Luxembourg, 07/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - During the informal Foreign Affairs Council on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September, several foreign affairs ministers highlighted the possibility of setting up hotspots so that the applications for asylum might be handled closer to the conflict areas. In reality, such offices seem complicated to set up.
Belgium's Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Reynders said it would be necessary to go “into the areas closer to the conflicts in order to set up the first reception centres, the first possibilities of contact with the refugees”. The leader of the EPP party, Joseph Daul, and the deputy leaders, Sebastian Kurz, Austria's foreign affairs minister, and Elmar Brok, the chair of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, also said they believed it was necessary to offer safety and humanitarian assistance “as close as possible to the places of origin by creating safe zones and initial reception centres in third countries where the asylum procedure can already be initiated”. “This will create a legal way for persons in need to enter Europe and limit their risk of falling into the hands of inhumane people smugglers”, they also said in a press release published on the sidelines of the Gymnich-type meeting. The politicians also encourage the Commission and member states to hold discussions with the Western Balkans about the possibility of setting up hotspots - places where the migrants will be identified and registered quickly upon arrival before moving on to an assessment of their status. “The EU and the member states should support this common effort with staff and technical assistance”, Daul, Kurz and Brok add.
However, in the view of High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, these hotspots would be complicated to set up. “There are difficult issues” related to them, she said during her press conference, highlighting the issue of where to establish these offices - which must not destabilise the countries in which they are set up. The cost of these offices is another issue. “This will require enormous resources from us for investing in such an international structure”, she said. Mogherini also said that the people who obtained refugee status should be welcomed in Europe. “From the moment these hotspots are envisaged, the international community and countries likely to receive them will have to obtain a 100% guarantee that those who are able to claim asylum can be given asylum in the EU”, she said. “It's clear that it's not possible to move forward if we don't give a coherent and substantial response to these three elements”, Mogherini warned. A European source also stated that once the application was accepted, it would be important to know in which EU country the refugee would be received. This would require common criteria for all the member states. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)