On Friday 6 December, Member State representatives discussed the revision of the safe third country concept, with the European Commission due to propose a legislative amendment on this subject and a list of safe third countries in 2025.
Member States were asked to give their views on the challenges they faced in transposing the concept as currently set out in the Asylum Procedures Directive and on the elements that the European Commission should take into account when revising it.
During this discussion, during which almost all Member States took the floor, a large number of countries specifically asked to place less emphasis on the connection between an asylum seeker and the safe third country to which he or she would be returned if that country provided sufficient security conditions.
Other countries, on the other hand, have reiterated their commitment to a strong connection. The need to ensure this proximity between the migrant and the safe third country has logically been cited as a challenge and a difficulty for Member States, as has the need to demonstrate that the third country will respect international protection obligations. The difficulty of reaching agreements with third countries to readmit their nationals was also brought up.
The situation in Syria, however, was not mentioned.
According to a diplomatic source, the removal of the connection criterion as some are wanting could, in any case, legally open the door to models such as those envisaged with Rwanda (United Kingdom) and Albania (Italy) before they were rendered null and void in practice.
The concept of a “safe country of origin” means that people from this country will have their asylum applications processed more quickly, and that simply passing through a “safe third country” before arriving in the EU could also lead to the person being sent back to this country without the application for protection being examined on its merits.
The new Regulation 2024/1348 resulting from the ‘Pact on Migration and Asylum’, which will come into force in July 2026, also emphasises that the safe third country concept can only be applied if there is a “connection between the applicant and the third country in question, on the basis of which it would be reasonable for him or her to go to that country”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)