No

No. 1

February 2003

ECRE DOCUMENTATION SERVICE

Policy developments........................................................................................................................................................................................ 5

unhcr................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5

UNHCR calls for stronger donor support....................................................................................................................................................... 5

UNHCR draws up contingency plans for a massive Iraqi refugee crisis........................................................................................... 5

UNHCR Publications:............................................................................................................................................................................................ 5

Asylum applications lodged in Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. January – December 2002....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Council of Europe..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Committee of Ministers.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Parliamentary Assembly....................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

The Assembly calls on Russia to create conditions for Chechnya referendum......................................................................................... 6

OSCE................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6

The Netherlands takes over OSCE Chairmanship...................................................................................................................................... 6

OSCE and Council of Europe plan joint action on Chechnya and trafficking in human beings.............................................. 6

OSCE mission is Chechnya closed.................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Second Preparatory Seminar on trafficking.................................................................................................................................................. 6

EU Enlargement........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6

Referenda in the accession countries............................................................................................................................................................... 6

The reunification of Cyprus................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

Russian minority in Baltic States on EU agenda.......................................................................................................................................... 7

Lithuania implements new regulations on Kaliningrad............................................................................................................................ 7

Accession treaties are finalised........................................................................................................................................................................... 7

TEAM calls Malta EU referendum campaign "unfair".................................................................................................................................. 8

Malta Labour Party to campaign for ‘No’ vote........................................................................................................................................... 8

Candidates States demand equality................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Legal Developments.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

UNHCR............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 9

UNHCR Guidelines on Cessation Clause...................................................................................................................................................... 9

United Nations Committee Against Torture........................................................................................................................................... 9

Sweden......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Yugoslavia................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 10

COUNCIL OF EUROPE......................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)................................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

Albania................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Azerbaijan.............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

Cyprus.................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Italy......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Portugal.................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

Turkey.................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS................................................................................................................................................ 13

National Developments............................................................................................................................................................................. 15

albania.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Roundtable in Albania agrees to draft national strategy for Roma minorities............................................................................. 15

Austria.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Compulsory German classes for non-EU foreigners with residence permits................................................................................ 15

Right to vote for foreigners at district level in Vienna............................................................................................................................. 15

Denial of access to federal reception facilities by Ministerial directive is being challenged on grounds of discrimination.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Internal border controls could be kept until the end of this decade.................................................................................................. 15

Belarus......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

New OSCE office in Minsk................................................................................................................................................................................. 16

Belgium......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

Database to speed up visa process................................................................................................................................................................. 16

CROATIA...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

Positive steps towards solution for tenancy rights................................................................................................................................... 16

Czech republic......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

Number of asylum seekers dropped by half in 2002................................................................................................................................ 16

Hunger strikes by asylum seekers in Kostelec nad Orlici..................................................................................................................... 17

Denmark....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Denmark introduces harsher measures for rejected asylum seekers, while offering financial incentives to those who voluntarily return home............................................................................................................................. 17

Denmark is ignoring advice of the UNHCR............................................................................................................................................... 17

Proposal to double the number of hours of Danish lessons for asylum-seekers............................................................................ 17

France........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Calais refuge is not a new Sangatte, say the French.............................................................................................................................. 18

Outrage over deportee deaths in France...................................................................................................................................................... 18

New measures on reception............................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Instructions to prefects to use common criteria to process applications for residence permit by irregular migrants................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

New Asylum Bill..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Germany says asylum applications dropped by nearly one-fifth last year..................................................................................... 18

Initiative aimed at granting residence permits to rejected asylum-seekers.................................................................................... 18

Greece............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 18

Deadline for former migrants to apply for a residence permit extended for the third time..................................................... 18

Children of immigrants legally residing in Greece will no longer risk becoming ‘illegal immigrants’ on their 18 birthday.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Ireland.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Supreme Court ruling puts an end to the automatic right of third country nationals to stay in Ireland following the birth of a child............................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Refugee applicants allocated housing in 'direct provision' centres would forfeit their right to welfare payments if they leave.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Proposal to fast-track claims from 'safe' states criticised...................................................................................................................... 18

Work permits for immigrants to be restricted............................................................................................................................................. 18

Garda operations may alienate immigrants............................................................................................................................................... 18

Dublin may follow UK’s example of sanctioning asylum-seekers who do not apply immediately upon arrival........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 18

lithuania...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Lithuania prepares for accession.................................................................................................................................................................... 18

macedonia................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Amnesty concerns over police torture........................................................................................................................................................... 18

netherlands............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

No major changes in accelerated 48-hour procedure in application centers................................................................................ 18

Immigrants should be paid a sum by the government upon completion of integration course.............................................. 18

Number of asylum seekers falls in 2002....................................................................................................................................................... 18

ID checks to be introduced................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Dutch election results.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Expelled Bulgarians and Romanians to be deprived of a passport for two years........................................................................ 18

NORWAY..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Annual statistics..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Medical examination introduced to assess the age of unaccompanied minors............................................................................. 18

Iraq applications suspended............................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Change in legal aid services.............................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Asylum seekers with unfounded claims to be deported within 48 hours......................................................................................... 18

POLAND....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Russian federation................................................................................................................................................................................................ 18

The law “on the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation.................................................................................... 18

Restrictions on unregistered residents in Kabardino-Balkaria........................................................................................................... 18

Russia forcing refugees back into Chechnya............................................................................................................................................... 18

Immigration quotas to increase....................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Migration card checks in Moscow.................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Spain.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Spain eases its citizenship laws........................................................................................................................................................................ 18

sweden........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Backtrack on Swedish labour market access.............................................................................................................................................. 18

Sweden to give precedence to child asylum seekers................................................................................................................................. 18

Switzerland............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Calls for tougher asylum laws.......................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Fearing isolation from Europe......................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Repatriation agreements..................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Genuine refugees will not be forgotten......................................................................................................................................................... 18

Uproar forces Swiss town to drop 'apartheid' rules................................................................................................................................ 18

Calls for more targeted immigration............................................................................................................................................................. 18

Zurich urges rethink of asylum laws.............................................................................................................................................................. 18

Turkey prepares for refugee influx.................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Ukraine......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

UNITED KINGDOM................................................................................................................................................................................................ 18

High Court judge rules that welfare system under new Asylum Act breaches the asylum seekers’ human rights......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Immigration health risks..................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Tories demand tougher checks........................................................................................................................................................................ 18

Asylum hotel scheme thrown into disarray.................................................................................................................................................. 18

Revision of international obligations............................................................................................................................................................. 18

Refugee Council proposes its own plan........................................................................................................................................................ 18

Raids on firms employing illegal workers.................................................................................................................................................... 18

Tightening rules on citizenship........................................................................................................................................................................ 18

More countries declared ‘safe’........................................................................................................................................................................ 18

Removal targets under threat with lack of co-operation from the airlines...................................................................................... 18

Further plans to reduce asylum applications............................................................................................................................................. 18

YUGOSLAVIA........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Serbia hopes to settle refugee problems this year.................................................................................................................................... 18

Brussels Developments.............................................................................................................................................................................. 18

New ECRE Comments on amended procedures proposal............................................................................................................... 18

PRESIDENCIES OF THE EU............................................................................................................................................................................... 18

The Greek Presidency.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Justice and Home Affairs Councils during the Greek Presidency...................................................................................................... 18

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION...................................................................................................................................................... 18

Formal adoption of the reception conditions directive........................................................................................................................... 18

Final adoption of Dublin II................................................................................................................................................................................ 18

List of safe third countries................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Illegal immigration............................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

EUROPEAN COMMISSION................................................................................................................................................................................ 18

Eurodac..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Second report on the implementation of a common asylum policy.................................................................................................... 18

Communication on the integration of third country nationals............................................................................................................. 18

Proposal for a decision to establish migratory cooperation programme with third countries............................................... 18

Commission proposal for a Council decision on expulsion.................................................................................................................. 18

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT................................................................................................................................................................................ 18

Strasbourg Plenary, January 2003................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Human Rights Report.......................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Afghanistan........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Common immigration policy............................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Asylum................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Return and Readmission..................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Institutional Questions........................................................................................................................................................................................ 18

Third country nationals/economic activities:.................................................................................................................................................. 18

Committee activities............................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Family Reunification........................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR THE FUTURE OF EUROPE........................................................................................................ 18

The Institutional Debate..................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Parliament................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 18

Council...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Commission.............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Publications, websites and events................................................................................................................................................ 18

publications............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

European Commission......................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Study on the Feasibility Of Processing Asylum Claims Outside the EU.................................................................................................. 18

Anti-Slavery International.................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Human Traffic, Human Rights: Redefining victim protection.................................................................................................................... 18

Human Rights Watch........................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

IOM Publications.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford....................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Working Papers.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Other publications................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Statewatch................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 18

events............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 18

UNHCR summer course on refugees............................................................................................................................................................. 18

Trafficking in Persons Conference................................................................................................................................................................. 18

Refugee Women and the Law: gender, inter-culturalism and asylum in Ireland Conference................................................. 18

Human rights seminar series at the Institute of Commonwealth studies......................................................................................... 18

Weekly Seminars on Forced Migration........................................................................................................................................................ 18

Other Forthcoming Courses............................................................................................................................................................................. 18

New Young Europeans Project......................................................................................................................................................................... 18

International Summer School in Forced Migration.................................................................................................................................. 18

ECRE Projects.......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

Central Europe Fundraising Project........................................................................................................................................................ 18

No. 1

February 2003

ECRE DOCUMENTATION SERVICE

Policy developments

UNHCR

UNHCR Guidelines on Cessation Clause

On 10 February 2003, UNHCR "Guidelines on International Protection: Cessation of Refugee Status under Article 1C(5) and (6) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the 'ceased circumstances' clauses), (HCR/GIP/03/03)" were published.

They represent the third set of guidelines in the new series of Guidelines on International Protection, arising as part out of the Second Track of the Global Consultations on International Protection.

These Guidelines follow the first two guidelines in this series, on gender-related persecution and membership of a particular social group. Together with the Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (Geneva, 1979, reedited January 1992), which they complement, the Guidelines on International Protection may be considered the most important tool in understanding UNHCR’s authoritative interpretations of the 1951 Convention and related asylum matters.

The Guidelines are available on the UNHCR website: www.unhcr.ch > Refworld > Legal Information > Guidelines

United Nations Committee Against Torture

The Communications of the Committee are available on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. http://www.unhchr.ch)

Sweden

During its 29^th Session in November 2002, the Committee Against Torture considered a complaint by Mr Hassan Karbalai, an Iranian national against Sweden for alleged violation of Article 3 of the CAT (Communication No. 204/2002 of 28/11/2002).

In October 1989, the complainant came to Sweden where he applied for asylum to the National Immigration Board (now Migration Board). In his claim, he submitted that he was arrested several times in the 1980s for illegal political activities. In addition, he allegedly killed a revolutionary guard accidentally in September 1989. Before fleeing to Sweden, he hid in and around Tehran. In 1990, the Migration Board rejected the complainant’s application as he had given contradictory information about his political activities. The Aliens Appeal Board rejected his appeal for similar reasons.

In 1994, the complainant was prosecuted for drug smuggling in Sweden. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and ordered to be deported, as he was considered a danger to the public. He failed in his efforts to appeal his case to the Appellation Court for Middle Sweden and then the Supreme Court.

Although the CAT recognizes the ongoing and widespread human rights violations in Iran, it dismissed the complaint of the applicant in view of the large amounts of inconsistencies presented by him.

There were several inconsistencies in the applicant’s case concerning his alleged political activities, the circumstances of the death of his mother and other. The applicant had claimed that these inconsistencies were due to the excessive amount of torture he had been subjected to. Nevertheless, he was unable to provide any evidence to support his allegations of suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.

It should be mentioned that this is the second complaint of the sort lodged against Sweden.

Yugoslavia

Also, in the 29^th Session, the Committee Against Torture considered a case filed by 65 persons, all of Roma origin against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) (Communication No. 161/2000 of 2/12/2002). The complainants, all FRY nationals, claimed that Yugoslavia has violated articles 1, para.1, 2, para.1, 12, 13, 14 and 16, para.1, of the CAT.

The incidents which occurred in April 1995, involved the destruction of Roma settlements in Bozova Glavica, Danilovgrad, Montenegro, by non-Roma following an alleged rape of a local (non-Roma) girl by two Roma youths. In this event, the local police did nothing to prevent the destruction. In fear for their lives, the Danilovgrad Roma fled the town and moved to the outskirts of Podgorica where most still live in terrible conditions and in abject poverty. Moreover, in the aftermath of the incident, several Roma were fired from the jobs they held in Danilovgrad.

In the view of the Committee, the burning and destruction of houses constitute acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It also concluded that the nature of these acts is further aggravated by the fact that some of the complainants were still hidden in the settlement when the houses were burnt and destroyed, the particular vulnerability of the alleged victims and the fact that the acts were committed with a significant level of racial motivation.

The Committee found that the police, although they were aware of the danger and were present at the scene of the events, did not take any steps to protect the complainants, thus implying their acquiescence with the pogrom that ensued. The Committee reiterated its concerns about inaction by police and law-enforcement officials who fail to provide adequate protection against racially motivated attacks when such groups have been threatened.

The Committee stressed that, despite the participation of several hundred non-Roma in the events and the presence of a number of police officers, no participant or police officer was ever brought to trial. It requested that authorities conduct a proper investigation into the incident, prosecute and punish those responsible, and provide redress to the victims as requested by Article 12 of the CAT. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) was found in violation of articles 12,13 and 16 para.1 of the CAT regarding Roma.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE

European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)

The full text of the following reports are available on: http://www.cpt.coe.int

Albania

On 22 January 2003, the Albanian Government authorised the publication of all reports on visits to the country by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment (CPT). The reports concern four visits, carried out between 1997 and 2001. They provide a full picture of the evolution and impact of the CPT’s work in Albania over the past five years.

