Spain also takes up the Presidency immediately after adoption of the EU’s new five-year programme in the area of Justice and Home Affairs, known as the “Stockholm Programme”, which sets the agenda for EU law and policy on asylum and international protection from 2010 to 2014. An Action Plan for implementation of the

Stockholm Programme will be finalized under Spain’s Presidency. The Presidency will also be expected to make progress toward setting up the European Asylum Support Office.

In view of these important developments and noting Spain’s longstanding commitment to refugee protection as well as humanitarian and development aid, Spain has an opportunity to make a major contribution during its Presidency to the strengthening of international protection in the European Union and beyond its borders.

Asylum after Stockholm

A strong Action Plan is required to translate the broad political goals of the Stockholm

Programme into focused and practical measures. UNHCR urges Spain to concentrate on the following five elements:

a. Possible EU accession to the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees

b. Future establishment of the European Asylum Support Office

c. Transfer of protection within the EU

d. Improved responsibility-sharing in asylum within the EU

e. The elements of the ‘common procedure and uniform status’ foreseen in Lisbon Treaty/Stockholm Programme.

Priorities on the asylum agenda

Negotiations continue on the first “package” of legislative amendments, concerning Reception Conditions, Eurodac and Dublin II. With the Parliament’s resolutions on these instruments already adopted, the Presidency should aim to reach a fair and principled compromise between the Council and Parliament. Many important issues remain unresolved. UNHCR supports active steps to achieve progress in negotiations and encourages the Presidency to maintain the momentum on these proposals in the relevant Council working groups. Progress is needed on issues including detention and possible temporary suspension of the Dublin II Regulation to assist States under pressure, among others. These amendments are timely and necessary, and should not be delayed to await more evaluation. UNHCR encourages the Presidency to seek to make progress on:

a) The pending asylum instruments: Important questions raised in the Reception and

Dublin II Regulation recast proposals should be resolved, including on matters of detention, children and responsibility-sharing;

b) The new proposals on Asylum Procedures and Qualification: While some may see these as premature, UNHCR supports engagement with the Commission’s proposals in an effort to fill gaps which have a negative impact on the lives of asylum-seekers, refugees and subsidiary protection beneficiaries;

c) Integration of beneficiaries of international protection, with special attention to Roma in the context of the 2nd EU Roma Summit.

Unaccompanied and separated children

UNHCR welcomes Spain’s intention to devote priority to the issue of unaccompanied and separated children, including the development of an Action Plan on Unaccompanied Minors. UNHCR believes this Plan should cover all unaccompanied and separated children from third countries, including those who apply for asylum and those who do not.

UNHCR urges the Spanish Presidency to promote wide consultations on the proposed Action Plan. Children’s rights organizations, reception workers, guardians, and local authorities as well as UN and other intergovernmental agencies all have longstanding practical experience and relevant insights.

UNHCR urges the Spanish Presidency to ensure that the Action Plan on Unaccompanied Minors:

a) Allows for both legislative and practical actions;

b) Considers the situation of all unaccompanied and separated children, including those who apply for asylum as well as those who do not;

c) Addresses all aspects of the situation of unaccompanied and separated children, from initial reception and care within the EU, to access to child protection mechanisms and child-sensitive asylum procedures when needed, to the implementation of a long-term, sustainable solution in the child’s best interests.

Cooperation with third countries on refugee protection:

UNHCR welcomes the EU’s engagement with third countries to promote refugee protection, as well as EU support for UNHCR’s mandate activities. It is evident that EU actions in third countries must not undermine protection for asylum-seekers in or at the borders of the EU. UNHCR urges the Spanish Presidency to incorporate its considerations into discussions regarding to the so-called New Approaches, Regional Protection Programmes and Refugee resettlement.

Migration and border management

Spain has affirmed that reinforcing Frontex and ensuring that EU migration policy is accompanied by close cooperation with migrants’ countries of origin and transit will be priorities of its Presidency. A review of the Frontex mandate will take place in 2010.

