NGO Statement on the occasion of the final vote on the Asylum Package

After five years of negotiations, the European Parliament will be voting on the final adoption of the
‘asylum package’. Without any doubt, this is another milestone in the process of harmonisation in the
field of asylum; a process that started in Tampere in 1999 where EU leaders committed to establishing a
Common European Asylum System (CEAS), based on the full and inclusive application of the Geneva
Convention. A commitment that was reaffirmed in the 2009 Stockholm Programme calling for...read more

************

75 NGOs call the EU Member States and the European Commission to safeguard family life of migrants and refugees

On the occasion of the public hearing on family reunification of third country nationals living in the EU, we, the undersigned organisations, call on the European Commission and EU Member States to guarantee the effective right to family life and family reunification for all migrants and beneficiaries of international protection. It is in the interest of Member States to harmonize practices and legislation in the field of family reunification. We remind that Member States have the obligation to properly implement the EU Family Reunification Directive and to remove the many legal and practical obstacles to family reunion that exist today.
While all Member States could improve...read more, SPANISH, FRENCH

**************

The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission are entering a decisive stage in the negotiations on the Commission proposals recasting the Directive laying down standards for the reception of asylum seekers and the Dublin Regulation. An important part of these proposals deals with the detention of asylum seekers during the examination of their asylum application and during Dublin procedures and includes provisions with regard to grounds of detention, procedural safeguards, detention conditions and detention of vulnerable asylum seekers, including children.
The importance of this standard-setting exercise at EU level cannot be overstated also in light of its likely repercussions on detention practices in other regions of the world. Today, 166 organisations call on the EU institutions to seize this opportunity to adopt standards that fully endorse....read more

On behalf of 166 organisations, Amnesty International and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) submitted an appeal to the negotiators….

************

20.000 EU places and policy coherence for resettlement – by 2020!

Background
Refugee resettlement offers long-term protection to the world’s most vulnerable refugees. It is understood as a process by which refugees who fled their country of origin and have found initial, but neither sufficient nor permanent protection in a second country, are resettled to a third country in which they find permanent protection. It is often the only hope for refugees who would be in danger of being sent back to torture and abuse or risk spending the rest of their lives in unbearable conditions without any future perspectives. Resettlement often does not only help those refugees resettled, but is beneficial for other refugees. This is for example the case when an offer of a substantial number of resettlement places encourages...read more

************

The large majority of refugees are currently hosted by poorer countries in the world. In the 20th century, Europe was the scene of displacement but also of providing protection. In the past years, the numbers of refugees in Europe has drastically declined, in disproportion to the global level. Numbers of refugees vary significantly between different European countries. Overall, fewer refugees find access into Europe and access to effective protection.

Therefore, priorities will be:

Defending asylum (including complementary protection)
Additional forms of refugee protection; including resettlement of refugees to Europe
Revising the need for protection (e.g. environmental refugees, internal displacement)