The CPT has visited numerous establishments, including police stations, prisons and psychiatric hospitals, throughout the country. Particular areas of concern, addressed in the reports, are ill treatment by the police, poor material conditions in police detention facilities, prison overcrowding and precarious living conditions of psychiatric patients. In these reports, the CPT has made detailed recommendations to improve the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in the mentioned places.

In their responses, which are published together with the reports, the Albanian authorities provided detailed information on the measures taken to implement the CPT’s recommendations. One particularly noteworthy development was a significant decrease in the number of deaths at Elbasan Psychiatric Hospital, following improvements made regarding heating, hygiene and food in the establishment.

Azerbaijan

A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has recently carried out its first visit to Azerbaijan. The visit took place from 24 November to 6 December 2002 and was organised within the framework of the CPT's programme of periodic visits for 2002. During the visit, the CPT's delegation focused its attention on the treatment of persons detained by the police, the situation of remand prisoners, the care provided to inmates suffering from tuberculosis, and conditions in military detention facilities. The delegation also visited a centre for forensic psychiatric assessment and two Border Guard establishments.

Cyprus

On 15 January 2003, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) published its report assessing the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in Cyprus. The report was published at the request of the Cypriot authorities together with their response and concerns a visit carried out in May 2000.

The visit did not extend to the occupied part of the island. The CPT expresses the hope that, in the interests of avoiding a vacuum as regards the protection of human rights in that part of Cyprus, appropriate ways and means will be found to enable the Committee to exercise its mandate throughout the island.

The information gathered during the visit indicated that physical ill treatment by the police remained a serious problem in Cyprus. In their response, the Cypriot authorities describe measures taken to combat police ill treatment, which include the adoption of legislation that will introduce a presumption of ill treatment by the police in case a detained person displays injuries at the end of his custody.

The CPT also re-examined the situation at Nicosia Central Prisons, as regards, inter alia, the regime offered to prisoners, confidentiality of medical information, segregation of hepatitis/HIV positive prisoners and treatment of mentally -ill prisoners.

Italy

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) published, on 29 January 2003, two new reports assessing the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in Italy. The reports, which were published at the request of the Italian authorities, together with their responses, concern the third periodic visit to Italy in February 2000 and a follow-up visit carried out at San Vittore Prison (Milan) in November 1996.

The CPT made numerous recommendations concerning the prison system. In their response, the authorities describe efforts made to ensure appropriate contacts and activities for prisoners subject to that regime. In addition, they outline the measures taken following the CPT’s recommendations concerning Bologna and Naples (Poggioreale) Prisons; they relate in particular to the improvement of the material conditions of detention and of the programmes of activities offered to prisoners.

A number of recommendations were also made by the Committee concerning establishments for minors (Bari, Bologna, Nisida), as well as the Judicial Psychiatric Hospital in Montelupo Fiorentino. In their response, the authorities informed the CPT of their decision to entirely rebuild the Penal Institution for Minors in Bologna and to set up an ad hoc commission mandated to analyse the specific problems faced by judicial psychiatric hospitals.

Moldova

Following its first visit, in November 2000, to the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova (a region which unilaterally declared itself an independent republic in 1991), the Anti-Torture Committee of the Council of Europe submitted a report highlighting the severe overcrowding of penitentiary establishments. It also expressed great concern about the inadequate level of care provided to prisoners suffering from tuberculosis. In their response, the local authorities of the Transnistrian region describe various measures taken to tackle these problems but also stress that progress is hindered by a lack of funds.

In its report, the CPT also draws attention to the significant number of detained persons, interviewed by its delegation, who alleged ill treatment by the police. It recommends a strengthening of fundamental safeguards against ill treatment as well the stepping up of professional training for law enforcement officials. The CPT also identified measures to improve the poor conditions in the detention facility at Tiraspol Police Headquarters. The local authorities of the Transnistrian region emphasised their willingness to implement the CPT’s recommendations and highlighted various specific steps already taken.

In response to concerns expressed by the CPT about the solitary confinement regime applied to three members of the Ilaşcu group, the local authorities of the Transnistrian region affirm that the prisoners concerned were isolated at their own request. One of those prisoners, the parliamentarian Ilie Ilaşcu, was released on 5 May 2001.

The report on the November 2000 visit was published on 12 December 2002, with the agreement of both the authorities of the Republic of Moldova and the local authorities of the Transnistrian region.

Portugal

Starting 17 December 2002, a delegation of CPT undertook a four-day visit to Portugal. The purpose of the visit was to review developments at Oporto Prison. The Committee had previously visited Oporto Prison in May 1995, October 1996 and April 1999. On those occasions, the prison was overcrowded and prisoners' living areas were unhygienic. There was a high level of inter-prisoner intimidation/violence, drugs were widely available and staffing levels on the wings were inadequate. Following the 1999 visit, the Portuguese authorities informed the CPT of action taken in the light of the CPT's recommendations and invited the Committee to revisit the establishment.

Slovenia

In a visit conducted to Slovenia in September 2001, Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) assessed the treatment of people held in police stations, prisons, psychiatric establishments and centres for illegal aliens.

In general, persons deprived of their liberty by the police in Slovenia are treated correctly. Nevertheless, the CPT has emphasised the need to exercise continuing vigilance in this area. In their response, the Slovenian authorities indicated that police training has been further improved and that police complaints procedures will be made more effective in the future. Further positive developments include the continuing refurbishment of all police stations and the planned closing down of the centre for aliens in Ljubljana and the opening of a new facility in Postojna.

Since the CPT's first visit to Slovenia in 1995, the country's prison population has grown by more than 80% and has resulted in overcrowding in certain establishments. The Committee has proposed measures to curb this trend. In this connection, the Slovenian authorities have taken steps to make increased use of probation and early release. The CPT has also made recommendations to improve remand prisoners' contacts with their families; the Slovenian authorities have subsequently introduced measures to this effect.

As regards social welfare establishments and psychiatric hospitals, the Committee has stressed that net-beds are not an appropriate means of dealing with agitated residents or patients. The authorities also refer to measures aimed at improving living conditions at the two psychiatric establishments visited by the CPT, such as replacing large dormitories by smaller rooms.

In practice, smaller police stations were still being used occasionally for detention periods exceeding 12 hours, including for overnight stays. The CPT recommends that the Slovenian authorities pursue their efforts to ensure full implementation of the Norms for the Construction, Adaptation and Maintenance of Detention Premises.

As already indicated, foreign nationals detained under aliens legislation may be detained by the police for up to six months and, on occasion, even longer. Such periods of detention call for a better material environment. Legally speaking, there is only one police detention facility for foreigners awaiting deportation in Slovenia. Nevertheless, in practice, the management of the centre in Ljubljana (COT) is also in charge of other similar facilities in Postojna, Prosenjakovci and Vidonci. These facilities are considered as sections of the Ljubljana centre. The Detention Centre for Aliens (COT), in Ljubliana is in shared premises with the Slovenian Asylum Centre. The centre held 42 persons belonging to the so-called "vulnerable group" of detained foreign nationals. However, as borne out by its registers, the centre usually held higher numbers. The average length of stay at the centre was 10 days, although some of the inmates had remained there for several months.

Reference should also be made to the reception/transit area (which was the central facility for all foreign nationals detained in Slovenia, except for those held at Prosenjakovci) located in the same building. It received on average 20 to 40 persons per day; on the first day of the visit, 26 persons (23 adult men, one woman and two juveniles) were present in this basement-level facility.

Turkey

In a response published on 24 January 2003, the Turkish Government gives its views on the issues raised by the CPT after a visit to Turkey in September 2001.

In its report on the September 2001 visit, published on 24 April 2002, the CPT assessed the treatment of persons held in police stations, prisons and reformatories for juveniles. The response to that report is published at the request of the Turkish authorities. The Turkish Government’s response was finalised on 20 September 2002. Consequently, it does not reflect the most recent developments on some of the issues raised by the CPT in its report.

As a result of legislative amendments which entered into force on 11 January 2003, important improvements have been introduced concerning two subjects of particular interest to the CPT: access to a lawyer for detained persons suspected of offences falling under the jurisdiction of the State Security Courts, and criminal proceedings in respect of ill-treatment.

Further, thanks to a Circular issued by the Minister of Justice on 10 October 2002, all prisoners in F-type prisons can now participate in the regular conversation periods for groups of up to ten persons, irrespective of whether they already take part in another communal activity.

Ukraine

From 24 November to 6 December 2002, a delegation of the CPT carried out a visit to Ukraine.

During the visit, the CPT's delegation paid particular attention to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement agencies and reviewed developments concerning penitentiary establishments and mental health institutions since its last visit two years ago. The delegation also examined in detail the situation of immigration detainees.

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The full text of the following cases are available on: http://www.echr.coe.int

Amicable settlement offered in the case of Roma family expelled from Italy [Sulejmanovic and others and Sejdovic and Sulejmanovic v. Italy (Appl. No.57574/00; 57575/00)]

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has unanimously agreed, on 8 November 2002, to strike the cases off the list after the acceptance of an amicable settlement offered by the Italian Government. The Case concerns the collective expulsion, on 3 March 2000, of two Bosnian families of Roma origin (Sulejmanovic and Sejdovic), composed of 16 members, from Italy to Bosnia. Their applications to the ECtHR were declared admissible on the grounds of complaints based on violations of Articles 3 and 13 of the ECHR and Article 4 of Protocol No. 4.

In similar cases, the ECtHR saw a violation of Article 4 Protocol No.4 in the expulsion of 74 rejected Slovak asylum seekers from Belgium (See Conka v. Belgium (51564/99). In Andric v. Sweden, the ECtHR ruled in February 1999 that ‘the fact that a number of aliens receive similar decisions does not lead to the conclusion that there is collective expulsion when each person concerned has been given the opportunity to put arguments against his expulsion to the competent authorities on an individual basis’.

Based on this reasoning, the facts of the present case (procedural flows) allow the presumption that the procedures followed by the Italian authorities did not afford sufficient guarantees to demonstrate that the personal circumstances of each of those concerned had been genuinely and individually taken into consideration.

Under the terms of the amicable settlement, Italy agreed to revoke the expulsion orders, allow the return of the two families and their children to Italy, grant them humanitarian resident permits and pay financial compensation to all of them. In addition, the settlement agreement requires the Italian government to provide the applicants with temporary accommodation, school enrolment for the children and medical care for one minor child of the family who suffers from the Down’s syndrome.

Libyan asylum seeker’s case declared admissible on the basis of Article 5(1) ECHR [Abdesalam Shamsa and Anwar Shamsa v. Poland (Appl. No. 45355/99; 45357/99]

On 5 December 2002, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) declared the cases of Abdesalam Shamsa and Anwar Shamsa against Poland admissible on alleged violation of Article 5 para.1 of the ECHR for their detention in the Warsaw international airport zone.

The applicants are Libyan nationals who were arrested in Warsaw, in May 1997, following identity verification. The Polish authorities decided to expel them to their country of origin since they were not able to provide valid residence permits.

The Warsaw District Prosecutor ordered their detention. The appeal against this decision failed and between August and September 1997, the Polish authorities tried to expel them to Libya at least three times. Each time they were returned to Poland, since they refused to carry on their journey once arrived in the transit country. Upon their last return to Poland, they were declared undesirable on Polish territory and placed in detention by the border guards at the Warsaw airport. However, they went on hunger strike and were taken to hospital in October 1997. They managed to walk out free from the hospital and lodged a complaint before domestic courts arguing that their detention at the Warsaw airport international transit zone between August and October 1997 was unlawful. This action, as well as the successive appeals failed, the arguments of the courts being that the transit zone was not part of Polish territory and that the applicants were kept there because they thwarted the various expulsion attempts.

Six cases lodged by Chechen victims of Russian army declared admissible [Isayeva, Yusupova and Bazayeva v. Russia (Appl. N. 57947/00; 57948/00; 57949/00); Isayeva v. Russia (Appl. N. 57950/00); Akayeva and Khashiyev v. Russia (Appl. N. 57942/00; 57945/00)]

On 19 December 2002, the European Court of Human Rights declared admissible on all grounds six cases lodged by Chechen refugees who were victims of the Russian army and/or Air Force as they tried to flee from Russian military operations. The complaints are based on inter alia, Article 2 (1), which guarantees the right to life and Article 13, on the right to an effective remedy.

The facts of the cases are as follows: all the applicants lost family members in the attacks. When they complained to local authorities, they were told that either the killings were carried out by Chechen rebels or were the inevitable consequences of absolutely necessary operations of the Russian military against Chechen rebels.

In the case of three applicants, they were not even able to flee safely from Russian military operations. An attempt was made to leave Grozny for Ingushetia in October 1999, but they were stopped at a military checkpoint and forced to return to Grozny. The applicants came under air attack by Russian planes and a number of relatives were either killed or wounded.

The Russian Government tried, in vain, to have these applications declared inadmissible on the ground that the applicants had not exhausted all domestic remedies. The government acknowledged that the judiciary in Chechnya is indeed not functioning properly but claimed the applicants still had the possibility to apply to the Supreme Court or to the courts of their new places of residence.

The ECtHR nevertheless declared the case admissible referring inter alia to the arguments of the applicants who pointed out that the majority of crimes and killings committed in Chechnya were not properly investigated and prosecution hardly ever took place.

Case of Egyptian asylum-seeker struck out due to home country’s refusal to agree to conditions for his extradition [Bilasi-Ashiri v. Austria (Appl. N. 3314/02)]

On 26 November 2002, the European Court of Human Rights, unanimously decided to strike out of its list the case of Bilasi-Ashiri (No.3314/02), following the decision of the Austrian Ministry of Justice to release him from detention in August 2002.

The applicant, of Egyptian nationality, claimed asylum in Austria in 1998. During the determination procedure, the Egyptian government requested his extradition on the grounds that he had been sentenced in absentia in 1995 by the Egyptian State Security Emergency Court for membership of an illegal association threatening national order and security by means of violence and terror.

When deciding upon his extradition, the Vienna Court of Appeal set a number of preconditions, including the annulment of the 1995 conviction, a retrial before an ordinary court, respect for the applicant’s safety and an undertaking that he would not be expelled to a third country for an offence not covered in the extradition request.

