The walls of Fortress Europe are getting higher. Two major new developments arising from the European Union Tampere summit in October 1999 are taking shape.
A "white list" of countries, from which no one will be considered for asylum in the EU - whatever their circumstances - is being put in place. The draft list includes the African states of Benin, Botswana, Ghana, Mali and Senegal, as well as Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay. Member states can add coun tries to their national list, but they cannot remove names from the Euro-list, even on human rights grounds.
The European-wide list is modelled on one introduced by the Tory (conservative) government in Britain in 1993, with disastrous consequences for those from the listed countries fleeing persecution. It has been roundly condemned by activists and human rights organisations.
The 25 of the European Union have been given reports drawn up by the US state department, with some material from Amnesty International, in order to consider which countries should be included.
Amnesty has publicly stated it was not involved in the process and was not consulted about how its reports were being used.
The lack of objectivity of the US state department is well known.
The Immigration Advisory Service (IAS) in Britain has just produced a damning report of Britain's Country Information Policy Unit (CIPU). Country reports are used for assessing asylum decisions and at appeal level, and are taken by most judges to be objective and impartial.
The main source for these reports is.. the US state department.
IAS criticises the data in the reports for "serious breach of objectivity" and "unattributed statements" concluding that the reports still cannot be considered "credible or free from political or policy bias".
Yet this is the route the
IAS criticises the data in the reports for
"serious breach of
objectivity" and
"unattributed statements."
concluding that the
reports still cannot
be considered "credible or free from
political or policy
bias" European Union is likely to follow if the "white list" is agreed.
Statewatch, which monitors civil liberties in Europe, points out that there is even disagreement between European governments about the list.
But it has already been endorsed by the G5 countries: Spain, Germany, Italy, France Britain in July 2004 over deaths of imprisoned asylum seekers backed by the EU's new "justice, freedom and security" commissioner, Rocco Buttiglione. Italy's minister for Europe for three years, Buttiglione said recently that the EU was in danger of being "swamped by an "immigration time bomb". Italy is already funding transit camps in Tunisia.
Many refugees from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East do not currently make it to Europe - or elsewhere in the developed world. Rather they end up as refugees in countries in their own region.
There are 12 million refugees in the world and 7.9 million have been living in camps or settlements in appalling conditions for more than 10 years.
In contrast, even the six countries in Europe which take the greatest number of
together only granted refugee status to about 4,000 people in 2003.
And this still does not stop European governments attempting to make migrants MOKI action Ten thousand protestors in