Brussels, 19/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, restated her concern about the European Union's plan to adopt an action plan on illegal immigration at the European Council of Seville. "To be compatible with the EU's own vision it will be very important at Seville, and after, that European countries have great regard for the human rights of migrants including undocumented immigrants and fully respect the refugee convention", she said at a conference in Copenhagen. She recalled that, according to the latest statistics from the United Nations' refugee agency, the number of asylum seekers in the world fell 10% during the first three months of 2002. We recall that Amnesty International recently sent a long open letter to the European Heads of State and Government to draw their attention to the threat that the European policy on illegal immigration could have on human rights. The NGO called on the Summit to maintain the balance between repression and protection and not to sacrifice the right of asylum on the altar of a "Fortress Europe".