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- From: hnaylor@igc.apc.org (Hilary Naylor)
- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Subject: EUROPE: AI appeals to EC Summit
- Message-ID: <1992Dec14.031612.28912@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Date: 14 Dec 92 03:16:12 GMT
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- /* Written 7:16 pm Dec 13, 1992 by hnaylor@igc.apc.org in igc:ai.general */
- /* ---------- "EUROPE: AI appeals to EC Summit" ---------- */
- Amnesty International
- International Secretariat
- 1 Easton Street
- London WC1X 8DJ
- United Kingdom
-
- DATE: 8 DECEMBER 1992
-
- AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL APPEALS TO EDINBURGH SUMMIT TO HEED ITS CONCERNS ABOUT
- REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS
-
- Amnesty International is urgently appealing to the Edinburgh Summit of the
- European Community (EC) to heed its concerns about resolutions and conclusions
- relating to asylum-seekers and refugees, adopted in London last week by the EC
- ministers responsible for immigration. These resolutions and conclusions,
- which are expected to be endorsed by the Edinburgh Summit on 11-12 December,
- deal with refugees fleeing gross human rights abuses in the territories of the
- former Yugoslavia, and more general issues concerning a common policy for
- treating certain types of asylum requests.
-
- Most people who have fled gross abuses of basic human rights in the
- former Yugoslavia have found temporary protection in adjacent countries. But
- tens of thousands of other refugees, particularly those fleeing from Bosnia-
- Herzegovina, have sought protection elsewhere in Europe, or may feel they need
- to do so. However, many potential asylum countries have taken measures to
- obstruct refugees from gaining access to their territory.
-
- The "Conclusion on People Displaced by the Conflict in the Former
- Yugoslavia", adopted by EC immigration ministers last week, emphatically
- states, in its first paragraph, that large-scale permanent movements of people
- outside the former Yugoslavia "are likely to encourage the inhumane and
- illegal practice of ethnic cleansing". Amnesty International regrets the
- prominence given to this statement, because it appears to ignore the fact that
- people whose lives or safety are at risk in Bosnia-Herzegovina must themselves
- decide whether they choose to face that risk or to seek safety elsewhere.
- Amnesty International is also concerned by the conspicuous absence of any
- reference to the right of all individuals to seek and enjoy asylum from
- persecution; this right is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human
- Rights, adopted by the international community in the immediate aftermath of
- the Second World War and the previous major refugee crisis in Europe.
-
- Furthermore, in recent months a number of EC governments, including
- Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and the
- United Kingdom, and other European states including Finland, Iceland and
- Switzerland have imposed a visa requirement on nationals of Bosnia-
- Herzegovina from where most of the refugees are fleeing. All these countries
- plus Denmark and Sweden have imposed visa requirements on nationals of
- Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro.
-
- Abuses which have been perpetrated throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina include
- deliberate and arbitrary killings, torture and ill-treatment. All sides have
- committed at least some of these abuses, although the evidence clearly
- indicates that most abuses have been perpetrated by Serbs and that Muslims
- have been the chief victims. The conflict and the abuses associated with it
- have created a climate of such intense fear and despair in many areas that
- thousands of Muslims, Serbs and Croats have fled to seek greater safety in
- areas within the Republic under the control of their own community or outside
- Bosnia-Herzegovina altogether. In Serbia, in Kosovo province, there is a
- continuation of a long-term pattern where ethnic Albanians have been subject
- to beatings and ill-treatment at the hands of the police. Recent reports
- indicate an increased police harassment of political activists, in the form of
- house-searches and interrogations, and there have been a number of incidents
- where ethnic Albanians have died after being shot by police in disputed
- circumstances.
-
- While Amnesty International notes the undertaking made in the EC
- governments' conclusion that governments will "respect ... flexible
- application of visa and entry controls", it nevertheless remains concerned
- that the very existence of these restrictive measures obstructs those in need
- of protection from reaching these countries to seek protection, and may be
- forcing them to remain in areas where their lives or freedom are at risk. An
- international crisis demands an international response, and that is not helped
- by narrow national efforts to restrict access to the territory through such
- measures as the imposition of visas.
-
- There are continuing reports that people fleeing Bosnia-Herzegovina,
- particularly Muslims, are being prevented from entering Croatia if they have
- insufficient documents; in some cases those who have managed to enter Croatia
- are being forcibly returned to Bosnia-Herzegovina. This is in violation of
- international standards which prohibit the forcible return of refugees and
- asylum-seekers at the border even in situations of large-scale influx.
- However, Amnesty International believes that the Croatian authorities would be
- less inclined to violate these fundamental international standards if other
- European states were not resorting to the restrictive measures described
- above.
-
- Amnesty International notes that some suggestions have been made for EC
- governments to assist in providing material support and protection to refugees
- in so-called "safe zones" immediately adjacent to the present areas of
- conflict. However, the existence of such "safe zones" must not preclude
- opportunities to flee abroad nor must it be used by potential asylum countries
- as a reason to refuse protection to those who ask for it. The individual right
- to seek asylum abroad must not be undermined.
-
- The ministers' meeting in London also agreed to a set of resolutions and
- conclusions on handling certain types of asylum claims. These show an
- increasing preoccupation with blocking what EC governments consider to be non-
- deserving requests for asylum. Amnesty International believes these
- resolutions set a dangerous precedent for the treatment of asylum-seekers
- elsewhere in Europe and around the world.
-
- According to one of the resolutions, all EC countries will use a
- special speedy process for dealing with "manifestly unfounded" asylum claims -
- - a process which Amnesty International fears would not guarantee a fair
- hearing or allow adequate appeals. More worrying, the EC governments have
- extended the definition of what they consider an "abusive" or "unfounded"
- asylum claim beyond the definition set out in international standards -- in
- particular they have decided to include in this widened definition those
- claims where the asylum-seeker could have sought protection in another part of
- his or her own country or in some other country.
-
- Amnesty International is also concerned about the EC governments'
- conclusions by which they agree to jointly apply the notion of countries in
- which there is "generally no serious risk of persecution" -- a concept which
- is already used in some European countries. This would mean that asylum-
- seekers coming from countries considered to be "safe" would not necessarily be
- granted a full hearing which adequately takes into account their individual
- experiences or risks.
-
- These resolutions have been drafted at an intergovernmental level, behind
- closed doors and without the involvement of the parliaments of the member
- states or independent experts, and without any consultation with organizations
- working on behalf of refugees and asylum-seekers. If implemented, they will
- have the effect of sending many asylum-seekers to countries they may have
- travelled through before arriving in an EC country. However, these other
- countries (in particular states in eastern and central Europe) were not
- involved in drafting the resolutions. Amnesty International fears they may now
- consider putting similar restrictions on the entry of asylum-seekers into
- their territories, thereby increasing the number of countries which are
- closing their doors to asylum-seekers.
-
- The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
- has expressed its concern over certain aspects of these resolutions, and has
- noted that some of the recommendations made by UNHCR to the EC Presidency on
- the content of these resolutions have not been fully taken into account.
-
- Amnesty International strongly urges the EC heads of government at the
- Edinburgh Summit not to adopt the resolutions on the handling of asylum claims
- without taking full account of the concerns noted above and undertaking a full
- consultation process with all interested parties.
-