UNHCR encourages the Spanish Presidency to pursue its migration agenda with due regard for international refugee and human rights norms. This includes:

a) Inclusion of refugee protection safeguards in migration control measures generally;

b) Development of clear guidance with respect to the disembarkation of persons intercepted at sea;

c) Attention to the potential protection needs of victims of trafficking;

d) With respect to the return of people found not to need international protection, measures to ensure that such return is safe, dignified and sustainable.

- calling for safeguards in border management activities, including under Frontex’s auspices, with the revision of that body’s mandate foreseen in early 2010;  a call for more focus on protection needs of victims of trafficking as part of anti-trafficking measures.

Humanitarian and development action

UNHCR welcomes the high priority attached by the Spanish Presidency to support for multilateral cooperation through three pillars, namely peace and security, human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as sustainable development, including achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. UNHCR urges attention to the fact that solutions for refugees and internally displaced persons in the developing world – whether return to their countries or areas of origin or integration in places of refuge – are inextricably linked to broader development issues, yet refugees and internally displaced people are often not included in national and international development plans.

UNHCR urges the Presidency to:

a) Bring issues related to forced displacement and the urbanization of forced displacement to the discussion table in Council Working Groups on Development, Humanitarian Affairs, and Climate Change

b) Use its leadership to highlight the linkages between development actions and durable solutions to problems of forced displacement, and in particular internal displacement

c) Work with UNHCR and other actors to highlight the need to protect refugees and internally displaced people from sexual and gender-based violence

d) Put a spotlight on issues of ongoing internal displacement crises in Latin America.

Read the whole recommendations

UNHCR welcomes the reaffirmation of the EU that the Common European Asylum System should be based on the full and inclusive application of the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention and other relevant treaties. In a further sign of its commitment to reinforce refugees’ rights in EU law, the Stockholm Programme also expresses the EU’s intention to accede to the 1951 Refugee Geneva Convention, following a study in 2010 by the European Commission.

“The measures proposed in the Stockholm Programme should help put an end to disparities in asylum practices between the EU Member States”, says Judith Kumin, UNHCR Director for Europe. “The priorities confirmed today should bring the Common European Asylum System closer to its goal of ensuring fair and efficient asylum outcomes across the Union”.

On practical cooperation, UNHCR encourages the EU Member States to support fully the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) in its work to improve consistency and quality in asylum decision-making. UNHCR looks forward to working with and providing expertise to the work of the EASO, including as part of the Office’s Management Board.

Among other concrete steps in the Programme, the EU will consider creating a “transfer of protection” framework within the EU. UNHCR hopes that such an arrangement will enable refugees and other people with international protection to enjoy more free movement rights within the EU, in the same way as all other legally present non-EU nationals. This would be an important step needed to ensure fair treatment of people who are granted protection.

UNHCR supports the call by the EU for more responsibility-sharing and solidarity among Member States and is ready to contribute to these efforts, but appeals to States to keep the focus on high standards of protection. Some Member States face more pressures on their asylum systems than others, owing to large arrival numbers. Responses to this situation should include amendments to the Dublin Regulation, now under discussion in the Council. 

In addition to the many ongoing challenges for refugee protection in the EU, the Stockholm Programme reiterates the desire of the Union to cooperate with third countries, including those hosting large refugee populations. UNHCR welcomes the European intention to continue promoting accession to the Geneva Refugee Convention and its Protocol. UNHCR can provide advice on the EU’s strategies and actions outside its borders, including on resettlement of refugees to Member States under a proposed Joint EU Resettlement Programme.

Regarding possible ‘new approaches’ concerning access to asylum in main transit countries, potentially those along the Southern and Eastern borders of the EU, UNHCR urges attention to the reality that conditions in some transit countries are currently inadequate to ensure respect for the basic rights of asylum-seekers and refugees. More work is needed to provide durable solutions for refugees and others in need of protection in the EU’s neighbouring countries.

