The ‘Realism’ of a European Asylum Policy: A Quantitative Approach
| Date | 01 June 1991 |
| Author | Daan Bronkhorst |
| Published date | 01 June 1991 |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934419100900203 |
| Subject Matter | Part A: Article |
NQHR
2/1991
THE
'REALISM' OF A EUROPEAN ASYLUM POLICY:
AQUANTITATIVE APPROACH
Daan
Bronkhorst:
IIntroduction
The
States of Western Europe
are
in the process of 'harmonizing' their
asylum procedures. There are two principles which seem to remain firm
mooring posts in the waves of asylum seekers. One is the principle of
distinguishing political, 'genuine' or Convention refugees from non-
political, 'economic' asylum seekers or migrants, on basis of the defmi-
tion embodied in-the-Geneva Refugee Convention. Another.principle is
that of individual assessment. No asylum seeker will be refused without
having had some form of judgment on his or her personal circumstances.
The debate on the future of European refugee politics focusses on
the notion of a liberal asylum policy. Each Western European govern-
ment, generally speaking, describes its asylum policy as one that is fair
regarding the real refugees, but deters or discourages those who want to
profit from asylum while not having a well-founded fear of persecution.
On the other side of the debate, refugee organisations, lawyers and the
like press governments not to burden access to and procedures in
Europe in such a way that the genuine political refugee runs a risk of
refoulement.
Yet when we study the national asylum practices in Europe more
closely, we find that governments have not kept to the two principles
described above. The real issue is not that West European governments
are not generous enough,
but
that they do not meet the minimum
standards they have set for themselves.
In this article we present some figures to argue this. All this material
is indirect evidence. There is hardly any
direct
evidence of deliberate
unjustice done to genuine political refugees, as the procedures in which
• Daan Bronkhorst is a human rights researcher who has worked for the Dutch section
of Amnesty International and
other
human rights and refugee organizations. He is the
author of Een tijd van komen (Amsterdam, 1990), a history of refugee policy in the
Netherlands.
142
Bronkhorst/The 'Realism'
of
a
European
Asylum
Policy:
A
Quantitative
Approach
asylum seekers are assessed are shrouded in confidentiality. This confi-
dentiality, plus the fact that the judgment on an asylum seeker's story is
generally rendered in a non-systematic, individual way, make it virtually
impossible to prove malicious intent on the part of the authorities. Yet
when we monitor the results, it is hard to assume anything else than such
an intent. It is the intent to deter asylum seekers, not only those who
have 'manifestly unfounded' claims, but also those who do have to fear
for persecution but who come in numbers which are deemed to be too
large for
our
national welfare.
Most of the facts and figures presented here are drawn from the
Dutch situation. Comparable facts taken from other West European
countries suggest that the Dutch situation is most likely typical for the
general West European picture.
We will first deal with three common lines of argument which the
Dutch and other West European governments have adduced to support
their asylum policies, and show that all three are either not correctly
demonstrable or demonstrably incorrect. We will then see whether there
is an approach towards future European asylum policies which is both
fair and realistic.
II Economic and Social Pressures
The first argument runs along the following lines: "The strongly in-
creasing numbers of asylum seekers necessitate a strict application of the
Geneva Convention. These numbers put great economic and social
pressures on the traditional hospitality of the West European nations."
There
are
anumber of assumptions in this line of argumentation.
Most of them do not stand the test of empirical verification.
The only fact in this proposition which is beyond dispute, is the
strongly growing number of asylum seekers in Europe. It increased from
about 13,000 applications in 1972, to over 420,000 in
1990.
The increase
did not follow a straight line. For example, there were 160,000 applica-
tions in 1980, 70,000 in 1983.1Yet the trend towards rising numbers is
unmistakable.
1 Vetter, H.G., 1986 Draft report on asylum law, European
Parliament,
26.9.86,
WG(2)
5651.
143
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