Udlændinge- og Integrationsudvalget 2018-19 (1. samling)
UUI Alm.del Bilag 47
Offentligt
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Vision for a Better Protection System in a Globalized World
Mending a Broken System
Introductory remarks:
The purpose of this paper is to address the obvious: the present asylum system is dysfunctional in
many ways, not fit for a globalized world and needs to be mended.
Until now, we developed a lot of strategies, action plans, papers and bundles of measures without
having a commonly agreed goal.
This is a vision paper. While it cannot refer to every detail, it ensures a common direction.
It is a compass - it should ensure that we, for the first time, strive towards the same long-term goal.
Without having a clearly defined goal we will not find the way.
This vision builds on and is meant to supplement the European Council conclusions from June 2018.
Migration and asylum
policy will shape Europe’s future.
Migration brings change: for migrants, for societies in countries of origin, and for the citizens
of destination countries. Change is often deeply felt and politically contested.
Many citizens have lost trust in their governments’ ability to deal with the challenges of
irregular migration. In the current system it´s not only the Member States of the EU that
decide who enters the European Union but first and foremost smugglers (and to a lesser
extent migrants themselves). The result is a massive loss of trust. Trust will not be restored
simply by short-term partial strategies and measures at EU-level. There is an urgent need for
an alternative, unifying vision. The priority must be to reassure our citizens by creating a
sustainable policy framework that simultaneously has democratic support, meets our legal
and ethical obligations, and is sufficiently prudent to avoid a legacy of regrets.
Given our own histories, European countries recognise and appreciate the value of the 1951
Refugee Convention. It will always be a core value of the European Union and its Member
States to provide protection to people fleeing persecution due to their race, religion,
nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.
Regrettably, the way in which the 1951 Refugee Convention is currently being implemented,
combined with increased opportunities for mobility and communication created by
globalization, is enabling increasing numbers of irregular migrants and refugees, who have
already found protection in another country, to enter Europe through our asylum systems. It
has never been the intention of the 1951 Refugee Convention to promote transcontinental,
economically induced secondary migration.
Through this historically determined conceptual weakness fraud is rewarded. Many simply
disappear into the informal economy once their asylum claims are rejected. This possibility
has long been abused by organized criminal networks that boost irregular movement by
selling false hope of a better life in the EU, resulting in thousands of deaths, exploitation, and
modern slavery. In spite of these fatal consequences, there are still people who
for various
reasons
praise and strongly support the present system.
The criminal networks rely upon appeals to the moral conscience of Europeans, suggesting
that we are collectively guilty of the resulting death and despair; suggesting that it is our duty
to offer permanent integration to all the people criminals have lured into taking perilous land
routes or boat journeys across the Mediterranean. In such a Darwinist system the fittest and
not the most vulnerable are rewarded. We are faced with a tragic humanitarian situation that
results in the loss of thousands of lives every year. We cannot accept this any longer. We
must prevent this unnecessary death and suffering, while ensuring that our asylum and
migration policies are sustainable. This is why our highest ethical and political priorities are to
develop a better protection system for a globalized world.
UUI, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 47: Orientering af offentliggørelsen den 4. oktober 2018 i Wien af det dansk-østrigske visionspapir om a better protection system in a globalized world", fra udlændinge- og integrationsministeriet
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This is our vision with seven goals and seven steps towards a better, fairer system.
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Goals of a Better Protection System
1.
Helping the most vulnerable:
Establish a system that will identify and assist those
who really need protection rather than unintentionally favouring those who have the
greatest financial means and/or endurance to embark on long journeys.
2.
Help to create perspectives in regions of origin instead of enabling irregular
migration to Europe:
Reinforce global support to countries of
first reception,
including by improving economic opportunities and livelihoods, both for refugees and
host communities, in order to enhance protection and minimize the need for onward
irregular movement.
3.
Prevent further deaths and tragedies in the Mediterranean and along the
migratory routes:
Strengthen the capacity of asylum and migration authorities
along
the migratory routes
to ensure access to protection and to effectively combat
trafficking and smuggling, thus reducing exploitation and the loss of lives of irregular
migrants and migrating refugees.