For further information please contact:

Gilles Van Moortel, UNHCR Brussels, +32-2-627.17.39 / +32-473-17.23.58 (mobile)

Hanne Mathisen, UNHCR Regional Office for the Baltic and Nordic countries, in Stockholm on tel: +46 8 457 48 86, mobile: +46 708 990 169 or e-mail mathisen@unhcr.org

The refugees’ aid group Cimade said the Afghans had been transferred Tuesday from a camp in the northern town of Calais to Paris, where the British charter plane picked them up at Charles de Gaulle airport. Cimade earlier called on the government to reverse the decision.

The Afghan embassy in Paris also objected to the expulsions, saying that they had issued no laissez-passer documents to the migrants, whom it confirmed did not want to go home.

France’s Immigration Minister Eric Besson defended the expulsions, insisting that proper procedures had been followed.

But the expulsion revealed a split within the French government.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told parliament Wednesday that he was against the programme, and promised that he would issue more visas to Afghans wanting to come and study in France than Besson can expel.

Furthermore, European Union Parliament Members protested Tuesday against efforts to expel Afghan migrants.

“One cannot but notice that France and Great Britain are looking to persist in joint expulsion operations,” said a petition by almost 50 members of the European parliament from across the political spectrum.

They called for an end to the expulsions which they said violated the principle of “non-refoulement” (not turning away), calling for a freeze on any more forced returns to insurgency-hit Afghanistan.

In October, three Afghans from France and 24 from Britain were sent back to their war-torn country, drawing protests from the left-wing opposition and humanitarian groups.

Refugees Daily 16 December 2009 (in English)

Refugees Daily 15 December 2009 (in English)

Refugees Daily 15 December 2009 (in English)

Refugees Daily 15 December 2009 (in English)

Guterres, who was in Paris for a debate on the effects of global warming on migration, expressed concern about opinion polls showing a growing intolerance toward foreigners across the Continent and warned that rising unemployment would probably amplify the hostility.

He urged Western, and especially European, officials to stop what he called misleading statements to voters. “Politicians do not have the courage to tell people that we need more migrants,” Mr. Guterres said, noting that “if you have an aging population, a population that lacks dynamism, it is very easy to play with fear.”

As public opinion has hardened, so has legislation. Under a European Union pact on immigration signed last year, governments pledged to deport illegal immigrants from European territory and strengthen border controls. More recently, E.U. governments agreed to start penalizing employers who use workers without papers.

Migrant groups and, increasingly, corporate lobbies assert that many sectors, like construction and the restaurant business, could not operate without immigrants, who often pay taxes and social security contributions under someone else’s name.

If there is a growing demand for migrant labor in Western economies, there is also a growing supply — and not just because of poverty and growing income inequalities in the world, he said.

Climate change is expected to unseat conflict as the main driver of mass migration in coming years, Mr. Guterres predicted, calling on rich nations to provide financial aid to poorer nations most affected by global warming. Even if the current climate talks in Copenhagen are successful, he said, the impact of hotter weather caused by cumulative greenhouse gas emissions already in the atmosphere is likely to increase the number and scale of phenomena displacing populations: natural disasters, food scarcity, water shortages and conflicts.

New York Times 14 December 2009 (in English)

Fredrik Reindelt is chairing the Council meeting for the last time. Photo: Gunnar Seijbold/ Regeringskansliet, Sweden

The European Council meeting in Brussels on 10-11 December adopted a new multi-annual programme for the years 2010-2014, the Stockholm Programme, which will allow for the further development of an area of freedom, security and justice. The Council invited the Commission to present an Action Plan for implementing the Stockholm Programme, to be adopted at the latest in June 2010, and to submit a midterm review before June 2012.

