UN urges France to ‘negotiate sustainable asylum reform’ in Europe

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today urged France, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, and its successor Czech Republic, to “negotiate a sustainable asylum reform” in order to put an end to “rights violations” at Europe ‘s borders.

The asylum and immigration reform, launched by the European Commission in September 2020, but which is fraught with deep differences between the 27 EU Member States, will be one of the main topics of the French Presidency, which began on 1 January.

In a letter containing its recommendations, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called for “negotiating a sustainable asylum reform under the Brussels Pact” presented by Brussels, as well as strengthening “support for countries” that are poor. or developing, where 85% of refugees live.

“We need to guarantee access to land and tackle human rights violations at the border, where violent returns continued in 2021, practices that endanger human lives and violate human rights, especially the right to asylum,” he said. Celine Smith, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in France, told AFP.

The service calls for “investigations” into these practices.

“The Migration Pact offers the opportunity to move from an ad hoc approach to a common, well-managed and predictable overall approach, strengthening ‘intra-European solidarity’,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said.

On this last point, the UNHCR wants to “launch a European search and rescue operation at sea”, mainly in the Mediterranean where only NGO boats are trying to rescue migrants, Celine Smith explained.

“As the number of people forcibly displaced around the world has reached record levels, where the number of arrivals in the EU remains manageable, it is essential that we re-engage in solidarity with refugees, between the Member States themselves and with the host countries. the majority of refugees in the world, “said Gonzalo Vargas Liosa, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Presenting his roadmap for the EU presidency in early December, French President Emanuel Macron spoke in favor of a Europe that “knows how to protect its borders” in the face of immigration crises and outlined a number of reforms, including Schengen area. He also warned of the danger of a Europe where the right to asylum could be abused.

SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