4.
Break the business model of traffickers and smugglers:
Establish a legal Search
and Rescue (SAR) framework in the entire Mediterranean, based on existing maritime
conventions, as well as set up SAR centres/Regional Disembarkation Arrangements
outside the EU to prevent SAR operations from being an unintended operational tool
of traffickers and smugglers.
5.
Guarantee
effective management of the EU’s external
borders & Ensure all
individuals staying illegally leave the EU:
this should include screening procedures
at enhanced hot-spots. Use all necessary foreign policy tools to ensure humane
return
preferably on a voluntary basis
of all individuals without a legal right to
remain to either 1) their countries of origin 2) a safe third country or 3) a return centre
or an alternative legal migration destination located outside the EU. Circumvention of
protection opportunities (“safe havens”) along migratory routes should no longer be
feasible and shall be taken into account in the national refugee determination
systems.
6.
Engage in common but differentiated responsibility-sharing in order to protect
refugees and effectively stem irregular migration to the EU:
All EU- and
Schengen-States must show solidarity
not least in crisis situations. States should
have a choice as to how. Solidarity should include measures in regions of origin,
along the migratory routes, at the external border, and upon arrival in the EU.
7.
Offer resettlement to those with the greatest need for protection rather than the
strongest selecting themselves:
Once irregular movement is reduced and public
trust restored, safe and legal pathways via resettlement are created for the most
vulnerable and those with the greatest protection needs.
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UUI, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 47: Orientering af offentliggørelsen den 4. oktober 2018 i Wien af det dansk-østrigske visionspapir om a better protection system in a globalized world", fra udlændinge- og integrationsministeriet
A key step in this context is to realign current practice with the core principles of the
1951 Refugee Convention: Protection for those who need it as close to his or her
country of origin as possible. Refugees are entitled to live in safety and dignity; they
are not entitled to unlimited migration.
It is essential to support and stabilize the
safe haven countries
that provide safe sanctuary to
the majority of the world’s refugees.
We want to help those states and host communities,
particularly in Africa and the Middle East, that provide effective protection to those in need.
The majority of the world’s refugees are
not in Europe, and probably do not want to come to
Europe. They find sanctuary in low and middle-income countries. They are best suited to do
so, being in close proximity to the countries of origin and often sharing language, culture and
family links with those fleeing their homes. Protection in the region at the earliest possible
stage is, in principle, the preferred protection model. This is what we should focus on in our
response to refugees.
However, our response cannot be limited to indefinite humanitarian assistance: food,
clothing, and shelter. Although this kind of humanitarian aid is, without a doubt, of importance
we need more than our current, short-term approach: It must primarily include the restoration
of autonomy, dignity and community. This means creating jobs and providing the means for
self-reliance. The governments of countries of first asylum will only permit refugees to work,
and be willing to keep their borders open, if their own people gain from doing so. This dual
task of bringing jobs to refugees, and improved conditions and enhanced economic
opportunities to host populations, is the primary obligation of European countries as far as
refugees are concerned. Although it is entirely feasible, we have persistently failed to meet it.
Improved safety and access to self-reliance can reduce secondary movements and is an
important prerequisite for a durable solution. If we can provide adequate assistance and
development opportunities to refugees and their surrounding host communities in the
countries neighbouring conflicts and crises, few refugees will need to move onwards to
Europe. What most refugees need is not migration; it is safety and normality, until they can
go home or are accepted as productive citizens in their regional haven. Here, globalization
can be harnessed for good: it can bring jobs to safe havens. As long as the citizens of those
countries benefit, their governments will welcome it. This has already happened in Jordan:
with European support Jordan offered refugees the right to work.