The Egyptian authorities refused to accept these preconditions with the consequence that the extradition was not carried out.

albania

Roundtable in Albania agrees to draft national strategy for Roma minorities

Plans to draft a national strategy aimed at improved living conditions for the Roma minority community in Albania were agreed on the 4^th February at an OSCE-financed roundtable.

The participants, who represented different Roma NGOs throughout Albania and representatives of different ministries and institutions, addressed issues related to the educational level of the Roma community, poverty, shelter, and other areas of concern, as well as touching on possible solutions. The plan foresees the signatory parties creating a working group, which will be in charge of drafting what is referred to as a National Strategy for the Improvement of Living Conditions of the Roma Minority in Albania.

Austria

Compulsory German classes for non-EU foreigners with residence permits

Beginning in December 2002, non-EU foreigners with residence permits who arrived after January 1, 1998 and who do not know German must attend and pay half the cost of German language classes. Failure to do so can lead to a reduction in welfare benefits and non-renewal of a residence permit. These so-called "integration contracts" aim to reduce unemployment and crime among foreigners.

Right to vote for foreigners at district level in Vienna

In December 2002, the city of Vienna gave foreigners who have lived in Austria more than five years the right to vote at the district level.

Denial of access to federal reception facilities by Ministerial directive is being challenged on grounds of discrimination

A Russian asylum seeker who, together with his family, were denied access to the Federal Reception Centre in Traiskirchen have complained to the Austrian Constitutional Court. The decision to deny the applicant access was based on the directive of the Ministry of Interior, which excludes certain groups of nationality from Federal reception facilities.

Lawyers acting on behalf of the asylum seeker argued that the Ministerial directive would violate the prohibition of racial discrimination, as well as the prohibition to discriminate among foreigners in the Austrian Constitution. The Constitutional Court is likely to hear the case in March 2003.

Internal border controls could be kept until the end of this decade

Austrian Minister of the Interior Ernst Strasser has stated that Austria intends to maintain controls on common borders with the future new EU Member States (Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic) after their accession on 1 May 2004, or even until the end of this decade.

Belarus

New OSCE office in Minsk

A new OSCE Office opened in Minsk from January 1, 2003, replacing the OSCE Advisory and Monitoring Group, which ceased its activities on December 31, 2002. The mandate of the new Office in Minsk was the subject of some discussion as Belarus officials wanted less emphasis on human rights and democracy monitoring as according to them the previous OSCE mission "led to interference in internal affairs of a sovereign state, (and) undermined the trust of the Belarusian government ... as well as the confidence of the Belarusian public."

It was agreed that the mandate for the new office will be to "assist the Belarusian Government in further promoting institution-building, in further consolidating the Rule of Law and in developing relations with civil society, in accordance with OSCE principles and commitments". The Office will also assist the Belarusian Government in its efforts in developing economic and environmental activities and will monitor and report accurately on the above objectives.

The new head of the OSCE Bureau for Belarus is ambassador Eberhard Haiken from Germany. Eberhard Haiken served in 1996-2000 as German ambassador in Ukraine and earlier served in Switzerland.

Belgium

Database to speed up visa process

The Foreign Affairs Ministry is working with Microsoft to develop a database containing personal details of foreigners refused a Belgian entry visa – including people who are being sought by the authorities or who are suspected of having committed crimes.

CROATIA

Positive steps towards solution for tenancy rights

Minister for Public Works, Construction and Reconstruction, Radimir Cacic, said on the 3^rd of February that housing will be provided for returning refugees who used to live in flats with occupancy/tenancy rights in areas that remained under state control throughout the 1991-1995 conflict, including large Croatian cities.

Refugees and displaced persons from the areas that remained under state control throughout the 1991-1995 conflict, particularly the large cities of Zagreb, Split, Zadar, Rijeka, Osijek and Karlovac, are currently denied housing in compensation for occupancy/tenancy rights flats that were taken away from them. Approximately 24,000 families have lost their homes through court proceedings terminating occupancy/tenancy rights in these areas until now.

By contrast, former tenancy rights holders in the so called Areas of Special State Concern, whose tenancy rights were also terminated, have been entitled to apply for housing from last year.

The new scheme would be an important step towards ensuring that the priority category of returning refugees are given access to adequate housing, regardless of the part of the country they came from.

The scheme should be extended beyond the new arrivals, notably to refugees who have already returned and to those who lost their occupancy/tenancy rights under similar circumstances but did not leave the country.

Czech republic

Number of asylum seekers dropped by half in 2002

The number of asylum seekers in the Czech Republic dropped by half in 2002 compared with 2001, Interior Minister Stanislav Gross said at a press conference today.

He added that of the almost 8,500 asylum seekers, 130 foreigners received asylum in the Czech Republic in 2002.

Deputy interior minister Miroslav Koudelny said that part of the reason for the drop was the new asylum law that came into effect at the beginning of last year, which limited asylum seekers employment rights.

Koudelny also said that the largest number, about 20 per cent, of asylum seekers come from Ukraine, followed by Vietnam, Slovakia and Moldova.

Hunger strikes by asylum seekers in Kostelec nad Orlici

Asylum seekers began a hunger strike in a refugee camp in Kostelec nad Orlici, east Bohemia.

Non-government Aid to Refugees Organisation (OPU) will assist Artur Karapetyan, an Armenian refugee who launched the hunger strike as a protest against what he calls bad conditions in the refugee centre in Kostelec nad Orlici.

There have been repeated complaints about the long wait in the asylum process and conditions in refugee camps. This was confirmed by Ombudsman Otakar Motejl, who added that the asylum seekers live in almost prison-like conditions.

Karapetyan, 35, also protests against what he calls the too-long asylum procedure in the Czech Republic.

The OPU provides legal and social assistance to asylum seekers. It regularly visits refugee centres in the Czech Republic and abroad. "The situation of refugees in the Czech Republic is not as bad as it may seem to be in the light of several recent events. A comparison of the conditions of asylum seekers speaks quite in favour of the Czech Republic," OPU Director Martin Rozumek said.

Denmark

Denmark introduces harsher measures for rejected asylum seekers, while offering financial incentives to those who voluntarily return home.

Anyone who travels home voluntarily will get 3,000 kroner (US$411) per adult and 1,500 kroner (US$205) per child, said Danish Immigration Minister Bertel Haarder. Under the new incentive plan people who are required to leave will also now no longer get cash support, but food instead.

Since July 2002, it has become harder for foreigners to seek asylum, get residence permits and gain support from the welfare system. Publicity concerning the tougher legal framework in the months ahead of parliament's final approval may have contributed to a significant drop in the number of asylum seekers. However, the number of people who have been denied shelter but refuse to leave doubled in 2002 to 3,200, the Danish Immigration Ministry said. Until they leave the country they still are given nearly 500 kroner (US$68) weekly.

But asylum seekers may now face imprisonment for a refusal to leave.

A new proposal by Bertel Haarder would mean that rejected asylum seekers could face imprisonment if they refused to leave the country. Under the terms of the proposal rejected asylum seekers must leave the country within 30 days of being notified.

Another measure will be introduced to prevent rejected asylum-seekers from making unfounded applications to stay on humanitarian grounds. Such an application will have to be submitted within 14 days of a negative decision by the Danish Immigration Service. At present, about 85% of rejected asylum-seekers try to remain in Denmark by applying for a residence permit on humanitarian grounds, but only a small number succeed.

Denmark is ignoring advice of the UNHCR

Contrary to the advice of the UNHCR, several Kosovars suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been repatriated. This has led the provisional UN administration in Kosovo, the UNMIK, to send a number of letters, criticising the Danish government for sending back to Kosovo mentally ill people. Many of them suffer from PTSD and have no possibility of being taken into care there. Moreover, the Danish authorities have been accused of proceeding with such expulsions without providing the UNMIK with sufficient information on the persons concerned.

Proposal to double the number of hours of Danish lessons for asylum-seekers

The proposal by the Minister for Immigration, Bertel Haarder, suggests using some of the money saved from reducing the amount of pocket money granted asylum-seekers to finance the doubling of hours of Danish lessons. This, however has been criticised by the head of the asylum department of the Red Cross J Chemnitz, as the motivation to learn Danish was, as expected, low among asylum-seekers, given that their prospects of having to return to their home country were great. He felt it would be more beneficial to provide English or computer science lessons, which may be more useful for individuals on their return.

France

Calais refuge is not a new Sangatte, say the French

The Red Cross, which ran Sangatte, and local emergency medical services opened a small non-residential refuge in Calais for asylum seekers and the homeless with the blessing of the regional authorities.

The local Red Cross head, Hugues de Diesbach, insisted the new centre was not a second Sangatte, which was closed and demolished last year. "We are not offering them lodging," he said. "Our concern is humanitarian. Emergency medical services in Calais are available to every one, whatever their colour, nationality or religion."

The new refuge, however provoked criticism in the UK with the Home secretary David Blunkett forced to counter suggestions that the new refuge will become the ‘son of Sangatte’.

Officials said the Home Secretary, had been assured that the authorities in Calais were still discouraging asylum seekers from congregating in the town and surrounding area.

Meanwhile, the controversial Sangatte refuge was formally closed on the 30^th of December.

Outrage over deportee deaths in France

Three French police officers have been suspended after the death of a 24-year-old illegal immigrant from Somalia who lost consciousness while being deported last week, the police service said on 22 January.

They had been assigned to deport the Somali, identified as Getu Hagos Mariame, on a flight to South Africa. He fell unconscious during the process and was taken to a Paris hospital, where he died two days later. An autopsy was being performed to determine the cause of death.

Also on the 17 of January, another two officers were suspended after breaking the nose of a witness who threatened to report them for violently manhandling a handcuffed suspect in a Paris street.

On December 30, a 52-year-old Argentine man who was also being deported died of a heart attack as he was put aboard a plane at Charles de Gaulle airport. He was sat down in the last row, with handcuffs on, before the other passengers embarked, and was held down "bent in two" by the officers, who leaned on his shoulder blades to keep him in this position. After struggling briefly, he died and was taken to the front of the aeroplane "like a sack of potatoes", according to witnesses, and a passenger who was also a doctor certified his death. The subsequent autopsy found that Barrientos died of a heart attack, but various immigration lobby groups said they suspected a cover-up.

The same day, four French officers found themselves being filmed by a Malian television crew on another plane leaving Paris while they roughly held down a Malian illegal immigrant.

The officers confiscated the cameraman's tape to delete the footage and detained the crew, provoking an outcry by the Union of West African Journalists.

Despite these concerns the French Interior Ministry has announced that it intends to increase the rate of deportations, which have fallen in recent years.

New measures on reception

On 26 November 2002, when faced with a question raised in the National Assembly, the Minister for Social Affairs, Francois Fillon seized the opportunity to provide some more details of the planned new asylum measures, specifically on the reception of asylum seekers. The measures are due to come into force some time during 2004 and aim to streamline procedures and cut the time taken to process applications. While waiting for the proposed Asylum Bill it is urgent to have a ‘dignified’ system of accommodation that is ‘adapted to needs’, said the Minister who informed of his intention to increase the current capacity of reception centres from the present 10 400 to 17 000 in 2005.

He addressed the problem of concentration of asylum seekers in certain regions, such as Paris and Rhone-Alps and announced an intention to arrive at ‘a more equitable distribution’ of reception centres throughout France. He criticised the current practice of some local administrations who provided asylum-seekers with a train ticket to seek accommodation elsewhere and called on them to assume responsibility for their own asylum-seekers and reception centres.

Instructions to prefects to use common criteria to process applications for residence permit by irregular migrants

14 pages of instructions have been issued to prefects across France on applying common criteria when determining a residence permit to be issued to an irregular migrant. The Minister of Interior blamed the ‘great complexity’ of the legislative texts presently in force for the ‘sometimes unequal processing of dossiers’ and reiterated his intention to harmonise the administrative practices.

Irregular migrants must be issued with a receipt upon the submission of their application for a residence permit, a document that results in the annulment of any deportation order. If the application is considered ‘worthy of interest’ to the prefect they can issue a temporary residence permit to the migrant.

In the case of migrants having lived in France for 10 years, the law stipulates that the irregular migrants concerned may prove their presence by ‘any means’, but what is acceptable means of proof has often varied depending on the prefecture. The instructions define which documents can be acceptable, including those issued by an official public institute or a respected private body (e.g. bank). Migrants who claim strong family ties in France will now benefit from more liberal rules. For example, proof of having a partner in France no longer has to be in the form of a marriage certificate; formalised proof of cohabitation may also be accepted.

Prefects are also invited to examine on an individual basis, any application for a change of residence status submitted by a foreigner who entered the country as a student. Students are entitled to a change of residence status if they start living as a couple, receive an offer of employment or contract.

Finally, prefects are specifically warned against fraud, especially in the areas of rights to family reunion and those that apply for the right to remain on the false pretence that they are ill.

New Asylum Bill

Under the terms of the new Asylum Bill the benefits of the Geneva Convention are to be extended to victims of non-State sponsored persecution “in cases where the authorities refuse or are incapable of offering protection”. The beneficiaries will gain the status of ‘subsidiary protection’ and be given a renewable one-year residence permit.

The condition is that they must be exposed to ‘serious’ risk, such as the death penalty, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment or a serious and personal risk against their lives as a result of a situation of an armed conflict, national or international. On the other hand this status may be refused to those suspected of having committed crimes constituting a threat to public order or security.

As for the determination procedure, the French Refugee Office (OFPRA) will be expected to reach a decision within 15 days, without an oral hearing and, if the decision turns out to be negative there will be no right of appeal. If the person is already in a remand centre awaiting deportation, when he/she submits an asylum application the procedure is reduced to 72 hours. Asylum will be automatically refused to people arriving from a “country considered safe”.

