New York, Jan 23: Warning that the European Union's imminent enlargement could overwhelm the
asylum-handling systems of some new member states, the head
of the United Nations refugee agency has unveiled proposals
on how to address the looming problem.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers,
told a meeting of EU Interior Ministers in Dublin that the
region's pattern of asylum applications could change
dramatically after the enlargement on may one.
He said that improved identification and registration
procedures for asylum-seekers mean it is now easier to send
them back to the first EU country they entered - which in
practice will usually mean the new member states.
"There are new EU states in central Europe which
currently only have 15 or 20 asylum assessors. A decade ago
they had no asylum systems at all," he said. "What is going to
happen if thousands of extra asylum seekers are sent back to
them from the inner EU countries?"
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia are about to
join the EU.
Bureau Report
