Asylum Package: Yes to help, No to abuse

Today, the European Parliament voted on a major set of laws which will have a profound and far-reaching effect on asylum migrants and asylum policies in the European Union.

The Council of Ministers and the European Parliament reached an agreement on the package which the EPP Group fully supports. Indeed, the EPP Group has been a leading force behind these negotiations and has taken an active role in the parliamentary debates.

"Europe will have a modern set of rights for refugees. We want to be open and we want to lend a helping hand to those who need it but we want to combat abuse", said Manfred Weber MEP, Vice-Chairman of the EPP Group.

"We are talking about special protection for children in refugees’ proceedings and about legal aid procedures. We want this concluded within a six month time frame so that proceedings can be dealt with quickly. We want to have a future on the labour market for asylum seekers so that they can look after themselves financially", said Mr Weber.

"And we want to have clear-cut rules for detention centres, especially for those countries that do not treat asylum seekers well. Asylum seekers are not prisoners and they should not be treated as such", he added.

"Asylum seekers should be given speedy treatment and we should also prevent the abuse of asylum systems which criminal organisations tend to exploit to the full. It is a difficult balancing act between giving protection and avoiding abuse which is caused by illegal traffickers or illegal migration in the EU", said Monika Hohlmeier MEP.

"Asylum seekers have a right to present their case and accepted asylum migrants should be given protection, yet we shouldn't fall for the temptation of going too far and trying to deal with all the lacks of fairness in the world.  We are doing what we can do and what we are able to do and we are not trying to give the impression that we can do more than we can", she added.

“The revamped rules on asylum are a positive step forward. They ensure that we have throughout Europe common minimum standards on procedures, reception conditions and protection of asylum seekers, with full respect for their fundamental rights”, said Georgios Papanikolaou MEP.

“These laws need to be properly implemented and more certainly needs to be done on the introduction of a relocation scheme based on a distribution key for each Member State. We have to step up efforts for more solidarity among European Member States and fair burden sharing”, he added.

Policing authorities will have access to the EU database of asylum seekers.

"The access of law enforcement agencies to fingerprints, which are stored on EURODAC on a ‘hit or not’ basis, in cases of serious crime or terrorism, is a major step forward in speeding up the fight against crime. Safeguards for protecting individual rights are there and EURODAC can be accessed only as a last resort", Monica Macovei MEP said.

The EPP Group fully supports these rules because they will help asylum migrants live a decent life. These rules will improve reception conditions of asylum migrants and will bind governments to treating asylum migrants with the dignity they deserve.