Furthermore, there is a need to align efforts to support refugee-hosting communities with
self-reliance strategies and with national poverty reduction strategies. Under certain
preconditions the presence of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons can result in
new opportunities and benefits for national and local economies. In culturally and
economically comparable countries the
refugees’ human capital, including labour skills and
their demand for goods and services can have a positive effect. This would particularly be
the case if more private business would invest in save haven countries and avail of such
human capital. Based on these preconditions refugees can contribute as drivers of
development to the benefit of host countries.
Refugees are not natural migrants: they are people who chose to stay home until they were
forcibly displaced. In contrast to economic migration, development opportunities for refugees
can reduce the demand for onward movement. Examples of progressive policies for the
economic inclusion of refugees are found in countries like Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, and
deserve major European support.
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UUI, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 47: Orientering af offentliggørelsen den 4. oktober 2018 i Wien af det dansk-østrigske visionspapir om a better protection system in a globalized world", fra udlændinge- og integrationsministeriet
It is not within the scope and purpose of the 1951 Refugee Convention to cross several safe
countries in order to ultimately end up in a preferred destination. This misinterpretation of the
1951 Refugee Convention today leads to the suffering and death depicted above.
A sustainable European asylum policy will therefore need to distinguish between refugees
who have already found a safe haven close to home, and those who absolutely need to
move further afield in order to be safe. Once again it has to be stressed: Refugees have a
right to live in safety and dignity; they do not have a right to unlimited migration.
Implementing this important distinction
refugees who have yet to find safe haven versus
those who have already found it
is operationally challenging but essential.
The European Union and its Member States should therefore strive towards a shared
understanding that an application for asylum in Europe will only be accepted, if the country of
arrival is indeed the "nearest safe haven". In other words, the person must be a refugee
and
have either 1) faced persecution in a neighbouring country or 2) had no realistic possibility to
claim effective protection in a country located between the EU and the country of origin. The
application and verification of admissibility should, wherever possible, take place in
appropriate locations at, or beyond, the common external border.
The EU should remain committed to granting sanctuary to those genuinely in need of
protection within Europe. EU
“mobile
protection teams”
composed of asylum experts from
EU Member States, EASO and UNHCR
will be required to identify and examine requests
from refugees primarily in crisis regions and in need of protection outside their first country of
asylum, and bring them safely to the EU. They would then be resettled directly to specific EU
Member States. They might be allocated to a particular EU Member State, based on
particular national preferences relating to
the refugees’
background.
This mobile approach, with an emphasis on coordinated resettlement at an EU-wide level,
will ensure that the EU offers sanctuary to the most vulnerable. By combining the measure of
resettlement with the measures of the other six goals the incentive to unnecessarily embark
on dangerous journeys with often tragic outcome is reduced. At the same time, a signal of
regaining control is being sent to the European citizens: Planning and steering with regard to
quantities, target groups and integration of refugees will be provided. The expectations and
needs of the European societies will no longer be ignored and in establishing this model, the
core principle of protection is stressed: offering protection to those in need and at the same
time destroying the perfidious business model of organized criminal networks; ending death
and suffering in the Mediterranean and on the road to Europe.
The core principle of responsibility-sharing shall be mandatory solidarity instead of
mandatory allocation. It is the principle of common-but-differentiated responsibility-sharing.
All EU member states must contribute, whether by offering asylum to those in need of
protection, providing resettlement from a first country of asylum, or through financial or other
relevant contributions. All countries should strive to do a bit of each, but the balance should
be in accordance with citizen preferences. All means of showing solidarity are to be
respected; no one is wrong and reproachable. The main purpose of showing solidarity should
be to ensure effective protection and livelihoods for refugees and to reduce irregular
migration to the EU.
This system should also be linked to a clear commitment to prevent secondary movements
within the European Union. A refugee or an asylum seeker, who has been admitted to a
particular Member State for the purpose of protection, may enjoy asylum or apply for asylum
only in this particular state. If he leaves to seek his fortune in another state, he must - as a
main rule - be returned to a hotspot/controlled centre to have his or her claim re-examined.