Furthermore, asylum-seekers who have an internal flight alternative in their home country will also be denied asylum; risk of persecution must be widespread throughout the country, not confined to particular regions.

germany

New Migration law blocked by the Federal Constitutional Court

The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe dismissed Germany's new migration law in December 2002. The new law would have entailed a number of improvements to the former asylum law as well as several shortcomings. Among the former are the general simplification and clarification of the asylum system, in particular through the reduction in the number of residence permits from five to only two (permanent and temporary) as well as the inclusion of the non-state agents of persecution principle. The law would have also allowed the immigration of 50.000 skilled and potential workers. On the other hand, the law would have tightened asylum procedures, allowed the detention of asylum applicants and restricted their access to welfare payments. It would have also required foreigners to learn German.

The Court ruled only on the parliamentary procedure at the stage of the Federal Council (Bundesrat), Germany’s upper house, not on the law's substance. Due to the increased majority of the conservative in the Federal Council after recent state elections, it appears unlikely that the immigration law will be adopted in the near future.

Germany says asylum applications dropped by nearly one-fifth last year

The number of people applying for asylum in Germany dropped by nearly a fifth last year, with Iraqi and Turkish citizens remaining the largest single groups, the government said on the 8^th of January.

A total of 71,127 people sought political asylum in the country in 2002, the Interior Ministry said. That was down 19.4 percent from the previous year, when 88,287 people applied.

The sharpest drop was in asylum applications from Afghan citizens. These fell by 52 percent last year to 2,772.

The overall figures for 2001 were more than 12 percent higher than the year before and included large rises in applications from Iraqi and Turkish citizens.

Interior Minister Otto Schily credited last year's drop to the debate on a new German immigration law, which, he maintained, "made it clear that abuse of asylum in Germany can in future be ended more easily and quickly."

However, the law – designed to admit skilled foreigners while tightening asylum rules – was thrown out last month by Germany's highest court because of irregularities in a parliamentary vote. Schily pledged to reintroduce the legislation to parliament this month, but opposition conservatives complain that it is too liberal.
Germany's more than 7 million legal foreign residents make up nearly 10 percent of the population.

Initiative aimed at granting residence permits to rejected asylum-seekers

One of the ruling parties in Berlin, the PDS has declared its support for a campaign aimed at granting a right of residence to rejected asylum-seekers whose ‘tolerated’ stay in Germany has lasted more than 5 years, 3 in the case of families. There are some 230 000 persons in Germany who have been denied both the refugee status within the meaning of the Constitution and the asylum status under the Aliens Act. However, they have been allowed to remain in Germany with a tolerated status because it is recognised that in their cases there are ‘obstacles’ to their expulsion, for example their lives could be in danger if repatriated.

Greece

Deadline for former migrants to apply for a residence permit extended for the third time

On 30 December 2002, just one day before the previous deadline the Minister of Interior, Costas Skandalidis announced that the deadline for the submission of applications for a residence permit has (for the third time) been extended, from 31 December 2002 to 30 June 2003. In spite of repeated affirmations to the contrary Mr Skandalidis had, in fact no other option to avoid having the beginning of the Greek EU Presidency marked by evidence of the country’s inability to smoothly organise a process to legalise irregular immigrants.

Children of immigrants legally residing in Greece will no longer risk becoming ‘illegal immigrants’ on their 18 birthday

An amendment is to be introduced in the current Aliens Act which will put an end to the risk faced by children of migrants who can still find themselves without a right of residence on their 18^th birthday, i.e. when they come of age and are supposed to gain independent status of that of their parents.

Under the new proposals this will be extended to 3 more years, therefore until their 21^st birthday.

It is also under discussion as to whether to grant legal immigrants a permanent residence permit after 5 years, instead of the current requirement of 10 and whether to grant an independent residence permit to third country nationals residing in Greece by virtue of their marriage to a Greek citizen.

Ireland

Supreme Court ruling puts an end to the automatic right of third country nationals to stay in Ireland following the birth of a child.

[Lobe v. Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform [2003] IESC 1 (23 January 2003)]

On 23 January 2003, a High Court judge delivered a judgment denying the right to remain to a Czech couple and a Nigerian man on the basis of the fact that they were parents of a child born in Ireland.

Any person born in Ireland automatically acquires Irish citizenship. In 1990, the Supreme Court had ruled that Irish children are entitled to the right to enjoy ‘care and company and parentage’. This ruling was interpreted as granting foreigners the right to remain in Ireland following the birth of their child.

The Applicants argued that the family has the right to family unity according to Article 41 of the Constitution. They argued that any State measure which has the affect, direct or indirect, of breaking up the family would be an attack on the integrity of the family and must, therefore, be prima facie in breach of Article 41of the Constitution. They added that the removal of the family from the State must amount to a breach of the States obligations under Article 42 which provides for the right to be educated by the family and to be provided by its parents with religious, moral, intellectual, physical and social education.

The Court said that the children’s right to the company and parentage of their parents is not applicable to the extent that the parents themselves acquire a right to reside in the State in all circumstances. Any rights of the parents are qualified because they themselves have no right to remain within the State and any right of the infants to their company and parentage is subject to the exigencies of the common good.

Considering the right of the integrity of the family, the Court concluded that any arising rights did not prevent the Minister from exercising his discretion to deport the non-national parents if there was good and sufficient reason associated with the common good. The Judge added that “It is an inherent and fundamental right of the State to control and regulate immigration. Its right, and even its duty to do so arises in the interests of the common good which includes the maintaining of true social order within its territory and concordance in its relations with other nations.”

The judgment raises fears for more than 10,000 families from Eastern Europe and Africa. It was the first reversal of Ireland's unique practice of granting residency, often followed by citizenship, to anybody who has a baby in the European Union nation, even if they arrived illegally. While asylum applications frequently take years to complete, until now the birth of a child has resolved matters conclusively - with Irish citizenship for the infant and residency rights for the mother, usually followed by arrivals of more relatives (Washington Post, 23 January 2003).

Immigration officials welcomed the court decision, stating that it will prevent others from coming to Ireland to abuse the asylum process. In the past years, it had become common for single pregnant women to come to Ireland from countries outside the 15-nation EU, most frequently Nigeria, to claim political asylum.

Refugee applicants allocated housing in 'direct provision' centres would forfeit their right to welfare payments if they leave

In a planned further tightening-up of the asylum system, refugee applicants who are allocated housing in 'direct provision' centres would forfeit their right to welfare payments if they subsequently left this accommodation to live in the community.
The proposed measures are aimed at ensuring that asylum-seekers remain in State-provided full-board accommodation, where they receive E19.10 per adult per week, as well as having food and laundry services provided.

Currently, those who leave their allocated accommodation and move into the private rental market can claim mainstream social welfare payments such as social welfare allowance or rent supplement.

The Attorney General's Office has been asked to provide legal advice on the proposals, which the Government would like to introduce in social welfare legislation due before the Dail next February.

The planned change is part of a package of new asylum restrictions put forward by the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell. The proposals would also see the Department of Justice take over from the Department of Social and Family Affairs in administering welfare payments to some 5,000 asylum-seekers currently living in State-provided accommodation throughout the Republic.

Ms Coughlan's Department expects to spend E111 million on non-nationals this year, including asylum-seekers, refugees and other EU and non-EU immigrants.

Proposal to fast-track claims from 'safe' states criticised

A proposal that asylum-seekers from countries considered 'safe' would have their applications to remain in Ireland as refugees fast-tracked has been criticised by the chairman of the Bar Council. Mr Conor Maguire SC said the planned list of 'safe countries did not seem to be a good idea, and not merely because it does not operate successfully in other jurisdictions. The proposal would mean that asylum applicants from countries including EU accession countries, which are seen as unlikely to 'generate refugees', would face a presumption that their claims are 'manifestly unfounded'.

Work permits for immigrants to be restricted

In future, employers will be unable to obtain work permits in cases where FAS (the employment service) determines that there is an adequate supply of local labour. The change, a result of the downturn in the economy, is to take effect immediately.

Ms Harney, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said demand for work permits had continued to rise. Last year some 40,000 were issued to workers from outside the European Economic Area.

'This increasing demand is in spite of a downturn in the economy, which has seen the unemployment rate nudge marginally higher than in previous years,' Ms Harney said.

'The work permit scheme has always been designed to meet demand for labour in circumstances where appropriate skills were not available locally.'

'Furthermore, employers must have regard to Ireland's obligations, as an EU member-state, to give preference to EEA nationals and to direct their recruitment efforts accordingly.'

Garda operations may alienate immigrants

Future large-scale Garda operations targeting illegal immigrants could seriously alienate the trust of ethnic communities, a Government advisory body warns in a new report.

Imprecise 'net' operations like last summer's Operation Hyphen are both inefficient and counterproductive and should not be continued, says the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI), which also expresses concern at the role of a small number of immigration officers.

The report also notes a 'huge upsurge' in racist e-mails and literature, including during the second Nice referendum when stickers were put on lamp-posts in inner-city Dublin encouraging people to take action on the 'invasion' of foreigners. It found a significant increase in the number of racist and offensive e-mails, letters and mobile phone text messages sent to organisations working against racism.

Last July's high-profile Garda operation cost E101,518 and led to the detention of 140 people. Fifty out of a total of 74 people charged with immigration-related offences were subsequently released after they proved they were legally resident in the State, and 15 unsuccessful asylum-seekers were deported.

Dublin may follow UK’s example of sanctioning asylum-seekers who do not apply immediately upon arrival

On 10 December 2002, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell, announced that measures would be introduced to oblige persons waiting to apply for asylum in Ireland to do so immediately upon arrival. Those failing to do so and submit their asylum claims at the Office of Refugee Applications Commissioner in Dublin will have to demonstrate why they need social welfare assistance from the State.

Unlike the UK where, with the exception of certain defined categories of asylum-seekers, those failing to make their claims immediately upon arrival are deprived of welfare benefits and accommodation, it appears that the Irish Minister of Justice only intends to reduce the amount of State welfare assistance to those applying in the city of Dublin. However the exact details of the new measures still have to be worked out and the sanctions to be applied to those asylum-seekers applying inside the country may eventually be more severe.

lithuania

Lithuania prepares for accession

According to Lithuania's foreign minister, Antanas Valionis, the Greek Presidency of the EU will help the acceding member states prepare for smooth incorporation into the EU procedures that will be opening up to them once the Accession Treaty is signed in Athens in April.

Lithuania is focusing on the challenge of combating illegal migration through developing efficient control of what will be the Union's external borders. But at the same time, the minister said: "Border controls alone are not sufficient for the effective fight against illegal migration; Lithuania attaches great importance to cross-border co-operation, which enhances security and prosperity along the borders. Our aim should be to make the external EU border both 'friendly' and secure". Accordingly, Valionis also looked forward to development of closer EU relations with the former USSR, and Russia in particular: "Enlargement of the EU should contribute to this end and open more opportunities for co-operation with Russia and other CIS countries in a number of strategic fields", he said.

macedonia

Amnesty concerns over police torture

Amnesty International has over a long period expressed its concerns about continued allegations of police ill-treatment and torture in Macedonia.

Alleged ill treatment by police officers of people detained on suspicion of having committed a criminal offence affects all ethnic groups including ethnic Macedonians. However, in many of the cases Amnesty International has raised with previous administrations the alleged ill-treatment has had an ethnic or racial component in that the victims minority ethnicity or Muslim faith appeared to have been a factor, if not the, primary factor in the alleged ill-treatment.

To Amnesty International’s knowledge, despite the frequency of allegations of police torture or ill treatment, the number of prosecutions of police officers for such offences is so low as to be almost negligible. Amnesty International is further informed that, in the past, most if not all of the cases raised with the Macedonian authorities by the office of the Peoples Defender (Ombudsperson) have been dismissed as unfounded despite at times compelling evidence to the contrary. Amnesty International believes that this compounds the current climate of impunity. ”

Below is a link for 6 cases Amnesty has provided to illustrate their concerns.

http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/EUR650012003?OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIESMACEDONIA

netherlands

No major changes in accelerated 48-hour procedure in application centers

In a press release from the Ministry of Justice on 4 November 2002, the Minister of Alien Affairs and integration announced that there were no intentions to change the 48-hour procedure in the four application centers for asylum seekers. This came as a response to the decision of the Court of Appeal in The Hague which ruled on 31 October 2002 that though the 48-hour procedure is humane, careful and has a statutory basis, this could not be said to be the case in three of the asylum centers. The Court of Appeal has emphasized that the 48-hour procedure as applied in those three centers could in specific circumstances, without legal basis, amount to deprivation of freedom. An example of this practice is that an asylum seeker could have his asylum request rejected if he leaves the center. Other restrictive measures include the confiscation of mobile telephones and the prohibition to use private and personal sanitary items for the toilet or shower.

The Minister nevertheless emphasized that the centers would undergo some adjustments the most important of which would be that the mere fact of having left the application center during the 48-hour period would not in itself constitute a ground for the automatic rejection of the person’s asylum application.

Immigrants should be paid a sum by the government upon completion of integration course

New immigrants should be allowed to decide where they complete a compulsory integration course and the government should pay EUR 3,000 to those who successfully graduate, Liberal Party (VVD) leader Gerrit Zalm said.

The publicly funded, regional training centres (ROCs) presently have a monopoly on the provision of integration, or "inburgerging", courses. The students undergo a 600-hour programme consisting of Dutch language and culture lessons.

The ROCs charge EUR 6,000 per course and students who complete the course successfully are refunded half the cost by the government.

But speaking in an interview with the Algemeen Dagblad, Zalm said immigrants should be allowed to sign up with a private commercial organisation to participate in an integration course and that this would help stimulate immigrants to learn Dutch.

"It is primarily (the immigrant's) responsibility, not the government's," he said.

Allowing the private sector to enter into the market would also reduce the backlog in people waiting to undertake integration courses, he said.

Number of asylum seekers falls in 2002

The number of asylum seekers in the Netherlands dropped 43 percent last year as many more would-be immigrants were expelled than in previous years, the justice ministry said in a statement.

Last year, 18,677 people filed asylum requests against 32,579 in 2001 and 43,895 in 2000, a drop it is claimed caused by tougher Dutch immigration laws and faster processing of asylum demands.

