The future of asylum applications outside the EU
In the media image: USGS on Unsplash
The Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service wants to process asylum applications outside the EU before asylum seekers reach Europe. Mark Klaassen, Assistant Professor of Immigration Law, questions the feasibility of the plan on the NOS news site.
The idea, in line with the recently adopted European Migration Pact, is that people would no longer need to make the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean. Instead, they could apply for asylum in a safe third country. Asylum seekers who nevertheless submit a spontaneous claim within the EU could then be transferred to that safe third country to complete the asylum procedure. The Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) sees this as a possible solution, while acknowledging that the practical implementation is challenging. Countries must be willing to cooperate, and reception facilities must be safe and humane.
Researchers at the Clingendael Institute have examined the proposal and consider it legally feasible, but they question its practical viability. Close cooperation with third countries is essential. Experts also point to risks for human rights and to the difficulty of monitoring whether these rights are upheld.
Klaasen has little faith in the plan. ‘The minimum requirement is always that people are treated with dignity in that third country. The likelihood of finding such conditions is doubtful.’ Since 2011, EU Member States have not been allowed to return asylum seekers to Greece because reception conditions there do not meet the standards. ‘If we can’t ensure this within the EU itself, how can we guarantee that it will work at the international level?’
More information?
Read the full NOS article (in Dutch)