Refugees are not parcels
Rome, 28 April 2010. "Refugees are not parcels," said an Afghan asylum seeker
speaking about his odyssey in Europe before finally arriving in Italy, which was the
country considered responsible to examine his application for protection.
The EU Dublin Regulation that regulates which Member State is responsible for the
examination of asylum applications in the EU was the focus of a seminar that
presented the findings of the Project Dubliners produced by the Italian Council for
Refugees (CIR), together with the Ministries of Interior and the organisations of 6
Member States.
Through 75 interviews with asylum seekers before and after being transferred from
one state to another, the project highlights the serious flaws of the "Dublin system"
and the human suffering it causes.
A person affected by the Dublin Regulation told us: "I am a Syrian Kurd. During the
Kurdish New Year celebrations I was arrested and imprisoned for six long months.
During this time I was tortured, and because of the beatings, I have serious problems
in my legs and cannot use my fingers. Thanks to my father, I managed to arrive to
Hungary where I applied for asylum. However, I did not get adequate medical
treatment there so I travelled to Austria where I had access to the medical care I
needed. Unfortunately, after a while my treatment was postponed because of the
Dublin Regulation in Hungary”.
In many states - not in Italy - asylum seekers are detained for months, pending the
determination of the country that will be considered responsible to examine the
asylum application. Often, asylum seekers don’t receive any information regarding
the procedure and their rights.
Officials from Sweden, Hungary and Italy, and representatives of NGOs from these
countries and Germany, Greece and Spain highlighted the difficulties in the
application of the regulation during this seminar, which was held yesterday in Rome.
Reforming the Dublin mechanism
EU governments and the European Parliament are currently negotiating a
Commission’s proposal to revise the Dublin Regulation. This proposed reform,
opposed by some countries, is supported by CIR and ECRE, the European Council
on Refugees and Exiles, as it is considered as a positive first step in improving a
system that is currently inefficient, dysfunctional and does not respect the rights of
people in need of international protection. The organisations welcome the special
attention given to children and other dependent members of the family. In particular,
children who have arrived alone to Europe would have to be reunited with their
relatives present in other Member States if this is in the child’s best interest.
Further information
- Dubliners: Research and exchange of experience and practice on the Implementation of the
Dublin II Council Regulation Establishing the Criteria for Determining the mechanism
and the Member State Responsible for Examining an asylum application lodged in one
of the Member State by third country national
- The Italian Refugee Council (CIR) is member of ECRE, the European Council on Refugees
and Exiles, and works in defense of refugees and asylum seekers' rights in Italy.
Contact
Valeria Carlini
Relazioni Esterne e Comunicazione
CIR Consiglio Italiano per i Rifugiati
via del Velabro 5/a 00186 Roma
tel. 06 69200114 fax 06 69200116
e-mail cirstampa@cir-onlus.org
www.cir-onlus.org
Αναδημοσίευση από: www.ecre.org
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