Expulsions of asylum seekers who had used up all legal means to remain in the country rose 32 percent in 2002 over the previous year, while the number of expulsions of illegal immigrants went up 17 percent, according to government figures.

ID checks to be introduced

A new bill has been proposed in the Netherlands to extend the requirement of providing proof of your identity on request. In future police would be authorized to require anyone in the Netherlands older than 12 to show proof of his or her identity. Failure to do so could result in a prison sentence of up to two months or a fine of up to 2,250 Euro. Police would be given powers to request proof of identity for the purpose of carrying out all their regular tasks, specifically the investigation of criminal offences, maintenance of public order, and providing assistance. Those responsible for carrying out administrative supervision would also be given the same powers, in order to improve law enforcement. Current legislation confines this requirement to criminal suspects.

In requesting ID, police and administrative supervisors would be bound to the criterion establishing the reasonable exercise of duties. This means that there must always be a reason for performing identity checks, in other words that they are not carried out randomly, but that the powers to do so shall be exercised for the purpose of improving law enforcement.

Dutch election results

With uncommonly high voter turnout of 80 percent, the Christian Democratic Party of Jan Peter Balkenende emerged the winner, with 44 of the 150 seats in Parliament. Close behind at 42 was Labour, which suffered a drubbing in general elections last May. The big loser was the Pim Fortuyn List. Results showed it with 8 seats, down from 26.

Overall, it is clear that the mood of the country has swung to the right, on immigration, as well as many other issues.

Labour, for instance, made its gains by pledging to tackle rising crime, immigration and failing public services; such an agenda further blurs policy lines. There is also a consensus that the country must first press those already here to integrate. Parties differ only on the methods of achieving those goals. Some 10 percent of the 16 million people who live in the Netherlands are not of Dutch descent.

Expelled Bulgarians and Romanians to be deprived of a passport for two years

On 13 November 2002, the Director of the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service, Mr Schoof and the Bulgarian Ambassador, Mr Poriazov, announced in The Hague that Bulgarian nationals guilty of committing offences in the Netherlands and expelled to their home country will be deprived of a passport for two years. Similar agreement has been reached with Romania. The confiscation of a passport has been seen as necessary because it has been noticed that many Bulgarians and Romanians deported from the Netherlands returned shortly afterwards.

All expelled Romanians and Bulgarians involved in criminality will receive a stamp in their passport to prevent their immediate return to the Netherlands. The stamp will show that they were expelled. The passports of expelled Bulgarians found guilty of criminal behaviour will be confiscated for two years. In other cases, the Bulgarian authorities will look into each case separately to decide how long the persons concerned will be deprived of their passports.

NORWAY

Annual statistics

The number of asylum applications presented in Norway in 2002 has continued to rise, with a record 17,480 applications presented in 2002, of which 894 were unaccompanied minors. 21% were presumed to be manifestly unfounded based on the country of origin of the applicant. 2% were given asylum and 11,3% were given residence permits on similar grounds. 7,9% were given residence permit on other humanitarian grounds.

Medical examination introduced to assess the age of unaccompanied minors

Due to the increase in asylum applications by unaccompanied minors, the Directorate of Immigration has decided to perform medical and dental exams to determine their age. According to the Directorate, the results of these medical examinations show that 40% have given false information regarding their age.

Iraq applications suspended

On 6 February 2003, the Immigration Appeals Board, followed by the Directorate of Immigration, temporarily suspended all treatment of Iraqi asylum applications due to the tense situation in the area. The general practice of Norway for citizens of Iraq had until then been that applications presented by applicants deemed to have sufficient links to the autonomous Kurdish areas have been rejected, whereas other applicants have been given asylum or residence permits on humanitarian grounds.

Change in legal aid services

In January 2003, the Ministry of Justice, responsible for legal aid offered to asylum seekers decreased the number of legal aid hours allowed from five to three. In Norway, all applicants receive legal aid. This reduction in hours comes without any reduction in the expected tasks performed by lawyers.

At the same time the Directorate of Immigration, answering to the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, changed the system for allocating asylum applicants to lawyers, with a system of "Lawyer-on-duty" in transfer camps. At the same time they set a list of demands to lawyers to be accepted into the new system, demanding that they give individual attention to each asylum applicant resulting in a lot more than 3 hours per asylum applicant.

As a result, a high percentage of experienced asylum lawyers have boycotted the "Lawyer-on-duty"-system, and the Directorate had immense problems finding lawyers to fill their duty lists. At present, the situation is unresolved. A possible solution could involve that a lot of the work previously done by lawyers would be done by NGO's.

Asylum seekers with unfounded claims to be deported within 48 hours

The Local Government and Regional Affairs Ministry is planning to implement measures to ensure that asylum seekers with claims considered to be unfounded can be sent out of the country no later than 48 hours after arriving in Norway. The Ministry intends to set up a 'fast-track' reception centre somewhere between Oslo and the country's main airport at Gardermoen. "Even though the number of bogus asylum seekers has fallen, this group remains far too large," said State Secretary Kristin Ormen Johnsen stating that she wants to re-establish the reputation of real asylum seekers. "Today the term asylum seeker is held in poor regard by large parts of the population," she said.

POLAND

Chechens are again allowed to apply for asylum in Poland

In the aftermath of an intervention of the UNHCR office in Warsaw and the Polish Ombudsman, the problem of denying Chechens access to the asylum determination procedure seemed to be over by mid-November. Some 150 Chechen asylum seekers were allowed to submit their asylum claims. They were the first group to do so since the hostage -taking crisis in Moscow last October. Chechen asylum seekers had been prevented from entry into Poland on the grounds that they could pose a threat to national security. The attitude of the Polish border police appeared to have been consistent with that taken by the Minster of Interior who has instructed the country’s authorities to deny entry to anyone whose documents raise any doubts.

Russian federation

The law “on the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation

The law “on the legal status of foreign citizens in the Russian Federation” passed in November 2002 is having serious consequences for those living in Russia without citizenship, refugee or forced migrant status or “indefinite right to remain” (Vid na zhitel’stvo). Groups of those affected include citizens of the former Soviet Union who settled in Russia before 1992, Meshketian Turks, Baku Armenians and Afghan refugees who have not been granted refugee status but who cannot return because of safety issues. Under the new law they will now be considered as “temporary residents” with the right to stay in Russia for up to 3 months. Meanwhile it takes at least 6 months to apply for longer temporary registration documents – making it virtually impossible for these groups to live in Russia legally and, therefore, leaving them vulnerable to the risks of police harassment.

Restrictions on unregistered residents in Kabardino-Balkaria

The Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria has introduced temporary restrictions on immigration to its territory. Civil registration offices will no longer register marriages if either of the spouses is not permanently registered in the republic. In addition, a ban has been imposed on issuing birth certificates for babies whose parents are not permanently resident in the republic, and non-residents will also not be able to lease, buy, or sell property.

Russia forcing refugees back into Chechnya

Human Rights Watch accused Moscow of trying to force thousands of refugees to return to the war-torn Russian republic of Chechnya from camps in neighbouring Ingushetia.

"The authorities are forcing refugees to leave the camps in Ingushetia even though there is no other shelter for them there," said Anna Neistat, head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Moscow.

Observers sent by HRW recently visited 12 of the 18 Russian-administered camps in Ingushetia, which house around 20,000 of the estimated 110,000 Chechens thought to have fled into the republic. "These are concrete walls without roofs or windows, or ruined buildings," Neistat told a press conference in the Russian capital. "In one location there were wooden huts put up by the Red Cross." Relief organisations accuse Russian President Vladimir Putin of breaking his own pledge not to force refugees to return to Chechnya.

Russia said last summer it planned to close the refugee camps in Ingushetia by the end of this year.

"In Chechnya there is no housing for these refugees and their safety cannot be guaranteed," Neistat said. "The armed conflict is ongoing, human rights are violated by both sides and civilians are continuing to die and disappear."

Immigration quotas to increase

President Putin has called for more immigrants to be allowed into Russia, He was quoted as saying that the government's quota of 500,000 foreign workers was too low and "corresponds neither to the reality nor to the country's needs."

Meanwhile the Deputy Interior Minister Andrei Chernenko said that Russia's 2002 quota of 530,000 people is "understated by at least 50 percent". Apparently a strategy for regulating migration into Russia by means of "proper legislative procedures" has already been approved and foreign nationals arriving in Russia should obtain an immigration card within three days. On the other hand, he stressed that controls on immigrants will be introduced next May "and foreigners without immigration cards will be regarded as illegal and punished”.

Migration card checks in Moscow

Moscow’s police are to launch regular checks of foreigners' migration cards. Foreign citizens without such cards will face either a fine or deportation. Starting in November, more than 30,000 cards have been given out in Moscow. However, an estimated 860,000 foreigners are officially registered as living in Moscow.

Spain

Judges criticize new proposal regarding the expulsions of foreigners found guilty of offenses punishable with less than six years imprisonment

On 31^st October 2002, judges expressed their opposition to a proposed amendment to the Aliens Act, which will enable the Ministry of Interior to expel foreigners who have been found guilty of offences punishable by up to six years’ imprisonment under the Penal Code. According to the current practice, it is up to the judge to decide whether the convicted person should serve his or her prison sentence or be expelled. Under the new Bill, the judge will be given a limited time, yet to be defined, to decide on what course to take and when the period expires without a decision, the Ministry will have the convicted person expelled. The Judges emphasized that the Government’s new proposal was not possible as the government could not decide on its own to carry out an expulsion without the authorization of a judge and without any form of judicial control.

Spain eases its citizenship laws

Tens of thousands of Latin Americans are besieging Spanish embassies after Madrid introduced citizenship rules that could give more than a million people the right to Spanish passports.

The centre-Right government has departed from its usual tough stance in dealing with migrants, and is ushering in vast number of newcomers, mainly from Latin America and Europe with a new law passed in January.

The new law revises legislation that discriminated against Spanish women, who were previously not allowed to claim citizenship for children over 21 years old born out of Spain. It also allows foreigners with Spanish relatives to apply for citizenship directly, instead of first obtaining a work visa.

Spain has one of the lowest birth rates in the European Union and the government has tried to address the problem, while stepping up efforts to curb illegal immigration. Officials say more than 40,000 illegal migrants were prevented from entering Spain in the first eight months of last year.

sweden

Palestinians from Gaza allowed to stay on humanitarian grounds

In two guidelines cases, the Director General of the Migration Board decided on 29 November 2002 that Palestinians who lack individual grounds for asylum may be granted permits on humanitarian grounds because of the prevailing situation in the West Bank and Gaza. It is to be noted that no Palestinians from these areas have been removed from Sweden for quite some time because of the precarious situation in the Palestinian territories.

Humanitarian status denied to Bosnian girl suffering from a serious eye illness but granted to a girl fearing excision

In November 2002, a six-year old Bosnian girl suffering from a rare eye disease had her application for humanitarian status turned down as the grounds put forward were not considered to be sufficiently strong according to the current requirements of the Aliens Law and practice. The girl had made six previous claims for asylum on humanitarian status in Sweden in order to obtain expert care. All were unsuccessful.

The Migration Board referred to previous guideline decisions by the Government regarding the need for medical care where it was decided that Sweden could, in many cases, provide care of a higher quality than in some other countries. Therefore, in order to grant a residence permit on medical grounds, it must be established that treatment will lead to an improvement or that the treatment is necessary to survival. In this case, a medical certificate was submitted in support of the girl’s claim, however, the certificate showed that there is no treatment in any country today that can cure the eye disease that she suffers from.

The case has been widely reported in the media and has gained the support of leading political parties who think that the girl and her family ought to be allowed to stay. At the same time, the family’s legal counsel has requested that the case be considered further by the Government.

On the other hand, the Aliens Appeal Board has, on 13 December 2002, granted residence permit to a native Tanzanian girl fearing excision in her home country. The girl was granted permission to stay based on the category of ‘others in need of protection’, whose third section covers persons risking cruel and inhuman punishment based on her gender.

New Zealand Refugee Appeals Authority criticizes Swedish language testing as a means of establishing the country of origin of asylum seekers.

In a decision concerning an Afghan asylum seeker, handed down on 11October 2002, the New Zealand Refugee Status Appeals Authority (RSAA) criticized Swedish language testing for asylum seekers for the purpose of establishing their real country of origin. The expertise of the Swedish institute, the “Skandinavisk Sprakanalys AB” are often requested to help determine the real country of origin of an asylum seeker when the authorities doubt the credibility of the person’s declared identity.

The Afghan asylum seeker was among 131 others brought to New Zealand on 28 September 2001 from Nauru where they had been taken after being rescued by a Norwegian ship. The Swedish institute had carried out a language analysis on the basis of 15 minutes recorded tape about such general matters as places where the person has lived, his cultural practices and others. The Swedish Institute had concluded that his mother tong was not Dari, but seemed to be Pashtu and that he has lived in Pakistan for a period of time.

The RSSA noted that there is a need for caution as the expert’s report is from an anonymous person whose qualifications, experience and knowledge of the languages of the region in issue is unknown. It also added that “language analysis is obviously a specialized task. All the more so when the analyst is called on to determine the origin of a person from an unstable border region where a range of languages are spoken and where there is considerable transborder movement of peoples. The uncritical acceptance of all the opinions contained in such reports has obvious dangers”.

Deportation of rejected Chechen asylum seekers has been suspended

In December 2002, the Alien Appeals Board ordered a temporary halt to the expulsion of rejected asylum seekers of Chechen origin to Russia. The UNHCR has expressed concern about the treatment of Chechen cases in Lithuania where a number of applications by rejected Chechen have been threatened with immediate expulsion to Russia. The Appeals Board is now examining more closely the situation of Chechnya and the feasibility of sending Chechens to Russia. The temporary halt concerns Chechens and not Russians in general.

Iranian granted Convention refugee status after being drawn into a trap to have him expelled

In December 2002, an Iranian asylum seeker, Mr. A. Behnam, was granted Convention refugee status by the Swedish Migration Board. Mr. Behnam’s case has been high profile due to the fact that a staff member of the Migration Board deceived him and arranged to have him taken into police custody pending his removal from Sweden.