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UUI, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 47: Orientering af offentliggørelsen den 4. oktober 2018 i Wien af det dansk-østrigske visionspapir om a better protection system in a globalized world", fra udlændinge- og integrationsministeriet
Effective return (voluntary or forced) of irregular migrants and rejected asylum seekers is a
fundamental element in addressing irregular immigration and a prerequisite for well-managed
migration. Any individual with no legal right to stay must eventually be returned to his or her
country of origin, a safe third country, offered the opportunity to move to an alternative
migration destination outside the EU, or, as a last resort, be placed temporarily in an open
and rights-respecting return centre in a third country. All foreign policy as well as
development policy tools should be used to facilitate international cooperation in support of
these aims.
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steps towards a better protection system
An improved and better protection system will not be built from one day to the next. The
intermediate phase differentiates between measures which can be implemented ad-hoc or in
the medium-term. The route to reform relies crucially upon a whole-of-government approach.
Step 1 - Helping the most vulnerable
We need to end the Darwinist reality of our current asylum systems, where we only see
those who already made it to European shores. At present, the ones staying in and around
crisis regions - including those with great protection needs, who are physically or
economically too weak to even attempt to undertake the dangerous journey - are not even
considered. Improving the situation in the first countries of reception (step 2) and along the
migratory routes (step 3) is key to creating a better situation for the most vulnerable. This
also addresses one of the major challenges, that solely improving the situation in regions of
origin is not sufficient enough. Such measures must go hand in hand with improving the
information available to potential migrants and migrating refugees about the dangers and
consequences of irregular movements. In order to definitively prevent the tragic loss of life
and eliminate the incentives for dangerous journeys,
“Mobile Protection
Teams” need to
engage directly with the people concerned within crisis regions.
Such teams,
consisting of
asylum experts from our authorities, determine who should be offered protection as a
refugee; considering vulnerability and need for protection as well as potential links to an EU
Member State. These refugees can subsequently be brought to Europe safely and without
risking their lives by placing themselves in the hands of human traffickers. Furthermore, it will
provide European migration and integration authorities with better management tools as
quantities will be more predictable, better plannable and therefore easier to manage for the
receiving countries.
Providing sanctuary to the most vulnerable, while upholding the core principle of protection,
will allow our asylum and migration policies to become sustainable and resilient.
Step 2 - Help to create perspectives in regions of origin instead of enabling irregular
migration to Europe
Stabilization and assistance to regions of origin and countries of first reception in order to
expand the protection space and improve living conditions and livelihoods of refugees and
host communities, including through the creation of jobs and other opportunities for self-
reliance. It should ensure that refugees can enjoy an adequate level of protection, livelihoods
and eventually benefit from a durable solution in the region. This should include analysing
and improving data on the relationship between inadequate protection, lack of access to
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UUI, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 47: Orientering af offentliggørelsen den 4. oktober 2018 i Wien af det dansk-østrigske visionspapir om a better protection system in a globalized world", fra udlændinge- og integrationsministeriet
development opportunities, and irregular secondary movement. There is also a need for
capacity building regarding integrated social services for refugee and host communities,
including those relating to housing, health care and education. It is crucial for the acceptance
of refugees that local host populations share in the benefits available to refugees. At the
same time, it is necessary to provide targeted and accessible information about viable and
regular pathways for migration to Europe as well as the risks of irregular migration.
Step 3 - Prevent further deaths and tragedies in the Mediterranean and along the
migratory routes
It is important to stabilize and support transit countries as well as receiving countries. The
asylum and migration authorities of these states must be sufficiently equipped to provide
effective protection, respect human rights, and combat smuggling and trafficking. In addition
to the information campaigns mentioned above, support should focus on areas such as
return counselling and a range of tailor-made return and reintegration assistance. Capacity-
building should be undertaken in such a way as to reduce the incentive to use countries
along the EU’s common external border as a viable means to
access sanctuary in the EU.
The primary route into the EU should be through enhanced resettlement from first countries
of asylum.
