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UK opts out of EU push for minimum standards on removals
LONDON, January 25th (UNHCR)- The UK government has decided not to opt in to the EU draft directive on return thereby significantly limiting its ability to participate in discussions to set minimum standards across the European Union on removal of third country nationals. Giving evidence today in the House of Lords, UNHCR stressed that harmonisation of standards within the EU is an important process in protecting the needs of persons of concern to UNHCR.
“There is no merit in harmonisation if it does not establish the necessary standards of protection,” said Anja Klug a senior legal officer at UNHCR. “We have been disappointed with some of the developments in this directive, however we are still optimistic and in favour of harmonisation as a general principle.”
UNHCR has been supportive of the process of harmonisation of asylum in Europe since it started in 1999. But it is disappointed by the failure of member states to live up to their commitment to international asylum standards. At a meeting in Tampere in 1999, EU countries committed themselves to the absolute respect for the right to seek asylum and the full and inclusive application of the 1951 Geneva Convention.
"We recognise that there are wide divergences between member states’ policies and
practices in relation to the issues covered by the draft directive," the Refugee Council and Amnesty International UK stated in joint evidence to the Lords. "We also note that in recent
months there have been many examples of unsafe returns, including the UK’s return of rejected
asylum seekers to Zimbabwe prior to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal decision
regarding the risks faced on return, and Italy’s returns of irregular migrants to Libya. We thus
support measures that will result in improved national practice and guarantees of safe, dignified
and durable returns for those at the end of the asylum process, as well as those whose status has
been withdrawn."
UNHCR is concerned about the directive’s inadequacies with regard to children in particular. “We welcome the directive’s mention of the best interests of the child”, Klug said in oral testimony to the Lords EU Select Committee, “but it is not sufficiently elaborated upon. We would like to see the language of the directive brought in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
The directive’s articles on the detention of asylum seekers are also of concern to UNHCR. “Detention may, in certain circumstances, be necessary but there must be due diligence in the decision to detain. This decision cannot be taken purely for administrative convenience”, said Klug.
UNHCR acknowledged that the directive is by no means a perfect instrument to ensure that minimum standards are met in policies affecting the removal of third country nationals. However, all attempts to safeguard minimum standards are regarded as valuable and participation in the negotiation process is the only way in which the UK would be able to ensure that minimum standards are met.
The UK does have the option to opt back in to this directive once all the negotiations are complete. In UNHCR’s evidence to the Lords, Klug said that EU member states should strive to ensure adequate safeguards and high standards of protection for refugees and concluded that “UNHCR recommends that the UK government should opt in, provided that the standards of the directive meet international standards”.
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