The European Commission on Wednesday adopted proposals to amend three legislative instruments of the Common European Asylum System.
The three instruments to be amended are: the directive on reception conditions for asylum-seekers; the Dublin Regulation, which determines the member state responsible for an asylum application; and the Eurodac Regulation, a database containing the fingerprints of asylum seekers, which supports the operation of the Dublin Regulation.
The proposed amendments aim to ensure that all asylum seekers are treated in a fair and equal way wherever they make their request for asylum in the European Union (EU), and to enhance the efficiency of the EU asylum system, said the commission, the executive body of the EU.
"Our aim is to put the asylum seekers at the heart of a human and fair procedure. We need to ensure higher standards of protection, a more equal level playing field and higher efficiency for the system," said European Commission Vice President Jacques Barrot, who is responsible for freedom, security and justice affairs.
"By amending the Reception Condition Directive we improve the living conditions of asylum seekers, restrict their detention to limited and justified grounds, and prohibit (detention) in case of minors, and properly address the needs of vulnerable persons, such as victims of torture.
"By amending the Dublin and Eurodac Regulations I want to ensure an increased efficiency and fairness of the European asylum system," said Barrot.
Under the proposed amendments to the Reception Condition Directive, detention is used only in exceptional cases and provides for legal safeguards in order to ensure that detention is not arbitrary, and guarantees that children are not to be detained unless it is in their own interest. Unaccompanied minors shall never be detained. Amendments also facilitate access of asylum applicants to the labor market.
Amendments to the Dublin Regulation aim to establish a mechanism of suspension of transfers of asylum seekers between EU member states to avoid overburdening of member states, which are already experiencing particular pressure on their asylum systems. The proposals also aim to ensure that asylum seekers are not sent to member states which cannot offer them an adequate standard of protection in particular in terms of reception conditions and access to the asylum procedure.
The proposals are also to facilitate the right to family reunification and better define the rules applicable to unaccompanied minors.
Source:Xinhua
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