THE EUROPEAN Commission said a key ruling yesterday by human rights judges should give fresh impetus to its drive to revamp EU asylum rules, measures which have been resisted by Ireland and other member states.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Belgium and Greece violated the rights of an Afghan national when he was expelled, in line with EU rules, from Belgium to Greece, the country he entered first when he arrived in the EU.
The judges found Belgium violated the man’s rights by exposing him to risks linked to deficiencies in the Greek asylum procedure and to poor detention conditions there. The procedural deficiencies and detention conditions were also a violation of his rights by Greece.
The ruling has drawn into question a set of European rules under which asylum applications, no matter where in the EU they are made, must be processed by the member state in which the applicant first arrives.
The rules come under the ambit of the Dublin Regulation, which compels the member state responsible for examining an asylum application to take back applicants who are irregularly in another member state.
EU home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmström has drawn up plans to rework such rules, saying exceptions should be made where member states face “particular migratory pressure”.
Ms Malmström wants to introduce such reforms, which would deepen the reach of the union’s asylum system, by next year.
However, most EU justice and home affairs ministers expressed scepticism about her proposal when they discussed it last summer. Then minister for justice Dermot Ahern said the Dublin Regulation was a cornerstone policy against “asylum-hopping” and “asylum-shopping” in Europe.
Ms Malmström said the judgment underscored the need for reform. “Today’s ruling . . . clearly shows the EU’s need to urgently establish a common European asylum system and to support member states in meeting their obligations to provide adequate international protection.
“I invite the member states and the European Parliament to work for a balanced compromise on the commission’s proposal to amend the current Dublin II Regulation,” she added. “In this framework, an emergency mechanism for suspending transfers in cases of particular pressure on the asylum system would contribute to build more trust and genuine support between the Dublin partners.”