Mr. Behnam had applied for asylum in Sweden two years prior to his acceptance decision. In Iran, he had been arrested and was about to face a revolutionary court for his participation in student demonstrations. The Migration Board was not convinced by the story and thus denied him refugee status. Following his rejection, he was lured by a Migration Board official to her office where the police were waiting to take him into custody. The staff member has since been reprimanded for her action, which was a breach of internal rules. Mr. Behnam was held in detention since then. With the help of his lawyer, the Iranian Refugee Council and the Stockholm Asylum committee, new evidence was presented to substantiate the threats claimed by Mr. Behnam.

The board then concluded that there was a substantial risk that he would be the object of the Iranian authorities given his active involvement in the criticism of the authorities of his own country in Sweden.

Backtrack on Swedish labour market access

Sweden seems to be backtracking on its pledge to let in migrant workers from the new EU member states from the first day of membership. A report issued by the Swedish government supports enforcing the right to keep out migrants for up to seven years and introducing temporary provisions, such as the requirement that the new EU citizens will be entitled to come to Sweden only once they prove that they have employment.

Sweden to give precedence to child asylum seekers

Children who arrive in Sweden alone and seek asylum will be given priority – their applications will be processed within three months.

The government decided this on 19 December in a new letter to the Swedish Migration Board and the Immigration Committee, setting out regulations.

Attention has been drawn to the situation during the year when children and young people under 18 sought asylum and suffered a poor reception and long investigation times, leading to suicide attempts. There have also been hints about prostitution.

Switzerland

Cessation clause not applicable in case of one short visit to country of origin [EMARK/ JICRA No.2002/21]

In a case implying the application of the cessation clause (Article 1C of the 1951 Geneva Convention to which the Swiss Asylum Law refers), the Swiss Asylum Appeals Commission (AAC) held that one short visit by a Convention refugee to his country of origin, Kosovo, to visit parents, does not lead to the withdrawal of his refugee status.

According to the Commission, refugees returning to Kosovo are not placed under the power of the Yugoslav government and, therefore, are not considered to be ‘under the protection of their country of origin’ as required by Article 1C of the 1951 Convention, (Case No. 1996/9)

Under some circumstances, the UN protection areas could replace the protection of the country of origin and could lead to the application of the cessation clause. In this case, it has to be assured that the protection granted to the person would be both sufficient and effective, from a subjective as well as from an objective point of view. Such a situation could be in the case of a refugee who travels back and forth to Kosovo spending several weeks there. (Case No.2002/8).

AAC decisions are available at its website: http://www.ark-cra.ch

Calls for tougher asylum laws

Switzerland's federal authorities are facing renewed calls to tighten asylum rules and speed up procedures.

Canton Lucerne called for an extension of custody for convicted asylum seekers and those who refuse to disclose their identity. The measures requested include the right for extended police searches of premises. Two other cantons recently made similar demands.

Parliament is due to discuss amendments to the asylum law later this year.

Fearing isolation from Europe

Switzerland could face serious problems in the future if it is unable to cooperate with the European Union on asylum legislation. Because Switzerland is not a member of the EU, it will not have access to the Eurodac and they fear that Europe’s rejected asylum seekers may eventually come to Switzerland.

Swiss government hopes to conclude a bilateral agreement with the EU which would allow Switzerland to be included in the Dublin accord on asylum and to share in systems like Eurodac. But negotiations are in a very early phase, and a final agreement remains a long way off.

Establishing the true identity of asylum seekers is one of the biggest problems for the Swiss authorities. Many applicants for asylum arrive without papers, others, perhaps fearing they will be sent back immediately, refuse to reveal their identity.

Repatriation agreements

“We would like to send back people who come from safe third countries, and we want to increase the speed of the procedure - it is fairly long in Switzerland” said Jean Daniel Gerber.

Some of these aims could be at least partly achieved by the repatriation deals signed last week by Switzerland with Senegal and Nigeria. An increased number of asylum seekers are now arriving from west Africa, and Switzerland hopes the agreements will help ease their return.

The agreement with Senegal allows Switzerland to deport to Senegal West Africans whose asylum application has been rejected and whose country of origin is not clear.

Under the Senegal agreement, Swiss officials will accompany the rejected asylum seekers to Dakar and, working with African embassies there, trying to identify their country of origin. If an identity cannot be established within 72 hours, the applicants will be sent back to Switzerland.

Genuine refugees will not be forgotten

Jean Daniel Gerber however insisted that, despite all the sound and fury in the asylum debate, the needs of real refugees fleeing real persecution will not be forgotten.

“Real refugees will be treated as well as they have been treated in the past,” he said. In addition, Gerber added, a new category of asylum would be introduced, for those fleeing conflict.

“This will be the so-called humanitarian status” he explained. “For those people who are not refugees because they are not individually persecuted, but for whom return would not be reasonable.”

Uproar forces Swiss town to drop 'apartheid' rules

A Swiss town which introduced rules barring asylum seekers from some public areas, including schools and sports grounds, has been forced by public uproar and the danger of legal proceedings to back down.

Realising that its scheme may contravene the constitution and be vulnerable to legal challenge, the town council of Meilen, near Zurich, in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, has decided to resort to informal measures instead, according to the newspaper that broke the story.

Asylum seekers will be asked rather than compelled to keep out of certain parts of the town, and the police will step up their patrols in the town centre to appease citizens who say they are afraid of the newcomers.

Calls for more targeted immigration

Experts have called for more selective and targeted immigration policies in Switzerland. They recommended admitting immigrants based on economic criteria similar to those used by traditional immigration nations, such as the United States and Canada. Under the current policy, nationals from certain European countries are given priority.

The experts also called for increased efforts to integrate foreigners with residence status and their families.

The findings are based on a series of studies by the National Research Foundation into various aspects of immigration.

Zurich urges rethink of asylum laws

Zurich’s city council has called for an urgent rethink of Switzerland’s asylum laws, and put forward ten proposals including allowing asylum seekers to work.

It said that the present conditions endured by asylum seekers in Switzerland were “nothing more than an invitation towards petty crime” and demanded an end to “the stigmatisation of asylum seekers and… the pursuit of a policy that creates an environment that encourages criminality”.

“It’s the same people who forbid asylum seekers from working who also reproach them for being lazy,” said the city council in a statement.

Entitled “Ten rules for a new Swiss asylum policy”, the proposals start with the right or even the obligation for asylum seekers to work in order to finance themselves, and the right to education for young people.

It goes on to advocate that people in asylum centres should be able to organise their living conditions themselves and provide each other with a mutually supportive network.

Zurich is also in favour of Switzerland joining the European Union’s Schengen and Dublin agreements - governing the movement of people and asylum seekers - as quickly as possible.

Decisions on asylum should be made within six months, and asylum seekers known to be criminals should be immediately deported, it added.

It is also demanding that the federal government and the cantons assume responsibility for the costs borne by local communities and to make sure that these costs are calculated in a realistic way.

Turkey

Turkey prepares for refugee influx

While Turkey seeks a diplomatic solution to the Iraq problem, it is preparing contingency plans for a possible refugee crisis. Such plans, however, lack cooperation, as Turkish officials are still trying to give final shape to their plans regarding a possible refugee crisis, while bargaining between Turkish and U.N. officials on the scope of the cooperation is still pending.

"We cannot estimate the size of the crisis. But we proposed our plans to the government and announced that we can meet the needs of almost 100,000 people as the Turkish Red Crescent. We also said we need $50 million for 80,000 people per month," said Red Crescent President Ertan Gonen.

"But if the Prime Minister orders us to meet 200,000 refugees, then we should meet 200,000 people. However, with the present state of Turkey herself the Red Crescent cannot use all its resources for this problem. I have allocated 40 percent of my capacity to the possible refugee crisis. There is no money allocated to us for this issue by the government at the moment," Gonen added.

Asked about their estimates and the U.N.'s possible contribution, Gonen said, "We have experience because of the 1991 crisis. We estimate 300,000 refugees following a war. This is the general estimate of the Turkish officials. The U.N. is estimating the amount at less than 300,000."

"The contribution of the U.N. is not yet concrete. But they told us that they could meet part of our needs with money or compensation. The U.N. is still collecting money from its donors. But, we are not convinced. There was no aid given to us in the 1991 crisis".

The preparations so far have involved the Red Crescent Society assigning personnel to refugee camps that are being constructed along the border. It will also erect tents outside the Turkish town of Zakho, located approximately 10 kilometres from the southeaster border crossing of Habur. According to UNHCR "More than 300 people who were working at public institutions and organizations in the south-eastern provinces of Sirnak and Mardin would be assigned in those camps and 24,000 tents would be erected outside the town of Sirnak should there be a massive influx of Iraqi refugees.

Ukraine

The State Committee for Nationalities and Migration in Ukraine (the body that processes asylum applications) did not function from October 2001 to December 2002. It has recently resumed work but there is a large backlog of applications.

UNITED KINGDOM

High Court judge rules that welfare system under new Asylum Act breaches the asylum seekers’ human rights

On 19 February 2003, a High Court judge ruled for the benefit of asylum seekers in 6 test cases challenging the new Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act, which came into force in January 2003. The new law requires asylum seekers to register for asylum as soon as possible in order to qualify for state benefits.

The 6 test cases involve asylum seekers from Angola, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Iraq and Iran who have reached the UK with the help of agents or smugglers. Some of the cases were refused state benefit because the State Secretary found that the circumstances of entrance in the UK were not credible. In the case of J. (No. CO/0150/2003), a 26 year old man who came from Iran on the back of a lorry, benefits were refused to him on the grounds that ‘his account of the circumstances of his entry to the UK and what followed were not credible.’ B. (Case No. CO/0254/2003) was also refused state benefits because she ‘had failed to do so when she had the opportunity’. B., a 16 year old Ethiopian girl, managed to come to the UK with the help of an agent and approached the authorities to apply for asylum at the airport, however she failed to do so as the office was closed.

In two other cases, the State Secretary found that the reason for not applying for asylum at the airport was neither satisfactory nor reasonable. This conclusion was drawn in the case of M. (No. CO/0151/2003) a 42 year old Hutu woman who fled Rwanda after she was regularly subjected to rape and beaten up by Rwandan soldiers in a refugee camp where she lived since 1994. And, F. (Case No. CO/0221/2003), a 33 year Angolan man who fled the Angolan Army as he was suspected of being a spy. They both had arrived to the UK by air and were helped through the immigration control by an agent. They did not know where to apply for asylum.

In the case of Q. (No.CO/0113/2003), he was denied state benefit for the ‘lack of detail in his response to the questions which had been put to him in connection with his journey to the UK’. Q. is an Iraqi Kurd who reached the UK in the back of a lorry. By the time he reached the authorities, he was not fit to answer the questions in a detailed manor.

The sixth case concerns D., (Case No. CO/0117/2003), a 22 years old Angolan man, came to the UK by air with the help of an agent. He claimed asylum on the same day at Croydon. But, was denied state benefit for the lack of evidence with regards to his entry in the UK.

The High Court judge, Mr. Collins, found that the Immigration Act breached the asylum seekers’ human rights. He said that the ‘real risk’ test has been applied in the EctHR judgments in cases of intended removals. In this case, however, he was satisfied that the real risk test could be applied where a person showed that he was under real risk when someone is left in destitute and this would violate Articles 3 and 8 para.1 of the ECHR. He added that the fact that a claimant has been sleeping rough or obviously has nowhere to go may in itself show that there is a real risk.

The standard form of rejection of any application of State Benefit, s.55.5, in all the refusal letters demonstrated that insufficient consideration had been given to the issue.

Mr Justice Collins said: "The individual's reasons for not claiming must be considered and that means at least asking about the pressures on him, what he was told and what his beliefs were.

"Whether or not in the end they are granted asylum, many of those arriving are vulnerable and may well have suffered serious ill-treatment.

"Equally, the so-called economic migrants are frequently trying to escape conditions which no-one in this country would regard as tolerable."

Mr Justice Collins also said “Parliament can surely not have intended that genuine refugees should be faced with the bleak alternatives of returning to persecution or of destitution”

Commenting on the case, Mr. David Blunkett, the Home Secretary argued that the Home Office would appeal against this decision, with the Attorney General taking the appeal on behalf of the government.

Other Provisions of the New Nationality and Immigration Act come fully into force

Sections 54, 55 and 57 of the new Nationality and Immigration Act came fully into force on 8 January 2003. These sections provide that asylum seekers who do not claim ‘as soon as reasonably practicable’ after arrival will not be given support for housing and living costs. Families with children or those who claim after significant changes in their country of origin may be granted support as an exception. Support is not given if asylum seekers give incomplete or inaccurate information or do not co-operate with inquiries about their support application.

Immigration health risks

The British government said that an inquiry was underway into the risks to public health posed by immigration. Immigration experts believe there are up to one million illegal immigrants living in Britain, many from countries with high rates of infectious disease.

A Department of Health spokesman told Reuters Health that the Cabinet Office had been commissioned to establish the facts amid concerns of an upsurge in imported infections such as hepatitis B, HIV and tuberculosis.

Tories demand tougher checks

The murder of a special branch officer and a discovery of a terrorist cell in Manchester sparked a political row as the Tories moved close to demanding that all asylum seekers be detained until it is proved they do not pose a terrorist threat.

The Conservative leader, Iain Duncan Smith said all asylum seekers should be housed in secure centres until they were vetted by MI5 and MI6. He also suggested every vehicle entering Britain should be checked for illegal immigrants.

Mr Duncan Smith said he wanted Britain to negotiate changes to the international human rights treaties to allow the deportation of terror suspects who try to claim refuge in the UK.

“The message to the terrorist must be this: stay at home or you will be sent home.”

The home secretary, David Blunkett, who said that to assume that asylum seekers were “any more likely to be terrorists than anyone else would be deeply damaging to social cohesion and good race relations in this country”, rejected the suggestion.

