Brussels, 11/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - “European Union countries are increasingly abandoning their responsibilities to protect refugees in an effort to combat 'illegal immigration'”, is the affirmation by Amnesty International in an open letter sent on 11 October to the British Presidency with a view to the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 12 October in Luxembourg (see EUROPE 9045). Further to the expulsions by Morocco of candidates for emigration towards the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa, the non-governmental organisation calls on the UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke for a “radical rethink of EU refugee policy”. Amnesty International calls on EU governments to take immediate steps to implement such refugee protection measures and to adequate solidarity mechanisms to relieve the pressure on Spain and other EU countries facing these challenges. (AI's open letter may be consulted on website: http: //http://www.amnesty-eu.org/ ).