Towards a Common European Asylum System
| Published date | 01 September 2002 |
| Date | 01 September 2002 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200205700305 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
STEPHEN
GALLAGHER
Towards
a
Common
European
Asylum
System
Fortress
Europe
redesigns
the
ramparts
FRANq7OIS
MITTERRAND,
A
FORMER
PRESIDENT
OF
FRANCE,
once
said
that
all
countries
have
a
threshold
of
tolerance
(seuil de
tolkrance)
when
it
comes to
the
number
of
foreigners in
their
midst.' Europe
as
a
whole
has
long
surpassed
its
limit.
In
each
of
the
countries
of
the
European
Union
(EU)
there
is
simply
no
desire
to welcome
more
for-
eigners
as
permanent
residents,
regardless
of
the
reason
for
their
arrival.
Chancellor
Gerhard
Schrdider's
announcement that
Germany
needs
to
import
thousands
of
information
technology
workers
reads like
a
man-
bites-dog
story,
not
because
it
isn't
true
but
because
a
government
leader
said
it.
2
Schrjder's
centre-left
coalition
government
has
since
passed
immigration
legislation;
however,
the
opposition Christian
Democrats,
led by
Edmund
Stoiber,
have
vowed to
repeal
the
law
if
they
are
elected
in
the
September 2002
Bundestag
elections.
The
author,
who
is
chair
of
the
Montreal
branch
of
the
Canadian
Institute
of
International
Affairs,
teaches
political
science
at
Concordia University.
He
is
current-
ly undertaking
a
study
of
Canadas
Immigration
and
Refugee
Board
for
the
Institute
for
Research
on
Public
Policy.
i
Quoted
in
James
Hollifield,
'Ideas,
institutions,
and
civil
society:
on
the
limits
of
immigration
control
in
France,'
December
1997,
http://migration.ucdavis.edu/
cmpr/sdreport/Hollfield-France.html
2
'Schroeder:
Germany needs
immigrants,'
Times
(London)
on
Line,
23
December
2000.
3 'Germany
opens
door
to
skilled
migrant
labour,'
ibid,
21
June
2002.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Summer
2002
Stephen
Gallagher
The
growth
of
this
exclusionary
attitude
has
much
to
do
with
a
com-
mon
perception
that
too
many
migrants
are
seeking
new
homes
in
Europe.
The
vast
majority
are
'asylum
seekers,'
and,
in spite
of
strenu-
ous
efforts
to
block
their
arrival,
more
than
3.7
million
refugee
appli-
cations
were
made
in
EU
countries
during
the
1990s.
In
2000
the
num-
ber
was
390,104
and
in
2001
it
was
384,530.'
Asylum
seekers
may
be
driven
from
their
own
country
('pushed')
by
any
number
of
miseries.
They
are
drawn
('pulled')
to
Europe
by
its
security,
prosperity,
and
democracy.
The
vast
majority
who
arrive
will
be
disappointed
by
their
reception.
Although
the
humanitarian
impulse
of
European
nations
is
strong -strong
enough
to
compel
gov-
ernments
to
make
domestic
and
international
commitments
to
address
human
suffering
and
rights
abuse
-
it
cannot
be
sustained
in
the
face
of
the
sheer
numbers
seeking
refuge.
At
the
heart
of
the current
European
asylum
situation
are
two
con-
tradictions.
First,
the
wealthy countries
of
Western
Europe
all
signed
the
1951
Geneva
Convention
on
the
Status
of
Refugees
(Geneva
con-
vention)
and the
1967
protocol.
In
doing
so,
they
committed
them-
selves
to
several
principles,
the most
important
of
which
is
not
to
return (refoulement)
a
refugee
to
a
place
of
persecution
(article
33
of
the convention).
If
the
asylum
seeker
meets
the
conditions
or
qualifi-
cations
of
a
'convention
refugee,'
he
or
she
normally
gains
most
of
the
benefits
of
citizenship. In
effect,
the
refuge
becomes
an
immigrant.
Although
European
countries
generally
do
not
want
immigrants,
they
are
unwilling to
disavow
Geneva
convention obligations.
Thus,
a
back
door
to
legal
residency-is
open
to
'spontaneous
arrivals'
from
the
numerous
areas
of
the
world
in
turmoil,
some
with
easy
access
to
Europe.
The
policy
predicament
for rights
conscious
European
gov-
ernments
is
to defend the
principles
of
the
Geneva
convention
at
the
same
time
as
they
avoid
the
burden
of
its
full
and
fair
implementation.,
A
second
contradiction
is
that
although
Europeans
do
not
want
immigrants
they
may
need
them.
They
certainly
need
a
plentiful
supply
of
cheap
labour
because
of
an
aging
population
and
falling
birth
rates
4
United
Nations
High
Commissioner
for
Refugees
(UNHCR),
Refugees
and others
of
concern
to
UNHCR:
1999
statistical
overview
(Geneva:
UNHCR
July
2000),
table
V.2;
UNHCR,
Trends
in
Asylum
Applications
Lodged in
Europe,
North
America,
Australia
and
New
Zealand,
2001:
Analysis
of
the
Provisional
2001
Asylum
Application
Data
in
29
Countries
(Geneva:
UNHCR
31
January
2002),
table
1.
5
See
Christina Boswell,
'European
values
and
the
asylum
crisis,' International
Affairs
760u1y
2000).
376
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Summer
2002
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