Step 4 - Break the business model of traffickers and smugglers
Effective management of the external border of the European Union is a prerequisite for the
functioning of any European Migration and Asylum System. Unfortunately, today the word
“asylum” and the unintended
use of the SAR-regime offer an open door to Europe and
undermine effective border control. This further subverts the concept of asylum by making it
vulnerable to abuse by organized criminal networks and irregular migrants, as described
above.
It is important to increase the capacities of FRONTEX, to expand its mandate
while
upholding sovereignty of states
and to intensify cooperation with third countries, especially
those on the African side of the Mediterranean. Migrants trying to come to Europe with
smuggler-boats shall be rescued as quickly as possible and brought back to SAR-centres /
Regional Disembarkation facilities outside the EU. It is of fundamental importance that
asylum and resettlement to/in the EU cannot be sought by those having been rescued; such
an opportunity would constitute a significant pull factor and further incentivise dangerous
journeys at the hands of smugglers.
Step 5 - Guarantee
effective management of the EU’s external borders
& Ensure all
individuals staying illegally leave the EU
Implementation of step 1 to 4 will lead to a significant drop in asylum applications in the EU.
This limited future number of applications must be made at the external border. At hotspots,
people will be registered, fingerprinted and screened for security reasons. However, this
does not mean they have the right to enter the European Union. The procedure will be
conducted directly at the hotspots (Controlled Centres) or transit zones. There, the safe third
country or first country of asylum concept will be applied and manifestly unfounded claims
will be rejected. The legal option for such processing already exists in the EU-acquis but
could be strengthened further.
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UUI, Alm.del - 2018-19 (1. samling) - Bilag 47: Orientering af offentliggørelsen den 4. oktober 2018 i Wien af det dansk-østrigske visionspapir om a better protection system in a globalized world", fra udlændinge- og integrationsministeriet
Rule of law is a core principle of the European Union and therefore needs to be clearly
reflected in our actions: those who do not have a right of residence cannot and must not stay
in the EU. Therefore, following a negative decision, the person shall be returned directly from
the hotspots/transit zones to their country of origin or first safe country of asylum. All foreign
policy tools must be used to ensure that countries of origin readmit their nationals. In cases
in which return is not possible, the person should be placed in an open Return Centre in a
third country or given the opportunity to migrate legally to an alternative third country. Such
centres are to meet European human rights standards and provide intensive return
counselling. The possibility of accessing an assisted return and reintegration programme will
be provided.
Step 6 - Engage in common but differentiated responsibility-sharing in order to protect
refugees and effectively stem irregular migration to the EU
During and after establishing and implementing a better protection system, all Member
States should contribute to a functioning mandatory European solidarity mechanism
according to their strengths and abilities. This could be done through different means of
solidarity. Solidarity could be provided directly to the frontline Member States, for example
through the secondment of experts, through conducting joint processing of asylum claims or
through the engagement in shared return efforts. Other solidarity measures could include the
provision of financial resources to enhance protection of refugees in regions of origin and
along the migratory routes to the EU, support to disembarkation arrangements outside the
EU, support to authorities of transit countries to fight trafficking and smuggling, resettlement
or any other active assistance. All such solidarity measures must aim at enhancing protection
of refugees, stem flows of irregular migrants and migrating refugees and build on the
principle of differentiated responsibility-sharing.
Step 7 - Offer resettlement to those with the greatest need for protection rather than
the strongest selecting themselves
Once irregular migration is reduced and public trust restored, enhanced EU-wide
resettlement efforts targeting the most vulnerable refugees, based on mobile protection
teams, will present a key element of a Better Protection System for a Globalized World.
“Mobile Protection Teams” will determine the need for protection and identify the most
vulnerable directly on-site.
These are the seven steps we need to take; seven steps to regain control, order and trust;
seven steps to arrive at a fairer and better system capable of operating in a globalized world.
Once in place, it will lead to
less exploitation and loss of lives along the route
less irregular migration
less profit for organized crime
more protection to people in need
more social cohesion
more money for regions of origin
more acceptance and trust in receiving countries
and become a protection system that is worthy of its name.
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