The European Commission has published a proposal that would allow EU member states to send asylum seekers to countries with which they have no connection, on the basis of procedures with limited safeguards and illusory promises of respect for human rights. Applied systematically, this could eviscerate the right to asylum in the European Union.
The May 20 proposal stretches the dubious logic of the “safe third country” concept to surreal limits. EU asylum law currently allows a member state to declare an asylum claim inadmissible on the grounds the person could or should have sought or received protection in a “safe third country,” outside the EU, to which that person has a connection. For years, the debate has been over how meaningful the connection had to be to justify applying this measure. Caving to pressure from a growing number of member states, the Commission is now saying no connection at all is required.
This means an EU country could send an asylum seeker to a country halfway around the world, where she has never been, doesn’t speak the language, and has no cultural ties, family or community, and where prospects for a fair procedure and support for rebuilding her life could be in doubt. Under the new proposal, her appeal of the decision would no longer prevent her from being put on a plane before the appeal is considered.
The proposal includes a requirement that the arrangement with a third country would be based on respect for human rights: but that is not reassuring. Human Rights Watch has consistently found these arrangements – the EU-Turkey deal or the US-Guatemala Cooperative Agreement, to name just two – lead to abuses. Bad in practice, efforts like these to externalize migration and asylum responsibilities also undermine good faith implementation of the letter and spirit of international human rights and refugee law.
Coming on the heels of a Commission plan for cruel and unrealistic new rules on deportations, this latest proposal further undermines the EU’s global standing.
The European Parliament and EU governments that care about respect for human rights and the rule of law should reject it.
