Seville, Spain

7-9 June 2002

CONFERENCE STATEMENT:

REFUGEE AGENCIES URGE EUROPE TO ENSURE SAFE ACCESS TO ASYLUM

The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)¹, meeting in Seville from 7-9 June 2002, urges European governments to use the opportunity of World Refugee Day on 20 June and the Seville Summit on 21-22 June to live up to the Tampere Summit commitments to “respect … the absolute right to seek asylum” and provide “guarantees to those who seek protection in or access to the European Union”. We demand that European governments reaffirm this commitment to the right to seek asylum consistent with the Declaration adopted on 12 December 2001 at the Ministerial Meeting of State Parties to the 1951 Convention.

Access is at the core of refugee protection. Without the possibility of access to territory, the right to seek asylum is meaningless. With the rise of xenophobia and racism in Europe, this is the time for strong political leadership to defend Europe´s humanitarian traditions towards refugees.

ECRE is extremely concerned at the tendency of European states to block access to their territories through tougher visa requirements, harsher border controls, carrier sanctions and other restrictive measures. We recognise the right of states to control their borders. Similarly, we recognise that States have an important and legitimate role in addressing people- smuggling and trafficking. However, we note that border control measures have not only obstructed the right of asylum seekers to access territory, but so have they had the effect of forcing illegal entry and reliance on criminal networks. The result has been countless deaths at European coasts and borders and the emergence of new forms of slavery and exploitation. We are again shocked by the news that at the very weekend of our meeting, 46 Kurds were forced in Southern Italy to jump from a boat and four dead bodies were found in the waters.

The hysteria currently dominating political debate on asylum and immigration is alarming. The perception of the continent being overwhelmed by irregular entrants is without basis. In fact, the total number of asylum seekers arriving in the EU over the past ten years has decreased and remains a fraction of the number received by developing countries. The lack of political leadership to foster confidence in the asylum system has fuelled public insecurity about Europe’s capacity to shape and manage a coherent migration and asylum policy. The answer to these public fears does not lie in ever-stricter control and enforcement measures.

ECRE calls on European governments to develop a Europe-wide co-ordinated strategy. This includes: the establishment of a principled and fair common European asylum system; a multi-faceted approach to global responsibility sharing; active engagement in the root causes of forced displacement; and a common immigration policy.

Europe needs political courage, leadership and determination to stand by its human rights commitments and ensure access to people in need of protection instead of blocking entry to everybody.

ECRE hence calls upon all European States:

1. To demonstrate the necessary political leadership to rebuild public confidence in the asylum system;

2. To incorporate fundamental safeguards consistent with international human rights and refugee law standards into border control measures that enable refugees to access European territory to present their asylum claims;

3. To significantly increase the European governments’ participation in resettlement programmes and to explore the potential of additional means of access to protection, such as embassy procedures, without prejudice to the right of spontaneous arrivals to seek and enjoy asylum on the territory of Europe;

4. To ensure that a harmonised European approach to safeguard access and protection for persons fleeing persecution forms part of a co-ordinated and comprehensive strategy, which addresses the causes of forced displacement and reinforce global responsibility sharing, including by channelling aid to countries of first asylum.

We invite European governments to engage in a constructive and urgent dialogue with the NGO community with a view to realising the vision of a fair, humane and effective European asylum policy in line with international legal obligations towards refugees and asylum seekers.

For further information please contact the ECRE Secretariat

in London: tel: + 44 20 7729 5152

fax:+ 44 20 7729 5141

e-mail: ecre@ecre.org

Address: Clifton Centre, Unit 22, 110 Clifton Street, London EC2A 4HT, UK

or Brussels: tel: + 32 2 514 5939

fax:+ 32 2 514 5922

e-mail: euecre@ecre.be

Address: 205 rue Belliard, Box 14, 1040 Brussels, Belgium