Brussels, 02/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 2 September, the European commissioner for freedom, security and justice presented the press with his communication on a voluntary joint programme for the resettlement in the member states of refugees already granted asylum in third countries. This communication was the subject of an article in our previous bulletin (EUROPE 9967). "We want to create a structured framework for more active Community cooperation in this field. Today, some 10 member states are practising external resettlement (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Romania, Portugal and the Czech Republic)", said Mr Barrot. Other countries, such as Germany, Luxembourg, Italy and Belgium, have committed to resettlement on an ad hoc basis, in particular Iraqi refugees from Jordan and Syria. "Our concern is to coordinate the efforts of certain member states on a voluntary basis and to stimulate new vocations for the others", he said. "We are hoping to increase the number of resettlements of the most vulnerable people within Europe", he continued. In 2008, around 65,000 refugees were resettled globally: 4378 of them, or 6.7%, were resettled in one of the member states of the EU. The objective is to encourage the member states to do more. In order to reach its objective, the Commission explained, the European Union will enjoy the support of an expert group on resettlement, which will identify joint annual priorities and verify which refugees are more suitable to come to Europe. The programme will also serve to spread the resources and lines of credit used by the member states for resettlement. The Commission will help the member states to resettle refugees to the tune of €4000 per person. A proportion of the European Refugee Fund, or €20 million, will be used for this purpose, particularly in favour of Iraqis in Jordan and Syria. The commissioner explained that this external resettlement programme was moving forward in parallel to the EU's internal resettlement project. This is a pilot project aiming to redistribute a number of refugees in Malta to other member states of the EU. The commissioner will update the home affairs ministers of the EU on the progress made in this pilot project on 21 September. On this issue, he denies that it is his intention to impose quotas on the member states, stating instead that he prefers to appeal to the solidarity of the European countries. "The Commission cannot be accused of doing nothing", he said, quoting instead the "timidity and "reluctance" of the member states. Mr Barrot also dwelt on illegal immigration in Europe, which he announced had fallen by nearly half throughout the southern countries with the exception of Greece, where the situation is getting worse, he explained. It is against this backdrop that the commissioner announced his forthcoming visit to Turkey and Libya, to urge these countries to make additional efforts to fight illegal immigration. The efforts to be made by Turkey "are not, legally speaking, part of their accession negotiations, but are part of an issue in which it is in Turkey's interests to participate", said Mr Barrot. When asked about the Commission's position on Italy's turning back migrants to Libya, the commissioner simply said that he was expecting to receive, in the next two months, the response of the Italian government to the questions put to it in July. "The main problem is that we are talking about mixed flows of illegal immigrants and potential asylum seekers", said Mr Barrot, who went on to issue a warning: "Sending immigrants back can only be done under circumstances in which there is no danger to their health and life. It would be unacceptable to send these people back under conditions which could endanger their lives". (B.C./transl.fl)