Asylum: MEPs point out at the unsatisfactory results of the Dublin system

MEPs adopted the own-initiative report by Jean LAMBERT (Greens/EFA, UK) by 609 votes in favour, 53 against and 30 abstentions. They ask the Commission to add a provision restricting the detention of Dublin claimants to a measure of last resort, thereby specifying the grounds on which detention may be employed and the procedural safeguards which should be provided for.

 

 

The Dublin regulation establishes the criteria and mechanisms to determine the member state responsible for examining an application for asylum. The report is an evaluation of the original regulation which was adopted in 2003. The report is a response to the evaluation presented by the Commission. It highlights current weaknesses in the regulation, not least the widely differing standards towards the assessment of asylum cases between Member States, which undermines the regulation. The report puts forward suggestions for amendment, particularly in relation to broadening the definition of 'family member', ensuring that Dublin claimants are detained only as a measure of last resort, and addressing the need for increased responsibility sharing between Member States.

 

The report says that that unless a satisfactory and consistent level of protection is achieved across the EU, the Dublin System will always produce unsatisfactory results from both the technical and the human viewpoints, and asylum seekers will continue to have valid reasons for wishing to lodge their application in a specific Member State to take advantage of the most favourable national decision-making.

 

 

The report calls on the Commission, pending the introduction of European burden-sharing mechanisms, to consider providing for mechanisms other than financial within the Dublin Regulation to correct the adverse effects of its implementation for the smaller Member States at the Union’s external borders.

 

 

MEPs regret that the definition of a family member under the current Regulation is too restrictive and asks the Commission to extend the present definition to include all close relatives and long-term partners, particularly those who have no other family support, and adult children unable to care for themselves.

 

MEPs consider that where an asylum seeker is in a particularly vulnerable state owing to a serious illness, a severe disability, old age or pregnancy, and he or she is therefore dependent on the assistance of a relative present in the territory of a Member State other than the one in charge of the examination of the application, he or she should, as far as possible, be reunited with that relative.

 

MEPs also ask the Commission to cooperate with third countries in order to ensure that ensure that those countries meet their international legal obligations.

 

The House expresses its concern at the discrepancies and deficiencies in the collection of data revealed by the Commission's evaluation of the Dublin system, especially in relation to the registering of fingerprints of illegal entrants at the borders of the Union, which casts serious doubts on the validity of the system.