Asylum hotel scheme thrown into disarray

The government's asylum policy was plunged into disarray after ministers were forced to review "incompetent" handling of plans to house newly arrived asylum seekers in hotels.

The scheme to convert a hotel in Sittingbourne, Kent, which sparked the latest dispute, was immediately thrown into doubt.

Accommodation company Accommodata had been awarded a contract by the Home Office to provide 110 places at the Coniston Hotel. Because the building remains a commercial hotel, Accommodata did not need to ask for planning permission for a change in purpose.

But the majority of the 110 bed spaces would in the future be taken by asylum seekers, who would remain there for up to 10 days while they are briefed on the asylum process, before being dispersed elsewhere in the country.

Since the news broke last week, residents have launched five petitions – one already boasting over 1,000 signatures – and demonstrated outside the hotel. Others have thrown eggs at the building and, most disturbingly, there are widespread rumours of threats to "burn the place down". The British National Party has leafleted the town.

Ministers, who fear that the latest asylum row is harming race relations, made clear their deep anger over the handling of the Sittingbourne hotel in a series of interventions yesterday. David Blunkett, the home secretary, accused the immigration and nationality directorate of "incompetence".

"The procedure and process by which this was handled was unsatisfactory," he told MPs. "All of these matters display an incompetence... We do require a step change."

Revision of international obligations

Prime Minister Tony Blair said he may have to re-examine the UK's commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights if his government's policies to stop illegal immigrants from entering the country failed.

Mr Blair said the government would take a ‘fundamental look’ at the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights although he did not explain this further.

Mr Blair said the key to solving the problem was to reduce the number of applicants because under the convention asylum seekers cannot be removed to a country where they might be subjected to torture.

Mr. Blair added: "But if the measures don't work, then we will have to consider further measures, including fundamentally looking at the obligations we have under the Convention on Human Rights".

The Tories urged the Prime Minister to follow through with his threat. Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith has demanded that Britain withdraw from the two conventions until it regains the power to deport terrorist suspects. But Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes condemned Mr Blair's move.

However the Home Secretary, David Blunkett has rejected demands to bolster anti-terrorism efforts by pulling out of European Convention on Human Rights and Geneva Convention on refugees. There also were a plethora of outcries from various sources, ranging from the Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles to the Labour party’s own backbenchers and the UK courts.

Refugee Council proposes its own plan

The Refugee Council has released its own five-point plan to end the asylum gridlock. The proposals are:

· The Government must concentrate on producing fair and fast decisions on asylum claims, through adequate resourcing.

· The Government should immediately restore welfare support to destitute asylum seekers.

· The Government has proposed that all asylum seekers be put through a 7-day induction process. We believe that this would be a sensible procedure, ensuring asylum seekers know their rights and responsibilities and will give them immediate orientation to the UK.

· Following induction, asylum seekers should be housed in small centres in urban areas.

· Asylum seekers should be allowed to work while their asylum claim is being assessed.

More information can be found in the press release: http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/news/jan2003/relea101.htm

Raids on firms employing illegal workers

Immigration officials have been ordered to launch raids on firms employing illegal workers as Downing Street gave them ten weeks to prove that new laws designed to stem the flow of asylum-seekers into Britain are working

The Home Secretary, David Blunkett believes that last year’s Asylum and Immigration Act will help to reduce the attraction of Britain’s low-regulated economy to migrants and that his decision to increase the number of temporary work permits to 200,000 this year will encourage economic migrants to avoid exploitative employers in the black economy.

Tightening rules on citizenship

David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, is to implement a key part of the new Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act, allowing him to remove citizenship from anyone whose presence he believes is “seriously prejudicial to the vital interests” of Britain.

In a further tightening of rules for those seeking citizenship, people married to British citizens will have to show knowledge of English. At present, that rule applies only to those who are not married to British citizens.

The Government can already remove someone’s citizenship if it is found that a person obtained it by “fraud or false representation or the concealing of a material fact”.

More countries declared ‘safe’

The home secretary, David Blunkett, last night announced he was closing the door on asylum seekers from seven more countries, which were now officially declared to be "safe" as part of a package it is claimed will curb asylum abuse.

The seven new countries on the "white list" and the latest full-year figures for 2001 are: Albania (1,065); Bulgaria (n/a); Jamaica (480); Macedonia (745); Moldova (n/a); Romania (1,415); and Serbia/Montenegro (319).

David Blunkett also announced an immediate ban on postal applications for asylum and the introduction of visas to prevent those given refugee status in other EU countries claiming asylum in Britain as well.

The decision to extend the "white list" from the 10 EU accession states in Eastern Europe to include seven extra countries will mean applications from thousands more asylum seekers will officially "be presumed to be unfounded".

They will be sent to the fast-track Oakington reception centre near Cambridge where their applications will be turned around in 10 days. Those who cannot "rebut the presumption that their asylum or human rights claim is clearly unfounded" will be rejected.

Removal targets under threat with lack of co-operation from the airlines

Efforts to speed up the removal of failed asylum seekers from the UK are being undermined because airlines refuse to carry them, a committee of MPs heard today.

Despite agreements with the airlines’ trade body IATA, many carriers cite increased passenger fear of hijacking following September 11 as a reason for not taking deportees on board, the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee was told.

Without the co-operation of British Airways, the number of asylum seekers returned home on scheduled flights against their will would be “virtually nil”, said Tom Davies, chief executive of Loss Prevention International Ltd, the company responsible for escorting them.

The committee also heard that a Government target of 30,000 removals a year was set without consultation with the private company responsible for delivering it.

Further plans to reduce asylum applications

Under the terms of the "restricted" joint Cabinet Office-Home Office policy document, which was passed to the Guardian, the large majority of asylum seekers would lose their right to claim asylum in Britain and would be returned to "regional protection areas", where their applications would be processed.

Asylum seekers would stay in the UN special protection areas for six months while the position in their home country stabilised. The scheme envisages that those in need of longer-term protection could be resettled in Britain and other European countries under a burden-sharing quota scheme determined by each country's population.

The report also sets out a case for international intervention to reduce the flow from the main refugee-producing countries with a graded response ranging from aid packages through sanctions to armed intervention as a key element of what it calls a "new vision for refugees".

Under the policy, the UNHCR would be responsible for the regional protection areas and, if it agrees to take on the role, the detailed plans for the first pilot schemes could be ready this summer. Initially it could be taken forward by a coalition of five EU states willing to fund the scheme. The officials raise the possibility of Australia joining as well.

It is thought the plan could be carried out without changes to the Geneva Convention or European convention on Human Rights. The plan makes clear that the quality of protection in the UNHCR areas will have to be high enough to satisfy a British court that the human rights of those removed from Britain were not being abused by the scheme.

The restricted policy document says the plan "should gradually reduce the number of asylum seekers who enter the UK and need to be processed in the UK. Therefore this takes the burden off the current asylum system but will not completely replace it".

YUGOSLAVIA

Serbia hopes to settle refugee problems this year

Refugees and exiled persons should finally decide in 2003 whether they would integrate or return to the places they came from, said Serbian Commissioner for Refugees Sanda Raskovic Ivic. He further added, “we will respect and understand all those decisions equally because exiled persons know best why they make them. The budget for this year, along with UNHCR funds, will be enough to support the people in collective [refugee] centres that will be gradually closing down. This way, we will attempt to solve these issues through local integration as well as by prioritising with regard to return”.

UNHCR says: Continued protection needed for some minorities in Kosovo

UNHCR published a new ‘Position Paper on the Continued Needs of Individuals in Kosovo’ in January 2003. The paper calls for the continued need of International Protection for some people from Kosovo, in particular members of Serb, Roma, and some other minorities. UNHCR believes the general situation in Kosovo has improved over the past year. But the security situation of minorities continues to be a major cause for concern. The level of risk varies according to the particular group and their location.

Specific problems still being encountered range from acute discrimination, marginalization and restricted freedom of movement to destruction of property and physical harassment, including grenade attacks, landmines, booby-traps, drive-by shootings and arson.

UNHCR stressed that the return of members of these minorities from asylum countries should continue on a strictly voluntary basis. It emphasized that any such voluntary returns should be carefully coordinated, and returnees provided with assistance to enable them to reintegrate properly once they are back home in Kosovo. UNHCR explicitly opposes any forced or induced return of members of these minorities to Kosovo.

By contrast, the vast majority of Kosovo Albanians who fled during the 1999 crisis have returned home and few of them face individual protection problems. Nevertheless, the UNHCR paper outlines some categories who may face serious problems, including risks to their personal safety, were they to return home at this time.

The document is available on the following link:

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/balkans-country?country=kosovo&display=protection

New ECRE Comments on amended procedures proposal

On 7 March ECRE published comments on the Amended proposal for a Council Directive on minimum standards on procedures in Member States for granting and withdrawing refugee status (2000/0238 (CNS)). These comments can be downloaded from the ECRE website: http://www.ecre.org/eu_developments/procedures/index.shtml

PRESIDENCIES OF THE EU

The Greek Presidency

From January 1, 2003, Greece took over the Presidency of the European Union from Denmark. During this first month of the Presidency Greek Ministers gave interviews and visited the EU institutions in order to present the key concerns of their agenda and the road map which they aim to follow. The issue of immigration and refugees has received a fairly prominent position within this agenda with the Greek Government stating that it will try to strike a balance between the necessity to control migratory flows and the need to meet humanitarian and economic demands.

Joint Actions on Immigrations Policy

Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Tassos Yiannitsis stated in an interview that the major challenges which Greece would be called on to meet were the institutional renewal of the European Union, the parallel promotion of the European economy's competitiveness and social cohesion, the strengthening of the EU's voice on the international stage and the shaping of joint actions with regard to immigration policy. Yiannitsis declared “the aim is to formulate an effective common European policy on asylum issues, border cooperation, financing of infrastructures, external cooperation, as well as labour and social matters relating to immigrants. The objective is to create barriers to social tensions and to extreme political forces, which take advantage of such conditions.” The Greek Presidency also believes that the issue of migration

should not be viewed only in the context of protecting external borders, cooperation with third countries aimed at controlling migration flows and the fight against illegal immigration. They will therefore promote issues relating to legal immigration (mainly for the approval of the Proposals on family reunification and the status of long-term residents, as the deadline for their adoption is in June according to the road map established at the Seville Council) and the strengthening of policies for the integration of non-EU citizens.

Migration, Illegal Immigration, External Borders and Asylum

In the presentation of the Priorities of the Greek Presidency for the next semester before the Plenary Session of the EP in Strasbourg, 14 January, Prime Minister Simitis also spoke about the very sensitive issue of migration, illegal immigration, external borders and asylum, as “migratory flows have assumed unprecedented proportions and create new economic problems to the Union”. The primary objective is to ensure that the Union is defined as a genuine “area of freedom, justice and security” for its citizens, free from any form of organised crime, xenophobia and racism; and also, as a multicultural area for the understanding of the problems of humankind and of their causes, such as poverty, misery and political oppression.

The Greek Presidency also wants to continue the negotiations on, and if possible adopt, the qualifications directive and speed up readmission agreements with third countries, which are sources of migrants. They intend to implement common actions in the light of the Seville conclusions and prepare new ones on the basis of the expected proposals of the Commission.

Greece is also keen on ensuring that there is a fair distribution of the burden that is incurred by the guarding of the common external borders of the Union. Greece believes additional resources must be secured in order to improve the guarding of the Union’s sea and land borders, to accommodate the infrastructure for illegal immigrants and to cover the cost of their repatriation to the countries of origin.

The Greek Social Democrat government is under growing domestic pressure to step up actions to combat clandestine and illegal immigration. Greece has 16,000 km of coast, including 3000 islands, under observation on behalf of the whole Schengen area and aims to share the economic burden with other EU countries. The country borders Albania, FYROM (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Bulgaria and Turkey. Fears have also grown recently due to the possibility of a new wave of refugees following an attack on Iraq.

External Relations of the EU in the Field of JHA

Laying out the policies of the incoming EU presidency, the Greek Minister of Public Order, Michalis Chrysohoidis, explained that work on action programmes for the return of refugees has to be stepped up, and that money for this purpose should be directed to those EU countries having the greatest need. The Greek Minister declared that in relation to the external relations of the European Union in the field of JHA, they will “work for the promotion of cooperation between the European Union and third countries, such as Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldavia, the U.S.A., etc. This cooperation will especially be focused on issues relating to all forms of organized crime, including terrorism, drug trafficking and trafficking in human beings, as well as to corruption”.

Links to the statement made by Greek Minister:

http://www.eu2003.gr/en/articles/2003/1/14/1493/ http://www.eu2003.gr/en/articles/2003/1/14/1499/

Thessalonica European Council Meeting – June 2003

Key items on the agenda of the Thessalonica European Council Meeting in June include the report on the implementation of the Seville European Council guidelines on joint border control and the combating of illegal immigration. In this field the Greek Presidency will focus its activities on three areas. Firstly, the operational handling of the issue and the creation of synergies from the efforts made at national level. Secondly, the promotion of policies related to the prevention of, and fight against, illegal immigration as important aspects of the Union's common and integrated policy on immigration and asylum. Thirdly, the holding of discussions to highlight the fact that migration is a demonstration of globalisation and should be dealt with accordingly.[1]

Justice and Home Affairs Councils during the Greek Presidency

During the Greek Presidency, the Justice and Home Affairs Ministers are to meet in formal Council in Brussels on 27-28 February, 8 May and 5-6 June, and in informal Council on 28-29 March in Veria (Greece).

The Justice and Home Affairs Council that took place in Brussels on 27-28 February defined a general approach on the Directive on family reunification. This can be understood as political agreement. Before the Directive can be formally adopted, the report of the European Parliament needs to be adopted and the Dutch Parliament has to lift its scrutiny reservation. The original proposal was submitted by the Commission in December 1999 and since then, two revised versions have been presented by the Commission.

The Council also discussed the Qualifications Directive and the Framework Decision on combating racism and xenophobia, but was not able to reach agreement on them.

