The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expects the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU to not only make progress on several specific points—starting with compliance with the objectives of the Global Compact for Migration (which not all Member States have signed)—but also successfully reform the asylum system and establish a sustainable system based on solidarity and responsibility.
Work on the future temporary migrant disembarkation system will be crucial in this regard.
UNHCR also calls on the Presidency to work on better forums for dialogue with non-Member States and to ensure that fundamental rights are respected when asylum systems are discussed during these exchanges.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner also wants Member States to achieve their targets of 50,000 resettlement places for refugees and internally displaced persons to be given priority.
It also hopes that the protection of the EU’s external borders, notably ensured by strengthening the powers of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, will not be to the detriment of the right to asylum that people arriving in the EU can claim.
Finally, the document addresses the need for an effective return system—as the interior ministers have just partially agreed on an amended directive (see EUROPE 12271/6)—that also respects the rights of the persons concerned. Link to priorities: https://bit.ly/2IxLoUW (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)