By Bruno Waterfield - 21st February 2006
Reductions in the number of asylum seekers are as much due to indiscriminate EU immigration crackdowns as peace in former war-zones, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has warned.
UNHCR's António Guterres on Tuesday briefed a special session of the European parliament’s development, foreign and justice committees on the situation facing refugees.
The UN refugee watchdog stressed that the fall off in asylum-seeker numbers has two factors – one positive and the other negative.
“The decline in the number of refugees reflects peace agreements and positive developments in several countries, which have enabled many refugees to return home,” he said.
“But at the same time, I fear that it also reflects the barriers which have been erected by states seeking to deter and control irregular migration.”
Guterres is worried that high-profile EU crackdowns on illegal immigrants – such as regularly occur on ‘fortress’ Europe’s southern borders – may be hitting genuine refugees.
“These barriers are not necessarily aimed at refugees but they do not differentiate between them and other categories of people on the move,” he warned.
“The less they differentiate, the fewer genuine refugees will overcome them. The result is that it is more and more difficult or even impossible for people fleeing danger at home to reach safety elsewhere.”
The UNHCR chief welcomes EU moves towards common standards on asylum but is concerned over strong political pressure against immigration – and refugees.
“As a protection agency, we face two major challenges today: preserving asylum, and access to asylum, in an age when population flows are increasingly complex; and stopping the rise of intolerance and exclusion in societies,” he said.
“A more consistent approach to refugee protection in the EU can lead to a better quality of protection and to a reduction in irregular movements of asylum-seekers. It should not lead to a lowering of standards, to a convergence around the lowest common denominator.”
The former Portuguese prime minister is appealing to MEPs to be allies in tackling the politics of fear surrounding immigration and asylum.
“Stopping intolerance requires the same conscious effort to avoid the lowest common denominator. Here, that denominator is fear and suspicion – of the stranger, the foreigner, and what is different,” he said.
“It is the product of an oftentimes caustic public debate and the wilful and misleading confusion of asylum-seekers and migrants.”
The number of refugees worldwide – around 10 million – is the lowest level for over two deacades.
Peace operations in Afghanistan, the Balkans and Africa have cut numbers but not eased desperate and sometimes fatal attempts by migrants to cross sea or land borders.
Guterres believes that there are many factors behind movements of people ranging from conflicts, environmental degradation and poverty.
“The reasons people are on the move are complex, whether these movements are from south to north, east to west or within the south,” he said.
“Preserving asylum requires us to be able to identify those in need of protection, and to respond to their needs.”
“People who are in need of protection should not be forced to turn to human smugglers and traffickers to reach safety.”
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