EU commissioner says asylum status limited to Syrians

[Anthea]

EU commissioner says asylum status limited to Syrians

GENEVA — Asylum status in Europe will only be granted to those refugees from Syria who are in dire need of international assistance, the EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, said in Geneva on Wednesday (March 30).

Dimitris Avramopoulos made the remarks during a brief press conference held after a meeting on global responsibility sharing through pathways for admission of Syrian refugees, which was hosted by the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

"We all know that the refugee status can be granted only to the ones who are in clear need of international protection. We must separate the regular migrants from the refugees," said Avramopoulos in response to cases of migrants from other countries coming to Europe.

Avramopoulos said it is important for Europe to work with Turkey to solve the refugee problem by adopting a feasible plan.

The EU previously struck a deal with Turkey promising to take in one Syrian refugee located inside the Turkish border for every illegal migrant it deports back to Turkey. Some fear the deal will expel all non-Syrian migrants from entering Europe.

"There are countries in the region that are qualified as safe countries. We all know that Syria is not a safe country. We shall see in the future whether any other country might be in the list. But for the moment, the situation is very, very clear. Only Syrians are granted the status of an asylum seeker in the beginning and then of course to be given asylum as a right," said Avramopoulos.

Currently, 91 percent of migrants that have reached Greece were from war-torn counties such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

The non-refoulement principle from the 1951 Refugee Convention states "No Contracting State shall expel or return ('refouler') a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion".

The United Nations warn that the EU's stance may only serve to shift the problem away from its own territory.

"What we fear is that Europe is now trying to push the whole problem entirely away from Europe and make it the entire focus of the neighboring countries which are already shouldering so many refugees," said UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming.

Turkey has currently taken in more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees, making it the nation with the highest number of refugees in the world. Lebanon, a country with a population of just four million, has also received around one million refugees.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said during the meeting that given Lebanon’s efforts, Europe has far from committed to its full responsibility to helping refugees.

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