Commission pushes for ‘fair and humane’ asylum system

Proposal includes financial incentives for countries to take part in resettlement plans.

The European Commission on Wednesday proposed new migration rules aimed at streamlining the EU’s asylum claim process and discouraging refugees from moving from one country to another within the EU.

Officials said the measures would be the last piece of reform of the EU’s Common European Asylum System, better equipping it to function across the Union — especially during periods of high migration pressure, such as last summer.

The rules would try to speed up the time frame for processing asylum claims in countries where refugees first arrive, but also give those countries more power to return migrants who do not meet the criteria to stay in the EU. It would push member countries to standardize procedures for dealing with asylum claims — and improve conditions at the camps where refugees await decisions on their status.

“The EU needs an asylum system which is both effective and protective, based on common rules, solidarity and a fair sharing of responsibilities,” said Frans Timmermans, the Commission’s first vice president. “The proposed reforms will make sure that persons in genuine need of international protection get it quickly, but also that those who do not have the right to receive protection in the EU can be returned swiftly.”

The EU’s migration commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said the goal is to be “generous to the most vulnerable but strict with those who try to abuse” the system.

The Commission also proposed creating a permanent system for resettling refugees across Europe, creating incentives for member countries to take part in accepting people found to be in need of international protection.

“The member states will decide how many people need to be resettled each year, and they will have the financial support of the EU budget to turn their decisions into action,” Timmermans said.

To encourage countries’ participation in the EU resettlement efforts, the Commission will provide €10,000 from the EU budget for each person taken out of a non-EU country and resettled in a member state.

Last summer EU countries agreed to resettle more than 22,000 refugees from outside the bloc over the next two years with support from EU funds. Of that number, 7,272 refugees had been resettled through mid-June, according to the Commission. The figure includes 484 asylum-seekers who have been resettled from Turkey as part of its agreement with the EU on stemming the flow of migration. According to that agreement, for every Syrian returned from the Greek islands to Turkey, another will be resettled in the EU.