylum Support Office to be created to support the implementation of the Common European Asylum System. With remarkable speed by EU standards, the Regulation was finally adopted by the Council and Parliament just one year ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment