Brussels, 26/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - According to the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), the Dublin II regulation, which allows member states to send asylum seekers back to the first country where they entered the EU, has to be reformed because it violates the dignity of refugee status candidates, including many Chechens. ECRE Secretary General, Bjarte Vandvik, declared: “The Dublin system is unjust, unworkable, and at odds with the responsibility of all European states to provide timely protection to those fleeing persecution”.
The NGO revealed that that there are increasing examples of Chechen nationals who pass through Poland but who cannot introduce a demand for asylum once they arrive in another Union country, due to the Dublin II regulation. These Chechens are therefore sent back to Poland, where they are usually locked up in one of around 15 retention centres in the country, which, most of the time, lack basic conditions of hygiene. Belgian MP, Bart Staes (Greens/EFA), recalled: “When I visited Polish reception centres, I witnessed how Chechen refugees are pawns in Europe's asylum system”. Poland is sheltering around 5,000 refugees. Around 80% of asylum seekers are Chechen nationals. Out of all asylum requests made in Poland, 5% obtain refugee status, 50% benefit from tolerated stay status, which is not accompanied by any social rights or freedom of movement outside Poland. Those who do not obtain any status are mainly sent back to Russia or to Ukraine, given that Poland (like Slovakia) has a readmission agreement with the latter. For more than five years Poland has registered an annual 25% increase in the rate of asylum requests. During this period, the older members of the EU, apart from Sweden and the Netherlands, have been experiencing lower levels of those seeking asylum (EUROPE 9388). Just under three years before completion of a common asylum system (planned for 2010), rates for recognising refugee status for Chechens varies between 0% in Slovakia and 90% in Austria, according to figures provided by the UNCHR. Consequently, ECRE is explicitly calling on the EU: to compel member states responsible for examining an asylum request not to deport the asylum seeker until complete and impartial examination of the dossier has taken place (Art.16): to apply an automatic suspensive right of appeal for all asylum seekers against decisions to transfer them to the responsibility of another member state (Art19 and 20); to extend the definition of “family member” to non-married couples and dependent persons (Art.2); to restrict detention measures for asylum seekers etc to a minimum. To consult all 10 recommendations, as well as the solutions for certain asylum seekers: (http: //http://www.ecre.org/ ).
The increase in Chechen asylum seekers in Poland is also linked to the fact that chances for obtaining refugee status in Ukraine are very slim (less than 1%). Ukraine is a country where massive numbers of asylum seekers transit from the East. On 27 October it concluded a readmission agreement with the EU, which will enter into force in less than two years. This agreement means that any refugee intercepted in a member state can be sent back to Ukraine if s/he is suspected of having transited through this country. (bc)