European Parliament Strongly Criticises Governments On Their Asylum Proceedures

Following a programme of inspection visits to immigration centres across Europe, the European Committee on Civil Liberties has released a report labelling the conditions in the detention centres for asylum seekers and refugees as "intolerable".

The report found that existing directives were being poorly applied, or were not being applied at all, by some Member States. In particular, the principles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the ECHR, such as the right to live in dignity, the protection of family life, access to health care and the right of effective recourse against detention, should be applied at all times and regardless of the status of the third-country national involved.

It also calls for priority to be given to the reception of asylum seekers and immigrants in open reception centres rather than in closed units. Also that basic reception conditions, such as food, housing and emergency heath care should never be withheld, since their withdrawal may violate the fundamental rights of asylum seekers.

The Committee found that legal aid often amounts to no more than a list of lawyers' names. That, together with the frequent lack of adequately trained interpreters and the fact that information about procedures was largely in writing and the deadlines are very short, this "constitutes an obstacle to asylum seekers effectively exercising their rights when they submit an application."

In most of the detention centres visited there were also problems with "insufficient and inadequate medical care...consulting or communicating with doctors and the lack of specific care (in particular, for pregnant women and victims of torture) and of appropriate medicines."

The report also expressed concerns about "the prison conditions in which irregular migrants and asylum seekers are detained even though they have committed no crime," and called for the detention of minors "to be prohibited in principle."

Also highlighted was the increase in the number of people being detained under the Dublin System and the near-routine use of detention measures by certain Member States, and the report called for people not to be placed in detention if the Member State has not demonstrated a real risk of their absconding.

The report was adopted by the European Parliament by 483 votes to 39, with 45 abstentions.