In implementing the Stockholm Programme, the Council considers that the priority for the coming years should be to focus on the interests and needs of the citizens and other persons for whom the EU has a responsibility. According to the Council conclusions, the challenge lies on ensuring respect for fundamental rights and freedoms and integrity while guaranteeing security in Europe. Furthermore, it is of paramount importance that law enforcement measures and measures to safeguard individual rights, the rule of law and international protection rules are coherent and mutually reinforcing. The Stockholm programme focuses on the priorities set out below.

Promoting citizenship and fundamental rights

European citizenship must become a tangible reality. The area of freedom, security and justice must above all be a single area in which fundamental rights are protected. The enlargement of the Schengen area must continue. Respect for the human person and human dignity and for the other rights set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights are core values. For example, the exercise of these freedoms and citizens’ privacy must be preserved beyond national borders, especially by protecting personal data. Allowance must be made for the special needs of vulnerable people, and European citizens and others must be able to exercise their specific rights to the full within the European Union and even, where relevant, outside the Union.

A Europe of law and justice

The achievement of a European area of justice must be consolidated so as to move beyond the current fragmentation. Priority should be given to mechanisms that facilitate access to justice, so that people can enforce their rights throughout the Union. Cooperation between public professionals and their training should also be improved, and resources should be mobilised to eliminate barriers to the recognition of legal decisions in other Member States.

A Europe that protects

An internal security strategy should be developed in order to further improve security in the Union and thus protect the lives and safety of European citizens and tackle organised crime, terrorism and other threats. The strategy should be aimed at strengthening cooperation in law enforcement, border management, civil protection, disaster management as well as judicial cooperation in criminal matters in order to make Europe more secure. Moreover, the European Union needs to base its work on solidarity between Member States and make full use of Article 222 TFEU.

Access to Europe in a globalised world

Access to Europe for persons recognized as having a legitimate interest to access EU territory has to be made more effective and efficient. At the same time, the Union and its Member States have to guarantee security for its citizens. Integrated border management and visa policies should be construed to serve these goals.

A Europe of responsibility, solidarity and partnership in migration and asylum matters

The development of a forward-looking and comprehensive European migration policy, based on solidarity and responsibility, remains a key policy objective for the European Union. Effective implementation of all relevant legal instruments needs to be undertaken and full use should be made of relevant Agencies and Offices operating in this field. Well-managed migration can be beneficial to all stakeholders. The European Pact on Immigration and Asylum provides a clear basis for further development in this field. Europe will need a flexible policy which is responsive to the priorities and needs of Member States and enables migrants to take full advantage of their potential. The objective to establish a common asylum system in 2012 remains and people in need of protection must be ensured access to legally safe and efficient asylum procedures. Moreover, in order to maintain credible and sustainable immigration and asylum systems in the EU, it is necessary to prevent, control and combat illegal migration as the EU faces an increasing pressure from illegal migration flows and particularly the Member States at its external borders, including at its Southern borders, in line with the conclusions of the European Council in October 2009.

The role of Europe in a globalised world – the external dimension

The importance of the external dimension of the EU’s policy in the area of freedom, security and justice underlines the need for increased integration of these policies into the general policies of the European Union. The external dimension is essential to address the key challenges we face and in providing greater opportunities for EU citizens to work and do business with countries across the world. The external dimension of Freedom, Security and Justice is crucial to the successful implementation of the objectives of this programme and should in particular be taken into account in, and be fully coherent with, all other aspects of EU foreign policy.

The European Council meeting was the last of its kind for the Swedish EU Presidency, and the last one to be chaired by the rotating Presidency, as from now on the permanent President Herman Van Rompuy will chair the meetings, under the new Lisbon Treaty.

European Council meeting 10-11 December 2009 Conclusions

The Swedish Presidency Press Release on the European Council meeting:

Swedish Presidency website on the Stockholm Programme

The Stockholm Programme, 2 December 2009 (in English)

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