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Formal adoption of the reception conditions directive

During the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 27 and 28 January one of the items that received the formal approval from all Member States, was the directive laying down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers in Member States. The UK and Germany reopened negotiations on its content at the end of 2002, but the Danish Presidency managed to reach an agreement on the proposal in December. This agreement has now been formalised.

Link to the publication of the final version in the Official Journal:

http://www.europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/dat/2003/l_031/l_03120030206en00180025.pdf

Final adoption of Dublin II

On 18 February, the Council adopted the Regulation determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in the European Union. The "Dublin II" regulation, which had already met with the Member States approval at the beginning of December, will replace the Dublin Convention with additional criteria to determine whether the state responsible is the one by which the person entered, the one in which s/he remained, or the one in which the application was finally lodged. The regulation will enter into force on the twentieth day after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities (Official Journal 25 February 2003, L 50 Volume 46). It will be applicable to asylum applications lodged as of the first day of the sixth month following its entry into force. Full official text available at:

http://www.europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/dat/2003/l_050/l_05020030225en00010010.pdf

List of safe third countries

Austria’s proposal that the EU draw up a list of safe third countries (twelve candidate countries, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway) to which asylum seekers on their territory could be sent back to has now been published in the Official Journal. (C17 of 24 January 2003) The proposal will also be discussed under forthcoming Councils in order to reach an agreement among the Member States. According to the Austrian proposal: "Third country nationals who have entered the territory of a Member State after passing through or coming from a third State, which may be held to have a responsibility in receiving or readmitting those persons, and who apply for asylum in the Member State fall under the responsibility of the third State for examining their asylum applications, if this is a safe third State". For the purposes of the Regulation, a safe third State is one which has ratified the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees and the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and at least its protocols 6 and 11, or the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Illegal immigration

Beside the proposals under negotiation at EU level in order to build a common policy on asylum; the European Union is holding talks with Russia with the aim of signing an agreement on illegal immigration. According to the Department for Press and information of the European Commission office in Moscow, the agreement contains several steps for co-operation on returning “illegal” immigrants to their home country, statements for controlling the readmission procedure, transit operations and methods, means of proof, temporary restrictions, rules regulating cost, database protection, as well as the observance of other international rights and commitments.

Another recent initiative in the area of illegal immigration is a new scheme set up in order to combat and stop illegal immigration to Europe by sea. The maritime surveillance scheme is a joint operation between five EU countries, and brings the EU a step closer to a European-wide frontier police force and the establishment of the common area of freedom, security and justice. The pilot project, entitled Operation Ulysses, is coordinated by Spain, together with Britain, France, Portugal and Italy. Observers from Norway, Poland, Germany, Greece and Austria will also take part in the project.

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Eurodac

From 15 January 2003 onwards, the fingerprints of anyone who applies for asylum in Norway, Iceland and in the European Union (except Denmark, for the time being) will be stored in a database entitled ‘Eurodac’. The fingerprints will be submitted to a central unit in Luxembourg, the intention behind this new tool is to help the states combat multiple asylum applications. Eurodac was created in the context of the development of the common asylum policy, and the system is to help determine which state is responsible for considering an application for asylum according to the mechanisms and criteria set up by the Dublin Convention, which is to be replaced this year by a regulation. Having received criticism from asylum and human rights groups the Commission has tried to ensure that the Eurodac Regulation and other EU rules ensure that personal data can be collected only for the legitimate purposes specified, and with the informed consent of the individual concerned.

Second report on the implementation of a common asylum policy

The Commission had committed to present in February a progress report on work on the common asylum procedure and the uniform status, and on the implementation of the first-stage instruments. Later in 2003 it will follow this up with two communications concerning the examination of asylum applications outside the EU and the establishment of a single procedure for examining applications for protection in the Member States.

Communication on the integration of third country nationals

According to its quarterly agenda, the Commission would publish, in February, a communication on the integration of third country nationals. The Seville European Council regarded this matter as important.

Proposal for a decision to establish migratory cooperation programme with third countries

In order to complete the communication on the integration of immigration policies in relations with third countries that was released in December last year, the Commission planned to present, also in February, a proposal for a decision in order to establish a cooperation programme with third countries in the field of migration. This would provide the legal basis for a new Community budgetary instrument. According to the Commissions scoreboard[2] on the progress in the creation of an AFSJ the “intention is to respond in a specific and complementary way to the needs of third countries in their efforts to ensure better management of all aspects of migratory flows and, in particular, to stimulate third countries in their preparation to implement the readmission agreements or to assist them with the implementation itself”.

Commission proposal for a Council decision on expulsion

In February 2003, the European Commission presented a draft Council decision in order to establish the criteria and practical methods to compensate financial imbalances between the Member State that issues an expulsion decision and the one that enforces it. When the costs relating to the expulsion cannot be undertaken by the third country national or nationals concerned, the decision sets the criteria by which the state carrying out the expulsion can reimburse the costs from the state that issued the expulsion decision. This Council decision has to be seen in the context of Directive 2001/40/EC, which establishes the mutual recognition of expulsion decisions taken by the competent authorities in other Member States.

Link to proposal: http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2003/com2003_0049en01.pdf

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Strasbourg Plenary, January 2003

In January, the Parliament met in Strasbourg for its Plenary Session, where decisions concerning the Annual Report on Human Rights in the EU, the situation in Afghanistan one year after the Bonn agreement, and the state of the common immigration and asylum policy were discussed and voted upon.

Human Rights Report

Regarding the Annual Report on the situation of Human Rights in the EU during 2001 adoption came through with a very narrow margin of 274 MEPs in favour, 269 against and 14 abstentions. The Parliament adopted the Citizens' Freedoms and Rights Committee's own-initiative resolution, where there was an emphasis on the misconduct by law enforcement officers, shortcomings in the administration of justice and discrimination of all kinds. The report was set up on the basis of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and highlighted problems in the area of social affairs and in the implementation of the Charter. Throughout the report Member States were mentioned by name where they were considered to have failed in the safeguarding of fundamental rights. In the report MEPs also urged Member States to adopt a common asylum policy as well as an ambitious programme for the integration of third country citizens, to regularise the status of people without identity papers who have significant ties to the host country, to increase flexibility in procedures for nationalisation or dual nationality, to step up measures to combat illegal immigration, to limit the detention of asylum seekers to exceptional cases and a limited period, and to adhere to the principle of non-refoulement. Parliament urged the Member States to refrain from any initiative that aims at changing the Geneva Convention itself, and, moreover, called for the criteria governing the admission of refugees to the EU to be broadened to include, in particular, persecution inflicted by persons other than representatives of the state and persecution based on sex, (including the threat and the risk to women of being subjected to genital mutilation), and sexual orientation.

Afghanistan

Concerning the situation in Afghanistan, the Parliament adopted, by 257 votes in favour, 22 against with 9 abstentions, a joint resolution where they welcomed the budgetary efforts undertaken by the Commission and the Member States. However, Parliament was disappointed with the fact that Europe is not playing a major political role, which corresponds to this financial support. MEPs also requested all sides to fulfil the remaining provisions of the Bonn Agreement and called for the drafting of a new constitution and preparations for free and fair elections by June 2004. On the repatriation of Afghan refugees, Parliament wants the United Nations and the donor governments to find just and coherent criteria for repatriation schemes for the Afghan refugees who are facing uncertain fates and have to deal with different policies operated by hosting countries and humanitarian agencies. Finally, Parliament decided to send a delegation of Members of the European Parliament to Afghanistan next spring.

Common immigration policy

MEPs voted in favour of a resolution - 324 to 121, with 6 abstentions - regretting the fact that no active common immigration policy had been set up yet. It welcomed the Commission’s proposal on permits for victims of trafficking who cooperate in criminal proceedings against exploiters, and Parliament regretted the delay in adopting the directive on the right to family reunification as well as the directive on the conditions of residence of third-country nationals for the purpose of paid employment and self-employed economic activities. Parliament also called on the Council to take measures to enable data to be exchanged among Schengen, Europol and Eurodac files, in order to fight smuggling effectively while at the same time fully complying with European data protection rules. MEPs stressed that strategies for poverty reduction, improvement of living and working conditions, job creation and promotion of training schemes in the countries of origin will contribute to normalising migratory flows. The European Parliament also pronounced itself on a number of other issues within the field of asylum and immigration.

Asylum

Parliament welcomed the adoption of the regulation establishing the criteria for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application (the Dublin II regulation). It also welcomed the agreement reached on the proposal for a directive on reception standards for refugees, but regretted that it had not been adopted (this has now been done). While generally regretting the delay on the part of the Council in adopting the proposals on a common asylum policy, the Parliament did, however, note that the Council is moving towards the adoption of Community legislation defining common rules on matters relating to asylum, and that consequently the codecision procedure and qualified majority voting should soon come into force in the field of asylum (the Nice Treaty provides for the codecision on measures related to asylum to come into force once the Council has unanimously adopted the Community legislation defining the common rules and essential principles).

Return and Readmission

Parliament recalls that the fight against illegal immigration, trafficking networks and all related crime must remain a priority for the EU. It stresses that Parliament should be consulted on readmission agreements and that the overriding priority must be voluntary returns.

Institutional Questions

Parliament deplores the lack of democratic control over the measures adopted in the field on asylum and immigration, arising from the fact that the European Parliament is still only consulted, often within a time limit of three months, and is all too rarely informed of substantive changes within the Council’s negotiating process.

Third country nationals/economic activities:

Following the adoption by the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights of the draft report by Anna Teron i Cusi concerning the ‘entry and residence of third country national for paid employment and self-employed economic activity’, the Plenary adopted the report on 12 February. The European Parliament has stated that the provisions of the proposed directive should be made less stringent. The Parliament generally makes it easier to recruit people from outside the EU and the report also tried to improve the situation for those who are admitted. The spouse or recognised partner of a holder of a residence permit – worker shall also be entitled to such a permit for the same period of time as the holder of a “residence permit – worker”. Parliament voted for a “residence permit - worker” and a “residence permit - self-employed worker” to be issued for a minimum of one year. Link to the adopted report: http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade2?PUBREF=-//EP//NONSGML+REPORT+A5-2003-0010+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&L=EN&LEVEL=4&NAV=S&LSTDOC=Y

Committee activities

Family Reunification

Apart from the adoption of the above proposal, the meeting in the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights 21 January also saw the presentation of the report by Carmen Cerdeira Morterero on the directive on the right to family reunification. The members of the Committee will have until 29 January to present amendments to the report, and after this the Committee will hold a vote on it on 18 February. A vote in plenary is scheduled for 10 March.

EUROPEAN CONVENTION FOR THE FUTURE OF EUROPE

Just before Christmas last year the Convention held a plenary on the report on External Action (and on the report on Defence). The report on external action outlines a number of practical measures that could be adopted in order to make the union more consistent and more effective on the international scene. After the presentation a lot of speakers pointed out they would have liked the report to have been bolder, but at the same some found that e.g. an increased use of qualified majority voting would not be realistic. For a summary report of the plenary session go to:

http://register.consilium.eu.int/pdf/en/02/cv00/00473en2.pdf

After the presentation of the Working Groups’ Final Reports, January 2003 saw the beginning of the drafting stage, where the content of the first articles of the Constitutional Treaty is drafted. The Convention’s Praesidium will submit draft proposals to the Plenary where the discussions will then take place. If the texts presented by the Praesidium are broadly acceptable, a brief written procedure may suffice for the handful of suggested amendments; if there is debate over the substance, use might be made of "focus groups" to investigate key issues that emerge during the plenary debates and report back to the next session. Link to the first 16 draft Articles: http://register.consilium.eu.int/pdf/en/03/cv00/cv00528en03.pdf.

Members of the Convention had until 17 February to submit amendments to these first articles, and the discussion on these tabled amendments was due to take place during the Plenary on 27-28 February. At this Plenary, the next set of articles, on instruments, is also going to be presented.

The European Convention should conclude before the European Council of Thessalonica, to be held on 21 June 2003, and this will allow the Thessalonica Council to deal effectively with the issue of the “Future of Europe”. According to the Greek Presidency a substantive debate on the outcome of the proceedings of the Convention and its Draft Constitutional Treaty will be held. Decisions have to be taken in order to find out how to progress from there, and to decide on when to start the IGC. With regard to the debate during the Spring Summit, the Presidency has stated that some kind of exploratory debate will have to take place, without prejudice to the work and the decisions of the Convention.

The Institutional Debate

During the Plenary Session that took part on 21 and 22 January a debate was held on the functioning of the institutions of the Union. Among the reasons for the centrality of the institutional debate, Valéry Giscard D’Estaing mentioned the challenges to Union policy within the field of internal Security and Justice. Below is a summary of the main point of the debate relating to the three central institutions.

Parliament

“There is general agreement on the extension of co-decision”, said Valéry Giscard D’Estaing, nevertheless noting that some had spoken of exceptions to the rule and that now they had to identify these.

Council

A very large majority of the members of the Convention are in favour of a generalisation of qualified majority voting. In relation to the Council it has, furthermore, been discussed to set-up a legislative Council so that the executive and the legislative functions of the Council will be separated. Additionally, there was the debate on whether and how to reform the system of rotating Presidencies and maybe replace this with a permanent President of the Council.

Commission

A number of speakers favoured the idea of the EP electing the president of the Commission, but the politisation that this could lead to as well as the consequences it could have on the relations between the Commission and the EP, were also raised. Others suggested that the Commission President should be elected by an electoral college consisting of European and national Parliamentarians, or by a Union-wide universal direct suffrage

[1] The website of the Greek Presidency 2003 is http://www.eu2003.gr/en/cat/0/index.asp The full interview with Greek Minister is available in http://www.eu2003.gr/en/articles/2003/1/3/1429/

[2] The most recent scoreboard from the Commission is from 16 December 2002. Link to the scoreboard (COM (2002) 738 final): http://www.europa.eu.int/cgi-bin/eur-lex/udl.pl?REQUEST=Service-Search&LANGUAGE=en&GUILANGUAGE=fr&SERVICE=all&COLLECTION=com&DOCID=502PC0738