Too many restrictions” “

There are over 2.4 million refugees in Europe due to wars, or persecutions on grounds of race, religion or political opinion. Of these, 1.7 million are in the countries of the European Union (figures for 2001). Their distribution is very varied: Sweden hosts 20 refugees for every 1000 residents, countries like Austria, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands from 10 to 13 refugees per 1000 inhabitants, while the countries of southern Europe host less than 5 per 1000. But to gain refugee status (the asylum-seeker whose application has been accepted), a lengthy bureaucratic process needs first to be gone through in the various European countries. This does not help the already dramatic situation of asylum-seekers, whose applications are often rejected. The Churches of the various countries have long been engaged in urging better legislation and procedures, but the trend seems to be, on the contrary, towards more restrictive regulations. The ministers of the interior of the Balkan area, meeting at Lecce in recent days, have pledged among other things to review legislation on the right to asylum at the European level. Below we give a brief overview of the situation in some countries. Switzerland. In view of the electoral ballot of 24 November during which Swiss citizens will be called to express their views on “abuses of the right to asylum”, the Swiss Episcopal Conference has strongly reaffirmed “its support for a policy of greater solidarity towards foreigners and refugees”. “The right to find refuge – say the Swiss bishops in a communiqué issued on 4 November – must continue to guide the asylum policy of our country”. “While the need to adopt measures to curb abuses is understandable – they declare – we oppose any measure that materially prevents those persons who legitimately request the protection of our country, from acceding to the asylum procedure”. The bishops also express their “concern” about “any measure or proposal aimed at repatriating asylum-seekers without them having been given a chance to fully state their case or lodge an appeal in the event of a legitimately contested decision”. The Swiss bishops recommend that “the specific decisions with regard to the granting of political asylum or repatriation conform with the humanitarian substance of the law and that human rights and the principle of proportionality be respected”. For this reason, they declare their intention to “continue to intervene with the authorities to obtain humane solutions on behalf of refugees”. France. “Today the question of the right to asylum and that of clandestine immigration must no longer be referred to the individual nations. We need instead to harmonize the national legislations at the European level and take measures that hold good for all countries. There is a new wave of immigration that is no longer simply those seeking work”. That’s the view of Msgr. Jean-Luc Brunin, auxiliary bishop of Lille and chairman of the episcopal Committee for migrations. The number of asylum-seekers has considerably increased in France: from 22,000 in 1998 to 48,000 in 2001. “We are faced by the new problem of the massive influx of people requesting asylum – points out Bishop Brunin – and the problem of looking after them is therefore more difficult both for the institutions and for the Church. Apart from the many immigrants from the Maghreb who are here for work, large numbers of refugees have arrived in France from eastern Europe, and even from Mongolia, over the last two years. We are faced by a new wave of immigration and it’s no longer conceivable to tackle the problem with the same approach as ten years ago. That’s why it’s urgently necessary for new responses to be given to the situation that has been created”. Last February the French bishops published a document on refugees denouncing all the dysfunctions in the application of the law on asylum. For example, explains Bishop Brunin, “instead of the three-month waiting period envisaged by the law, asylum-seekers have to wait for up to ten months or even for two years for their applications to be processed and during this period they cannot work, so do not have the resources on which to support themselves, nor can they find anywhere to live. At the present time, the holding centres for refugees are insufficient in number. The result is that in the big French citizens people are forced to live on the street, without a livelihood and without rights; they depend on charitable associations that are no longer able to cope with this emergency situation alone”. “The French government now wants to reform the right to asylum – explains Bishop Brunin – but we are monitoring the situation closely to make sure that the reform be humanitarian and respect the dignity of man, and not just be aimed at reducing the delays”. The French bishops’ proposals also include the request that the time between asylum application and its acceptance or rejection be reduced; and that asylum-seekers be given the right to seek work after six months’ residence in the country. Italy. It’s the only EU country not to have a specific law on right to asylum. The need for such a law has repeatedly been urged by the organizations that work in the field of immigration and by the Church herself. According to the last dossier on immigration published by Caritas and by the Migrantes Foundation, approximately 10,000 persons applied for refugee status in 2001 and almost all had their applications rejected. At the present time there are some 23,000 refugees in Italy, belonging to 40 different nationalities and mainly coming from the Horn of Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East. “The condition of asylum-seekers in Italy is very difficult – explain the authorities of the Astalli Centre Foundation, a Jesuit-sponsored body dedicated to the care of refugees –. the lack of a law has produced a situation of extreme hardship for people forced to leave their own homeland and their own loved ones. They include many women, children and victims of torture or maltreatment in their countries of origin”. The waiting time for asylum applications to be vetted can be as long as 12 months. As in France, here too the asylum-seeker cannot work and the only possibility is that of being cared for by the social services or the charitable organizations. Germany. 118,306 asylum applications in 2001, 69,839 in 2002 (figures at September): these are the figures that illustrate the trend in the flow of asylum-seekers in Germany, traditionally a goal of refugee influxes. The decrease in the asylum applications, observed by the organizations operating in the country in the sector, may in part be explained by the approval on 25 June 2002 of the new law on immigration, contested by the opposition also due to the presumed irregularity of its approval in parliament. The new law, which will come into force on 1st January 2003, prescribes changes and restrictions to the right to asylum. The German Churches have expressed their views on the matter on various occasions, also through their own aid organizations; they have assumed a critical position on the laws on asylum and on the current legislation in immigration. The most important Church statements include the document issued by the German Episcopal Conference in 2001 with the title “Life in illegality in Germany: a humanitarian and pastoral challenge”. One of the organizations that has been working for years in the assistance of clandestine immigrants and asylum-seekers is the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). “A positive aspect of the new law on immigration is that it considers on the same level persons persecuted by governments and by non-governmental structures”, says Corinna Sandersfeld, legal expert of the JRS: “In effect a toughening up of the regulations is being observed: the possibilities to enter Germany even as refugees have been curbed, not least by stiffer punitive sanctions against air companies. This also leads to the increase of the price paid by refugees to the illegal organizations that handle clandestine immigration and of the risks run by people trying to enter the country”. With regard to the efforts to harmonize the laws of the various member countries, points out Sandersfeld, “we note that the European Commission has formulated positive proposals, that are initially welcomed at least in part; subsequently, however, the end result is disappointing due to the positions adopted by the Council or the European Parliament”. Patrizia Caiffa and Mercede Succa